The Department of Medicine PATHS were created as a guide for faculty as they navigate through their careers. These are only guidelines for accomplishments towards promotion, not requirements, and achievement of these targets does not guarantee promotion. These are examples and it is not expected every faculty member achieve every suggested target. The PATH is divided by career years into best practices and academic mission areas.
Years 1-2
Education
- Teach in patient care environments*
- Start building supervisory and mentoring skills and developing mentor relationships with trainees
- Begin to track contact hours for students’ education
Scholarship
- Begin initial scholarship
- Work on a collaborative project and submit initial results making use of faculty support services, e.g., DABCore
- Check out this guide (opens in a new window) for 1st time investigators to assist with your clinical research (intranet resource – copy and paste URL to open properly)
Professional Service (Clinical)
- Understand what the clinical metrics are for your site and section
- Demonstrate clinical competence and potential for growth in area of expertise
Academic Service (Institutional, Regional & National)
- Join academic societies (e.g. American Society of Nephrology, (opens in a new window) SGIM) (opens in a new window) and take advantage of opportunities
Beginning of year 1 Best Practices
- Check out the Department mentoring resources for individual development plan templates, helpful checklists and more.
- Download our app (ios only): BUGLE: Best Unofficial Guide to Life at Emory - a quick-reference guide to help you better navigate Emory with site-specific details and insider tips
- Attend New Faculty Orientation: Learn how you fit into the DOM and how we are improving health through discovery, education and care. Walk away with new skills you can apply immediately regardless of your career focus.
Tip! Download the SOM CV, Service Portfolio, and Teaching Portfolio templates…and start adding in your efforts NOW and continue to do so. This will help you track your efforts and be prepared for performance reviews, promotions, etc.
Years 1-2 continued
Education
- Present a lecture as part of a clerkship, elective, short or semester long course
- Participate in a Journal Club or seminar series*
* Get connected with educational leaders who can help you get involved.
Scholarship
- Publish at least 1 peer-reviewed article per year (case report, review, meta-analysis, original research, brief report, validation study, etc.)
- Career development award applicants - consider publishing original research articles, brief reports, systematic reviews or meta-analyses
- Present (platform or poster) study results to appropriate audiences
Professional Service (Clinical)
- Define clinical commitments in outpatient and inpatient settings
- Provide outstanding patient care/clinical service
- Start tracking scope of clinical activities e.g. numbers of patients, referral base, etc.
- Contribute to collaborative team efforts in clinical or public health activities such as quality and process improvement activities
- Participate on hospital committees as well as appropriate related organizations/institutions
Academic Service (Institutional, Regional & National)
- Inquire about section/division/department committees on which to serve, but don't over commit yourself (Committees with greater time commitments should be scrutinized carefully)
- Join abstract review committees for regional/state associations
- Seek peer review opportunities for journals relevant to your research area
During years 1 & 2 Best Practices
- Prepare for your Career Conference Performance Review (opens in a new window) by reviewing your CV, Teaching and Service Portfolios for accomplishments. Prepare to discuss goals with your evaluator.
- Review Department’s faculty development and mentoring websites and the promotion guidelines
- Attend Professional Development Opportunities such as:
During years 1 & 2 Best Practices Continued
- Establish a regular meeting with your primary mentor (recommended at a minimum every 2 months) and mentoring team (frequency TBD in consultation with your primary mentor)
- Find out what else is being offered in the DOM and SOM
- Explore offerings from the Emory WorkLife Resource Center (opens in a new window)
- Begin tracking MOC and CME workshop participation
Before year 3 Best Practices
- Interested in improving your leadership skills? Apply for the SOM Junior Faculty Development Course a career development program specifically for junior faculty (5-month program)
- Learn about quality improvement and efforts underway at Emory:
- Health Services Research Day “Quality Day” (opens in a new window) - annual quality forum and networking opportunity for researchers sponsored by Georgia Clinical and Translational Science Alliance (CTSA) (opens in a new window) of which Emory is a member
- Emory Healthcare Quality Academy: Leadership for Healthcare Improvement - designed to give health care leaders an introduction to quality improvement. (2 day course)
- Emory Healthcare Quality Academy: Practical Methods for Healthcare Improvement – more intensive program designed to develop local quality improvement leaders who are capable of independently planning and conducting improvement in their areas and serving as resources to others.
- Interprofessional Team Skills for Quality Improvement - multi-part curriculum introduces QI terminology and methods and teaches skills required to implement and carry out an independent QI project through a mentored, interprofessional project
Years 3-4
Education
- Present conferences, Grand Rounds or similar educational sessions and venues
- Participate in teaching opportunities and remember to document these activities
- Organize and develop conferences, journal clubs, etc.
- Start developing mentor relationships with junior faculty
- Develop educational/curricular materials
Scholarship
- Publish original scholarship, as well as case reports and review articles on clinical and scientific topics related to the initial project. Work towards senior authorship
- Consider collaborations to expand research interest
- Author book chapters, monographs, and other traditional and online publications on topics in medical or related sciences
- Present local, regional and national lectures related to original research
- Consider adding discovery students to research
Professional Service (Clinical)
- Join appropriate local or regional committee(s) of specialty societies or groups related to clinical specialty services
- Continue and quantify outstanding patient care/clinical service
- Revisit clinical performance metrics
- Continue to track and document scope of clinical activities e.g., numbers of patients, referral base
Academic Service (Institutional, Regional & National)
- Join appropriate committees or groups related to academic activities such as the DOM Faculty Development Committee
- Membership role/chair of major committees in professional medical organizations on a regional or national basis
- Review manuscripts as an ad-hoc reviewer and grants for study section
During years 3 & 4 Best Practices
- Learn if you are on track for promotion by attending a DOM CV Review or SOM Promotion Readiness Session
- Want to continue building your leadership skills? Apply to the EM-Pro LEAD course which focuses on enriching leadership skills, enhancing business knowledge, and developing strong partnerships across Emory (Jan-Oct)
- Determine your H-Index (opens in a new window) through Emory First (opens in a new window)
- Continue best practices from your first years on faculty
Years 5-6
Education
- Continue to present conferences, Grand Rounds or similar educational sessions and venues
- Mentor students, residents, and junior faculty members
Scholarship
- Continue scholarly activities and maintain a positive trajectory
- Develop expertise in specific research disciplines and gain recognition for science beyond Emory
Professional Service (Clinical)
- Continue and quantify outstanding patient care/clinical service
- Be aware of individual and group clinical metrics
- Conduct a clinical program, e.g., program director
Academic Service (Institutional, Regional & National)
- Lead appropriate committees or groups related to academic activities at DOM level
- Perform outreach from University to local community
- Seek active roles on major committees in professional medical organizations on a regional basis
- Editorial board membership
During years 5 & 6 Best Practices
- Discuss readiness for promotion with your division director and attend a DOM CV review session.
Updated 1.13.25