The Promotion Game

Medical college faculty train many years to learn a field, but receive little advice on success in the world of academia. While passing on knowledge and skills to new learners is rewarding, attaining promotion and tenure requires another skill set. Academic success can be approached as a game, one with rules and strategy that those in the know can use to their advantage. This guidebook provides an overview of the promotion game with special attention for clinical faculty; however, much of its advice will be useful for others within the academic health center as well.

Pascale Lane is a Professor of Pediatrics in the section of Pediatric Nephrology at the Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center since September 2011. She received her MD from the University of Missouri- Kansas City and trained in Pediatrics at Rush Medical College in Chicago. Her fellowship in Nephrology was at University of Minnesota. In 2008 the American Society of Nephrology selected her as founding editor of ASN Kidney News, its national magazine. Dr. Lane is a member of many professional organizations in Nephrology and associated scientific disciplines. She performs and publishes basic, clinical, and educational research, teaches in the lecture hall and clinic, and cares for patients in her specialty. Other interests include faculty development, particularly writing skills, research administration, and the evolving role of social media in medicine and science. Her interest in faculty development led her to write The Promotion Game: Your Guide to Success in the Academic Medical Center. Many junior faculty members with clinical training have not been adequately prepared to succeed in the academic world. This book proves a short, easy-to-read guide to help them stay on track for promotion and tenure. In addition to her personal site, she blogs as WhizBANG! at the Scientopia Group.