Med school profs?

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luke77

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Hey guys,
Just wondering what it takes to teach at a medical school. I know that traditional professor jobs in undergrad are very competitive, but I would think that it would be more difficult to recruit MD's to teach since anyone with an MD can probably make a lot more money in private practice. Do they require doctors in teaching hospitals to teach 1st and 2nd years, or are there professors that do nothing but teach? I'm not talking about Harvard Med School, but who does the teaching at the middle of the road schools?
 
luke77 said:
Hey guys,
Just wondering what it takes to teach at a medical school. I know that traditional professor jobs in undergrad are very competitive, but I would think that it would be more difficult to recruit MD's to teach since anyone with an MD can probably make a lot more money in private practice. Do they require doctors in teaching hospitals to teach 1st and 2nd years, or are there professors that do nothing but teach? I'm not talking about Harvard Med School, but who does the teaching at the middle of the road schools?

MD-PhDs that have research programs in med schools are usually required to teach, especially if they don't yet have tenure (sometimes part of a tenure package or re-negotiation includes not having to teach certain courses, or not at all). Also, many of the core med school classes are taught by Ph.D. profs from the university, who are not med school faculty.
 
As for PhD positions, it depends where you are. Many PhD's at larger, more research oriented institutions are very competitive b/c full professorships often carry w/ it the stipulation of the professor bringing in so many dollars worth of grants and such.

From my experience the physician who teach are there b/c they want to be. Yes they probably could make more money in private practice, but *surprise* medicine is about more than that to many people. If they are not tenured, often the school will go out to nearby affiliated hospitals and 'contract' out portions of the classes.
 
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