How does a doctor eventually become an associate dean or something along those lines? I am reading a little blurb about a surgeon and how he eventually stopped performing surgery and was accepted as an associate dean for a medical school. Are these types of doctors usually chosen or do they have to apply for such positions?
becoming associate dean, etc?
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I shadowed a surgeon who was a part of the general surgery department at a hospital and over time, his hard work paid off and he became the director of trauma surgery. I was wondering the same thing, how did he get that position as he was a general surgeon...?
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This is a very different scenario than what the OP is describing.
In this case, the surgeon became the director of a clinical department. It's basically just his normal clinical work with additional administrative responsibilities. Hospitals can have a great deal of difficulty filling these roles because physicians don't want to do mounds of paperwork in additional to their clinical responsibilities. It also involves more meetings and administrative red tape, detracting from their clinical work and family time. All that, and it is only a modest, if any, increase in pay. He may have gotten the position because none of the trauma surgeons wanted to do it.
"Climbing the ladder" in the physician world is very different than in other professions.
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For purely administrative roles like this, you typically apply. You start down that path as early as possible - even as early as med school and continue during residency (if you can) through ACGME committees, etc. As a staff, increase your administrative role and apply for assistant dean positions.
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