3.3.C. Specific/Supplemental Criteria for Clinical Instructors

1. Appointment as Clinical Instructor

The Clinical Instructor appointment is intended primarily to be an initial position following completion of graduate medical education, but may also be appropriate for locum tenens appointments needed to meet temporary clinical need and for part-time positions (less than 0.5 FTE).

While they are not trainees, it may also be appropriate for a Clinical Instructor to receive mentorship in advanced clinical skills, typically focused in a specialized area of practice.     An experienced physician must serve as proctor and mentor for the Clinical Instructor’s training in this specialized area.   The Clinical Instructor still maintains his or her other roles of attending physician and educator, and shall serve as an attending (billing) physician, but only within his or her boarded (or board eligible) specialty.

This appointment is not appropriate for individuals enrolled in either non-ACGME or ACGME-certified residency or fellowship training programs. In addition, since Clinical Instructors are not trainees, they are not entitled to training Certificates, which are issued only by the Office of Graduate Medical Education and/or the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs for residency or fellowship training programs.  Departments and clinical programs may not, and do not have the authority to, issue training Certificates to Clinical Instructors.  

The initial term of appointment may be up to three years.

Clinical Instructors should have demonstrated exceptional qualities and promise to become outstanding clinicians, teachers, institutional contributors and/or scholars. If the candidate has not had formal teaching experience, he or she should have demonstrated a commitment to develop the skills necessary for outstanding teaching. He or she must have demonstrated excellence or promise of excellence in a combination of clinical performance and clinical teaching appropriate to the programmatic need upon which the appointment will be based.

2. Reappointment as Clinical Instructor

Clinical Instructors are assessed for reappointment on the basis of their performance and achievements in the areas of clinical care, teaching, administration and/or scholarship (as applicable).  They may be reappointed based on evidence of progress, high-level performance and continuing programmatic need.  There should be evidence that the candidate will continue to successfully fill the programmatic need for which the reappointment is made and to make meritorious contributions to his or her discipline and to the School.

The term of reappointment will be for up to three years and may be renewed (based on fulfillment of the applicable criteria and subject to continuing programmatic need) for an unlimited number of subsequent terms.  Clinical Instructors (>0.5 FTE) should be considered for advancement to Clinical Assistant Professors after their initial three-year term in most circumstances.