PA faculty position

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

A faculty opening has come up nearby at a PA school. It’s with the same university where I did my residency, so  had my program director and the educational director for the physician residency write me a LOR for the position. 
 

Anyone have other tips on how best to get a PA faculty position and what they are looking for?
 

I emphasized my work establishing multiple MOUs for student rotations and creating a rural medicine rotation for PA residents to work with me, as well as other teaching opportunities. I’ve never worked in academics though.

I suspect this job is going to be really hard to get. Despite the fact I’m sure it’s a pay decrease, it’s a VERY small faculty and the program is what many consider to be one of the top PA schools. So I could use any pro tips.

[SHU-CH]

I think like a lot of positions, programs most appreciate flexibility. New faculty members will tend to start out teaching bread and butter courses like history taking and physical diagnosis, and also lecturing in upper level courses on topics that you have expertise or a special interest in. You also spend the first couple of years learning the ins and outs of student advising. 

It's also becoming increasingly important that you have some kind of scholarly agenda. You don't need to be able to cure cancer, but don't get caught flat-footed if they ask you what types of things you might be interested in researching. Topics could be related to almost anything in clinical medicine, education, or public health. 

If you go this route, the PA Education Association has excellent workshops for new faculty members. They are some of the best professional events I have attended - well worth your time. Good luck!

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

7 minutes ago, SHU-CH said:

It's also becoming increasingly important that you have some kind of scholarly agenda. You don't need to be able to cure cancer, but don't get caught flat-footed if they ask you what types of things you might be interested in researching. Topics could be related to almost anything in clinical medicine, education, or public health. 

Great tip! 

[Mayamom]

Best of luck.  I would love to teach physical exam but not able because I don't have a masters degree.  

[SHU-CH]

10 minutes ago, Mayamom said:

Best of luck.  I would love to teach physical exam but not able because I don't have a masters degree.  

It would be a barrier to a full-time position at a lot of institutions, but I'd bet you might be able to help out as an adjunct if you are really interested.

[MediMike]

@LT_Oneal_PACgood luck man! Any idea what they allow for clinical time? Or are you looking at dropping the clinical side?

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

2 minutes ago, MediMike said:

@LT_Oneal_PACgood luck man! Any idea what they allow for clinical time? Or are you looking at dropping the clinical side?

Never! No idea what they allow, but they allow at least some. I would prefer I go to something like a 48 hour shift every2 weeks, but we’ll see. If not, I’ll have a decision to make.

[EMEDPA]

Is this for a clinical coordinator position?

I would hate for the profession to lose you to full time teaching after the path you have walked to become a studly EMPA

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

1 hour ago, EMEDPA said:

Is this for a clinical coordinator position?

I would hate for the profession to lose you to full time teaching after the path you have walked to become a studly EMPA

Lol, I don’t know how studly I am, but I could never give up clinical time completely. At least not until I’m so old I’m disabled. I’m honestly not sure. This program is very integrated into the medical school. I’m not sure how they split the workload between them and the medical school, if at all. The person Who is leaving managed a “community” that has medical and pa students of all levels in them that help with “Formal and informal learning activities, professional skills acquisition, leadership development, team building, wellness promotion, service learning, and cultural competency building”

the only thing stated about the position is it is “clinical track.”

[SHU-CH]

1 hour ago, LT_Oneal_PAC said:

the only thing stated about the position is it is “clinical track.”

That's probably better for you. Being off the tenure track generally means you won't have huge research expectations (unless it is something you really want to do).

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

3 hours ago, SHU-CH said:

That's probably better for you. Being off the tenure track generally means you won't have huge research expectations (unless it is something you really want to do).

Yes, they did say it was non-tenure, which I am totally okay with. I’m not against research if given a bunch of medical and PA students to do the tedious stuff, haha! Really though, I tried to do a research project in residency and getting all the different people on board led me to just give up. It was exhausting. Everyone wanted their spin on the methods so they could slap their name on it.

[rev ronin]

4 hours ago, SHU-CH said:

That's probably better for you. Being off the tenure track generally means you won't have huge research expectations (unless it is something you really want to do).

How much does publication (research or other) really play into tenure decisions in PA programs?  It seems like the number of programs needing faculty continues to grow; I would expect major emphasis on research and publication is going to be a bigger deal when the bubble is well and truly burst and more PA programs are closing than openings.  Am I wrong?

[iconic]

1 hour ago, rev ronin said:

How much does publication (research or other) really play into tenure decisions in PA programs?  It seems like the number of programs needing faculty continues to grow; I would expect major emphasis on research and publication is going to be a bigger deal when the bubble is well and truly burst and more PA programs are closing than openings.  Am I wrong?

At my pretty reputable PA program attached to a med school, no faculty did any sort of research  

[SHU-CH]

1 hour ago, rev ronin said:

How much does publication (research or other) really play into tenure decisions in PA programs?  

