Abstract
Many faculty in today’s academic medical centers face high levels of stress and low career satisfaction. Understanding faculty vitality is critically important for the health of our academic medical centers, yet the concept is ill-defined and lacking a comprehensive model. Expanding on previous research that examines vital faculty in higher education broadly and in academic medical centers specifically, this study proposes an expanded model of the unique factors that contribute to faculty vitality in academic medicine. We developed an online survey on the basis of a conceptual model (N = 564) and used linear regression to investigate the fit of the model. We examined the relationships of two predictor variables measuring Primary Unit Climate and Leadership and Career and Life Management with an overall Faculty Vitality index comprised of three measures: Professional Engagement, Career Satisfaction, and Productivity. The findings revealed significant predictive relationships between Primary Unit Climate and Leadership, Career and Life Management, and Faculty Vitality. The overall model accounted for 59% of the variance in the overall Faculty Vitality Index. The results provide new insights into the developing model of faculty vitality and inform initiatives to support faculty in academic medical centers. Given the immense challenges faced by faculty, now more than ever do we need reliable evidence regarding what sustains faculty vitality.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Association of American Medical Colleges. (2006). AAMC data book (pp. Tables C4 and 5).
Bacharach, S. B. (1989). Organizational theories: Some criteria for evaluation. Academy of Management Review, 14, 496–515.
Baldwin, R. G. (1990). Faculty vitality beyond the research university. Journal of Higher Education, 61(2), 160–180.
Baldwin, R. G., DeZure, D., Shaw, A., & Moretto, K. (2008). Mapping the terrain of mid-career faculty at a research university: Implications for faculty and academic leaders. Change, September/October, 46–55.
Baldwin, R. G., Lunceford, C. J., & Vanderlinder, K. E. (2005). Faculty in the middle years: Illuminating an overlooked phase of academic life. The Review of Higher Education, 29(1), 97–118.
Bland, C. J., Seaquist, E., Pacala, J. T., Center, B. A., & Finstad, D. (2002). One school’s strategy to assess and improve the vitality of its faculty. Academic Medicine, 77(5), 368–376.
Bogden, R., & Biklen, S. K. (1992). Qualitative research for education. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Buckley, L. M., Sanders, K., Shih, M., & Hampton, C. L. (2000). Attitudes of clinical faculty about career progress, career success and recognition, and commitment to academic medicine. Results of a survey. Archives of Internal Medicine, 160(17), 2625–2629.
Chan, S. S., & Burton, J. (1995). Faculty Vitality in the Comprehensive University: Changing context and concerns. Research in Higher Education, 36(2), 219–234.
Clark, S. M., Boyer, C. M., & Corcoran, M. (1985). Faculty vitality and institutional productivity: Critical perspectives for higher education. In S. M. Clark & D. R. Lewis (Eds.), Facutly vitality and institutional productivity: Critical perspectives for higher education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Clark, S. M., & Lewis, D. R. (Eds.). (1985). Faculty vitality and institutional productivity: Critical perspectives for higher education. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University.
Demmy, T. L., Kivlahan, C., Stone, T. T., Teague, L., & Sapienza, P. (2002). Physicians’ perceptions of institutional and leadership factors influencing their job satisfaction at one academic medical center. Academic Medicine, 77(12, pt 1), 1235–1240.
Gappa, J. M., Austin, A. E., & Trice, A. G. (2007). Rethinking faculty work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Glaser, B., & Strauss, A. (1967). The discovery of grounded theory: Strategies for qualitative research. Chicago: Aldine.
Hill, C. E., Thompson, B. J., & Williams, E. N. (1997). A guide to conducting consensual qualitative research. The Counseling Psychologist, 25, 517–572.
Johnsrud, L. K., & Heck, R. H. (1994). A university’s faculty: Predicting those who will stay and those who leave. Journal for Higher Education Management, 10(1), 71–84.
Kelly, A. M., Cronin, P., & Dunnick, N. R. (2007). Junior faculty satisfaction in a large academic radiology department. Academic Radiology, 14(4), 445–454.
Kirch, D. (2008). Is your academic medical center a great place to work? Lessons in building faculty vitality. Pittsburgh, PA: AAMC Group on Faculty Affairs Conference.
Lavee, Y., & Dollahite, D. C. (1991). The linkage between theory and research in family science. Journal of Marriage and Family, 53(2), 361–373.
Lincoln, Y., & Guba, E. (1985). Naturalistic inquiry. New York: Sage.
Lowenstein, S. R., Fernandez, G., & Crane, L. A. (2007). Medical school faculty discontent: prevalence and predictors of intent to leave academic careers. BMC Medical Education, 7, 37.
National Institutes of Health. (2009). Research portfolio online reporting tool; success rates retrieved 1/28/09, from http://report.nih.gov/award_mapping.aspx.
Office of Faculty Affairs and Professional Development. (2009). State of the faculty report. Available: www.faculty.medicine.iu.edu.
Palmer, M. M., Dankoski, M. E., Brutkiewicz, R. R., Logio, L. S., & Bogdewic, S. P. (2010). Rx for academic medicine. To Improve the Academy, 28, 292–309.
Pololi, L., Conrad, P., Knight, S., & Carr, P. (2009). A study of the relational aspects of the culture of academic medicine. Academic Medicine, 84(1), 106–114.
Rausch, D. K., Ortiz, B. P., Douthitt, R. A., & Reed, L. L. (1989). The academic revolving door: Why do women get caught. CUPA-HR Journal, 40(1), 1–16.
Sambunjak, D., Straus, S. E., & Marusic, A. (2006). Mentoring in academic medicine: A systematic review. Journal of the American Medical Association, 296(9), 1103–1115.
Schindler, B. A., Novack, D. H., Cohen, D. G., Yager, J., Wang, D., Shaheen, N. J., et al. (2006). The impact of the changing health care environment on the health and well-being of faculty at four medical schools. Academic Medicine, 81(1), 27–34.
Shanafelt, T. D., West, C. P., Sloan, J. A., Novotny, P. J., Poland, G. A., Menaker, R., et al. (2009). Career fit and burnout among academic faculty. Archives of Internal Medicine, 169(10), 990–995.
Woods, S. E., Reid, A., Arndt, J. E., Curtis, P., & Stritter, F. T. (1997). Collegial networking and faculty vitality. Family Medicine, 21(1), 45–49.
Acknowledgments
No external funding was received for this study.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Dankoski, M.E., Palmer, M.M., Nelson Laird, T.F. et al. An expanded model of faculty vitality in academic medicine. Adv in Health Sci Educ 17, 633–649 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-011-9339-7
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10459-011-9339-7