Becoming an MD teacher

[coffeespoon]

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I'm interesting in teaching after I finish medical school/residency, but I'm uncertain as to what sorts of opportunities are available out there and what it takes to get there.

So I could become a medical school professor -- do I need to maintain an active lab like college professors do? What is the route I would take to get there?

I'm not quite sure what attendings do -- am I correct in thinking that they teach residents and medical students? How do I become an attending?

Do you know anyone who has gotten an MD and taught at a college? What did they teach?

Thanks for your input!

 

[Scrubbs]

Ok... here goes nothing...

1. Medical school professors for the pre-clinical years are mostly PhD's or MD/PhD's. They teach basic science classes (Biochem, Anatomy, Pathology, etc.) and tend to have active labs in the med school.

2. The word "attending" has several different meanings. In reality, it is any doctor who has finished residency/fellowship and is no longer "in training". In the hospital hierarchy, they are the top of the food chain. Those who decide to go into purely academic medicine actually work for a hospital, involved with with a residency program, and teach residents and med students in the clinical arena. You can also work for a hospital where residents/students rotate, that does not have its own residency programs. At these hospitals, attendings still teach, but it is a smaller part of their job. It all depends on where you want to work... private sector, academics, or somewhere in between the two.

3. I don't know people that have gone through med school and then taught fulltime at a college. Sorry! I don't think its impossible, I just think its sort of an odd route to become a college prof. If that is what you want to do, I would recommend getting a PhD. Just my humble opinion though. 😉

 

[coffeespoon]

Thanks, Scrubbs. Your info was pretty helpful.

A few more questions: Are attendings involved with purely academic medicine required to run their own lab, as well? If not, am I correct in thinking that these attendings spend their day instructing med students/residents (in a small group setting) concurrent to tending to their own patients? Or do they also teach clinical classes (i.e. in a classroom setting)?

 

[carrigallen]

Originally posted by coffeespoon
Thanks, Scrubbs. Your info was pretty helpful.

A few more questions: Are attendings involved with purely academic medicine required to run their own lab, as well? If not, am I correct in thinking that these attendings spend their day instructing med students/residents (in a small group setting) concurrent to tending to their own patients? Or do they also teach clinical classes (i.e. in a classroom setting)?

The breakdown of responsibilities varies in academic medicine.

Ideally, the best scenario for the physician depends upon personal preferences. Let's take the possibilities at an academic health center:

For example: many attending physicians work only in the hospital, and participate in coordination of residency training programs. Their publications are generally limited to case studies.

Another example: Many physicians split their clinical duties and teaching medical students in the classroom.

Another example: Physicians who perform nominal clinical duties and run a bench laboratory or diagnostic facility. They may also have classroom teaching assignments.

Another example: Physicians with nominal patient care responsibilities who perform administrative functions within the health center.

There are tons more examples. The academic physician's chief role is to bring in money for their employer, the hospital, whether via patient billing, research grants, attracting endowments, or other means. You can even be in private practice and still have consultatory or teaching responsibilities in the medical center.

btw, "attending" just means, "attending physician", usually the top name on the patient's chart...they have a supervisory role over all postgraduate physicians ("residents").

 

[Adcadet]

here's a brief summary of what my mentor/PI does. He's an MD and did a year-long fellowship after residency to gain additional research training. He runs an active basic science lab, and is the director of a medical specialty clinic. The clinic is open one day/week, and he's actually in the clinic for a half day/week. When he's there, he's showing first and second year internal medicine and family practice residents how to do the clinic stuff. He also covers the wards occasionally - I think it's like 1 week every 3 months (not sure exactly, as I haven't been on the wards with him). And when he's covering the wards I believe he's leading a team of medical students, interns, and residents. He also consults in the hospital, although from what I can see this isn't too common - maybe a few hours/week tops. He also gives a few lectures each semester in his specialty area to medical students. He's also the head of the research organization at the hospital, and has some administrative duties associated with this. So as you can see, one person can do many things. And a lot of this does involve teaching in one way or another.

 

[Brewster]

MDs teaching at medical schools do so in a few fashions:
1) Teaching medical students on the wards.
2) Teaching medical students in the classroom. While things like biochem, physiology, etc tend to be tought by PhDs, pathophysiology/pathology tend to be taught by MDs (with or without a PhD).
3) Teaching residents. This usually involves teaching on the wards as well as in conferences.

How much of an academic physician's time is spent in teaching vs research vs administration depends on the particular doctor's interests, position in the hospital/med school, and what med school/hospital they work for.

 

[coffeespoon]

Thanks for the info, everyone! It's exciting to see all the different options out there and the flexibility with which I can incorporate teaching into my career. I really appreciate the input. 🙂