Clinical Faculty Academic Appointments

Policy
Clinical Faculty Appointment Types
Application Process and Documentation Requirements
Step-by-Step Guide to Applying for an Academic Appointment
Department of Medicine Requirements for Appointment at the Rank of Assistant Professor
Department of Medicine Requirements for Appointment at the Rank of Lecturer
Foreign Trained Physicians  
DAC Meetings for the Academic Year

Policy

All clinical (MD) academic appointments are governed by the Policy for Clinical Faculty and Procedures Manual for the Policy for Clinical Faculty, available at Faculty of Medicine Clinical Affairs website.

All faculty members’ clinical activities fall under the jurisdiction of any relevant site(s) in which they practice and the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO).

Clinical Faculty Appointment Types

Clinical faculty (MDs) may be appointed full-time, part-time, or as adjunct clinical faculty. As of January 2024, the distribution of clinical faculty by appointment type was: Full-time 52.5%, Part-time 14.3%, and Adjunct 33.2%.

An overview of these types of appointments is provided here:

Table 1: Description of Full-time, Part-time and Adjunct Clinical Appointment Types

* Year-end refers to the end of the academic year (June 30). Requests for activity reports will be sent out in April of each year.

** For details, please refer to the Procedures Manual for the Policy for Clinical Faculty. 

*** Health Profession Education Requirement: All clinical part-time faculty members recruited to the Department of Medicine with the academic position description of Clinician Teacher are expected to complete training in health professional education within three years of initial appointment. Please see CFD website for options.

Application Process and Documentation Requirements:

The Office of the Chief of Medicine has overall responsibility for the assembly and submission of requests for appointment. Complete application packages must be submitted online via Laserfische. This includes:

• Online Application Form (to be completed and submitted by the Chief of Medicine’s office or equivalent)
• Joint Letter of support from Chief of Medicine and departmental division director (full-time faculty) or Departmental Division Director (full-time clinical faculty appointment) or a Letter of support from Chief of Medicine (requests for part-time and adjunct clinical faculty appointment). Individuals in private practice require approval by the Departmental Division Director.
• Updated Curriculum Vitae
• Academic Position Description
• Summary of Teaching Experiences for appointments in the position of Clinician Teacher, irrespective of appointment type
• Academic Plan (required for all full-time clinical faculty, completed document must be signed by the PIC, DDD, formal mentor, and applicant, and included with the academic position description)
• Academic Activities (required for all adjunct and part-time clinical faculty, completed document must be signed by the Chief of Medicine, if hospital-based, and included with the academic position description)
• Two Internal Reference Letters and two External Reference Letters (required for ALL full-time faculty and also for part-time and adjunct faculty at the rank of assistant professor or higher)
• A copy of the CPSO Certificate of Professional Conduct
• Search details (position postings, search committee membership, list of applicants including those short-listed for interview, justification for candidate selection - required for full-time faculty)

Approval: Applications are reviewed by the Department Appointments Committee, which meets monthly. Recommendations from this committee are submitted to the Department Chair for approval, and subsequent approval from the Dean or Dean’s Delegate.

Requirement to Report all Information Relevant to Clinical Academic Appointment

As stated in the Procedures Manual for the Policy for Clinical (MD) Faculty, all faculty, irrespective of appointment type, must self-report to the University Department Chair all information relevant to the clinical academic appointment.

When applying for appointment, all faculty must self-report to the University Department Chair prior findings of negligence and investigation and/or finding of guilt of a criminal offence, academic misconduct, incompetence, or any form of professional misconduct by a court or the CPSO’s Discipline Committee or Fitness to Practice Committee (or its equivalent in any jurisdiction).

While holding an appointment, all faculty must self-report to the University Department Chair within seven working days of receipt of notification or knowledge of such a conviction, finding or investigation. 

For an investigation by the Discipline Committee or Fitness to Practice Committee (or its equivalent in any jurisdiction), self-reporting must conform to all applicable policies and procedures, including, but not limited to, hospital by-laws and CPSO regulations.

Department of Medicine Requirements for Appointment at the Rank of Assistant Professor 

As stated in the Procedures Manual for the Policy for Clinical (MD) Faculty, the Temerty Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto requires the successful completion of advanced training AND demonstrated scholarship for initial appointment at the rank of assistant professor or higher. Both the advanced training and scholarship should be relevant to the proposed academic appointment/academic position description.