Most places it's utterly important. While it varies from institution to institution, tenure decisions might be made by committees composed of faculty from a wide variety of fields - math, English, philosophy, etc. These folks live in a "publish or perish" world and think everyone one else should, too. 

Most schools are also baffled about how to calculate workload for faculty in programs like PA where faculty spend hours in hands-on physical diagnosis labs. It just doesn't compute for administrators that came up through other academic fields. 

Last PAEA report looks like there's just over 40% of PA faculty tenured or on the tenure track. 

Edited March 12, 2021 by SHU-CH

[SHU-CH]

12 minutes ago, iconic said:

At my pretty reputable PA program attached to a med school, no faculty did any sort of research  

That might come back to bite them if they ever want to move to another school. You don't need to win a Nobel prize, but if you are serious about a career in academics you need at least a little service and scholarship.

[iconic]

2 hours ago, SHU-CH said:

That might come back to bite them if they ever want to move to another school. You don't need to win a Nobel prize, but if you are serious about a career in academics you need at least a little service and scholarship.

I don’t disagree. Nursing colleges produce a lot of research, whereas, our profession seems to be opposed to original research and scholarship 

[rev ronin]

38 minutes ago, iconic said:

I don’t disagree. Nursing colleges produce a lot of research, whereas, our profession seems to be opposed to original research and scholarship 

Let's change that. I mean, more than a few of us are going to be doing PA Doctorates, so let's make sure we do capstone projects that are actually publishable.  Does anyone know if a DMSc or DHSc can serve as a principal investigator?

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

10 hours ago, rev ronin said:

Let's change that. I mean, more than a few of us are going to be doing PA Doctorates, so let's make sure we do capstone projects that are actually publishable.  Does anyone know if a DMSc or DHSc can serve as a principal investigator?

The problem is, nursing research is generally (sorry to offend) pretty bogus. Plentiful without significant meaning or alteration in practice. It’s not their fault as they have a similar problem that we do. Lack of time. Now, we could do real research, but it’s difficult to do that same level of research that PhDs and MDs do because we don’t have students with time for great research. I would say most academics get done what they do because residents and students are doing all the really hard work. PA students are primarily dealing with trying to become clinicians. We don’t get time off for research. Medical students sometimes get a whole year and residents can get a couple rotations (a few months) for pure research time. Even most of our doctorate students don’t get this much time to dedicate to research.

[MediMike]

11 hours ago, rev ronin said:

Let's change that. I mean, more than a few of us are going to be doing PA Doctorates, so let's make sure we do capstone projects that are actually publishable.  Does anyone know if a DMSc or DHSc can serve as a principal investigator?

It depends on the grant you're going after, as a student myself and faculty applied for multiple with her being a MS. If you're talking about IRB approval as PI it shouldn't be an issue, I'm performing a retro obs analysis at the moment with a lovely MPAS.

[rev ronin]

12 hours ago, LT_Oneal_PAC said:

The problem is, nursing research is generally (sorry to offend) pretty bogus.

Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly... at least at first.

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

31 minutes ago, rev ronin said:

Anything worth doing is worth doing poorly... at least at first.

Lol, fair enough

[LT_Oneal_PAC]

So I got an initial interview. They will take those and narrow it down to 4-5 select applicants that will interview in person. The interview seemed to go really well and I felt confident, but who knows. I think I'll know in a week if I get the in person interview. I'll know for sure their final decision on me by the end of April. 

The noted the research requirements are far less, but sounds like there is a research component. Typically they allow a day off per week for clinical work. Many work 20% in clinical time, some more and some less. They seem amenable to working around the schedule so I could possibly keep my current position. The PD seemed like a really nice guy and the program seems great.

I've built this position up a lot in my head. I'm going to be really disappointed if it doesn't work out, but I've tried to tell myself I probably won't since I have zero academic faculty experience. One still hopes...

[EMEDPA]

On 3/11/2021 at 9:59 PM, rev ronin said:

Let's change that. I mean, more than a few of us are going to be doing PA Doctorates, so let's make sure we do capstone projects that are actually publishable.  Does anyone know if a DMSc or DHSc can serve as a principal investigator?

Yes, Mike Halasy at Mayo does a lot with his DHSc. 

https://mcpiqojournal.org/content/halasy

[EMEDPA]

10 minutes ago, LT_Oneal_PAC said:

 

I've built this position up a lot in my head. I'm going to be really disappointed if it doesn't work out, but I've tried to tell myself I probably won't since I have zero academic faculty experience. One still hopes...

You have a great background, military service, a residency under your belt, and you are currently in a doctoral program...

[MediMike]

2 hours ago, EMEDPA said:

You have a great background, military service, a residency under your belt, and you are currently in a doctoral program...

Yeah this is exactly it @LT_Oneal_PAC.  I can't imagine a better candidate, although if in some weird world I was listed as a reference I'd probably tank your chances just to keep you practicing and making us all look good.