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The successful medical school department chair: a guide to good institutional practice
BOOK REVIEW Jannette Collins, MD, MEd
The Successful Medical School Department Chair: A Guide to Good Institutional Practice Julien F. Biebuyck, MD, DPhil, William T. Mallon, EdD. Published by the Association of American Medical Colleges/2002/$150 (members), $225 (nonprofit organizations), $300 (general public)
This publication arose out of a need for leaders in academic medicine to pay more attention to the recruitment and development of department chairs. It was a joint project of the Council of Deans, the Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems, and the Chairs’ Task Force (Council of Academic Societies) of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The publication is organized into three modules, each devoted to a different time in the career life of the medical school department chair. Module 1 (“Search Selection, Appointment, Transition”) addresses the events triggered by the departure of a department chair and defines good practice in search, selection, and appointment practices, including leadership transition. Module 2 (“Characteristics, Responsibilities, Expectations, Skill Sets”) addresses the definition of a department chair’s responsibilities and expectations and identifies good practice for the development of the skill sets required to carry out those responsibilities effectively. Module 3 (“Performance, Evaluation, Rewards, Renewal”) addresses good practice in the evaluation and performance review of department chairs, rewards, career transition, and issues related to termination. Each module is well referenced. Appendix 1 of module 1 outlines the detailed research methodology used by the authors. After completing a departmental review, the next step for a dean in the search process is to define responsibilities for each of the functions in the process of recruiting a new department chair, from the appointment of a search committee to its education and the timetable that will be followed.
Biebuyck and Mallon emphasize warning those leaders who appoint members to the search committee to “avoid at all costs the appointment of known paranoids, gossips, and egotists.” The pros and cons of using search consultants and a list of search consultant firms are provided. Diversity in the search process is emphasized, including strategies to increase the likelihood of a new female leader’s success. One such strategy is to build into her recruitment package the services of a professional coach. A list of academic leader coaches is provided. Examples of specific institutional search committee procedures are also provided. One is from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, where new chairs are encouraged to attend national or regional workshops (e.g., Harvard courses, AAMC workshops). Appendix 3 of module 1 lists numerous questions that can be used by search committees. Module 2 opens with the following statements: “The search committee finished its job. The dean makes the announcement. A new chair begins her leadership of an academic department.” Note the use of the pronoun her, which is interchanged with his throughout the three modules. This illustrates the publication’s emphasis on gender neutrality. Chairs are urged to delegate to vice-chairs to balance core missions. The attributes of a successful chair are outlined. For example, deans expect chairs to be advocates for their departments, appreciate chairs who are decisive and willing to act, value energetic and productive chairs, and will quickly learn who can be trusted and who cannot. Essential items of information that chair candidates should seek to be informed candidates and make in-
telligent and rational decisions are outlined. Selected national leadership development programs are described. Module 3 opens with a discussion of different methods used in evaluating a chair’s performance, stating, “A chair’s career will be marked by both positive and negative evaluation. The challenge to a chair is to treat all such information as useful feedback with which to work in charting the course of future decisions and actions.” Warning signs in a department chair’s performance are discussed. Examples of how department chairs are compensated are provided, including specific examples of chair compensation policies from various medical schools and teaching hospitals. Five factors of chair stress that are discussed include faculty role stress, administrative relationship stress, role ambiguity stress, perceived expectation stress, and administrative task stress. The authors warn that “the change to becoming a chair may leave one suddenly feeling unloved.” Listed support mechanisms for new chairs are national mentors, better preparation before assuming a chair appointment, the development of a departmental administrative team, the development of institutional support groups for chairs, and the protection of the chair’s time for family activities. Finally, the reasons why chairs leave, or are asked to leave, their jobs are discussed. These three modules provide a wealth of valuable information for anyone who is a chair or considering a chair position. The text is concise, and the numerous lists, charts, and sample documents make the publication easy to read in one sitting or to use as a reference when specific issues arise. The practical nature of the content makes it applicable to anyone with any administrative responsibility in an academic department, as well as deans of medical schools and chief executive officers of hospitals. Reading this publication has changed the way I think and approach my work.