Advanced Training:

Requirements for advanced training varies by academic position description, as summarized in Table 2, below. Advanced training refers to successful completion of a recognized graduate program or an advanced training experience deemed equivalent in a field related to current academic work. In some cases, secondary level resident training or one to two years of fellowship training may be considered the equivalent to an advanced degree. For example, completion of the Department of Medicine’s Master Teacher Program is considered advanced training for Clinician Teachers.

Demonstrated Scholarship:

Evidence of scholarship ensures that the individual is not only knowledgeable but can apply this knowledge in the form of one or more of excellence in teaching, creative professional activities, and/or research.  

For appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor, it is expected that the candidate will have:

• At least one or two published (or accepted) first authored peer-reviewed publications in well regarded journals in their field at the time of request for appointment (excluding case reports, editorials, letters to editor, book reviews)

OR

• Documentation clearly demonstrating educational and/or creative professional accomplishments that includes convincing evidence of one or more of the following: a) sustained excellence in teaching b) design and implementation of curricula, educational offerings and/or educational materials c) Creative Professional Activity (CPA), such as the setting of practice standards.

Demonstrating Scholarship in Teaching & Education:

Scholarship in teaching and education is based on the overall quality and quantity of teaching experience (types of teaching, learner levels, teaching evaluations, awards, teaching innovations, etc.). Individuals applying for appointment as a Clinician Teacher or Clinician Educator and all full-time clinical faculty recruits must complete the Summary of Teaching Experience form and include in the request for appointment submission all available teaching evaluations.

Scholarship through Research:

Research scholarship is demonstrated through traditional metrics, e.g., peer-reviewed publications and operating grants, graduate teaching supervision, the success of one’s trainees, receipt of research awards and honours, and invitations to speak at national and international research symposia. Excellence in research is also demonstrated by the impact the research has or has potential to have – directly or indirectly - on the health of the population.

Individuals seeking appointment as a researcher (CI, CE, CS, RS) should have at least one or two published (or accepted) first authored peer-reviewed publications in well regarded journals in their field (excluding case reports, editorials, letters to editor, book reviews).

Scholarship through Creative Professional Activities (CPA):

CPA is a broad term that refers to: 1. Contributions to the Development of Professional Practices, e.g., health policy development, regulatory committees, setting of standards; 2. Exemplary Professional Practice, e.g., teaching techniques, educational innovations, curriculum development, models of care innovations (e.g. role of EMR prompts, standardized pathways, pre-printed patient ‘order sets’, on quality and safety of inpatient care or resident experience); leadership in development of professional practice (e.g. tools to enhance physician communication, professionalism); and 3. Professional Innovation and Creative Excellence, e.g., patient videos, curriculum innovations, use of digital technologies or other devices to improve care and outcomes.

Individuals seeking appointment to conduct CPA-related work should provide documentation clearly demonstrating CPA accomplishments.

Department of Medicine Requirements for Appointment at the Rank of Lecturer

Individuals deemed not to have met the criteria for appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor may be considered for appointment at the rank of Lecturer.  A community preceptor or other adjunct or part-time clinical faculty will usually be appointed at the rank of lecturer. Individuals appointed at the rank of lecturer may be promoted to assistant professor via junior promotion, once they meet eligibility criteria or based on sustained commitment to the academic mission.

Foreign-Trained Physicians:

Currently, to be eligible for CPSO academic certificate of registration, foreign-trained physicians must be eligible for clinical full-time or (rarely) clinical part-time appointment at the rank of assistant professor or higher.

DAC Meetings for the 2023-2024 Academic Year

Important Note: Due to a high volume of faculty appointment requests, we are unable to guarantee that submitting <1 week prior to the submission deadline will ensure applications are reviewed at the next scheduled DAC meeting.

We understand all clinical sites have important deadlines and strive to have faculty appointments approved through the department, University and CPSO where required, as quickly as possible. Please contact the appointments office to confirm which meeting date submissions have been scheduled to be reviewed. We may need submitting offices to provide prioritization where there are multiple requests received at once.

Please contact the Department Academic Appointments Office at dom.academicappts@utoronto.ca with any questions.