Jannette Collins, MD, MEd, Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, E3/311 Clinical Science Center, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53792-3252; e-mail: [email protected]. © 2004 American College of Radiology 0091-2182/04/$30.00 ● DOI 10.1016/j.jacr.2003.11.009
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The Successful Medical School Department Chair: A Guide to Good Institutional Practice Julien F. Biebuyck, MD, DPhil, William T. Mallon, EdD. Published by the Association of American Medical Colleges/2002/$150 (members), $225 (nonprofit organizations), $300 (general public)
This publication arose out of a need for leaders in academic medicine to pay more attention to the recruitment and development of department chairs. It was a joint project of the Council of Deans, the Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems, and the Chairs’ Task Force (Council of Academic Societies) of the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). The publication is organized into three modules, each devoted to a different time in the career life of the medical school department chair. Module 1 (“Search Selection, Appointment, Transition”) addresses the events triggered by the departure of a department chair and defines good practice in search, selection, and appointment practices, including leadership transition. Module 2 (“Characteristics, Responsibilities, Expectations, Skill Sets”) addresses the definition of a department chair’s responsibilities and expectations and identifies good practice for the development of the skill sets required to carry out those responsibilities effectively. Module 3 (“Performance, Evaluation, Rewards, Renewal”) addresses good practice in the evaluation and performance review of department chairs, rewards, career transition, and issues related to termination. Each module is well referenced. Appendix 1 of module 1 outlines the detailed research methodology used by the authors. After completing a departmental review, the next step for a dean in the search process is to define responsibilities for each of the functions in the process of recruiting a new department chair, from the appointment of a search committee to its education and the timetable that will be followed.
Biebuyck and Mallon emphasize warning those leaders who appoint members to the search committee to “avoid at all costs the appointment of known paranoids, gossips, and egotists.” The pros and cons of using search consultants and a list of search consultant firms are provided. Diversity in the search process is emphasized, including strategies to increase the likelihood of a new female leader’s success. One such strategy is to build into her recruitment package the services of a professional coach. A list of academic leader coaches is provided. Examples of specific institutional search committee procedures are also provided. One is from the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, where new chairs are encouraged to attend national or regional workshops (e.g., Harvard courses, AAMC workshops). Appendix 3 of module 1 lists numerous questions that can be used by search committees. Module 2 opens with the following statements: “The search committee finished its job. The dean makes the announcement. A new chair begins her leadership of an academic department.” Note the use of the pronoun her, which is interchanged with his throughout the three modules. This illustrates the publication’s emphasis on gender neutrality. Chairs are urged to delegate to vice-chairs to balance core missions. The attributes of a successful chair are outlined. For example, deans expect chairs to be advocates for their departments, appreciate chairs who are decisive and willing to act, value energetic and productive chairs, and will quickly learn who can be trusted and who cannot. Essential items of information that chair candidates should seek to be informed candidates and make in-
telligent and rational decisions are outlined. Selected national leadership development programs are described. Module 3 opens with a discussion of different methods used in evaluating a chair’s performance, stating, “A chair’s career will be marked by both positive and negative evaluation. The challenge to a chair is to treat all such information as useful feedback with which to work in charting the course of future decisions and actions.” Warning signs in a department chair’s performance are discussed. Examples of how department chairs are compensated are provided, including specific examples of chair compensation policies from various medical schools and teaching hospitals. Five factors of chair stress that are discussed include faculty role stress, administrative relationship stress, role ambiguity stress, perceived expectation stress, and administrative task stress. The authors warn that “the change to becoming a chair may leave one suddenly feeling unloved.” Listed support mechanisms for new chairs are national mentors, better preparation before assuming a chair appointment, the development of a departmental administrative team, the development of institutional support groups for chairs, and the protection of the chair’s time for family activities. Finally, the reasons why chairs leave, or are asked to leave, their jobs are discussed. These three modules provide a wealth of valuable information for anyone who is a chair or considering a chair position. The text is concise, and the numerous lists, charts, and sample documents make the publication easy to read in one sitting or to use as a reference when specific issues arise. The practical nature of the content makes it applicable to anyone with any administrative responsibility in an academic department, as well as deans of medical schools and chief executive officers of hospitals. Reading this publication has changed the way I think and approach my work.
Jannette Collins, MD, MEd, Department of Radiology, University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, E3/311 Clinical Science Center, 600 Highland Avenue, Madison, WI 53792-3252; e-mail: [email protected]. © 2004 American College of Radiology 0091-2182/04/$30.00 ● DOI 10.1016/j.jacr.2003.11.009
151