• William J Hueston, Joseph J Benich, and Natalie J Christian.
• Department of Family Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin.
• Fam Med. 2014 Jan 1;46(1):36-8.

BackgroundFamily medicine research productivity has been reported to be less than that of other academic disciplines. This difference could be reflected in academic success for family medicine faculty at schools where National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding in emphasized. This study sought to determine if academic rank for family medicine faculty was different at schools with higher NIH funding compared to those with less funding.MethodsFrom the latest available list of NIH funding by institution, we selected 10 medical schools each from the higher, middle, and lowest tertile of overall funding (30 total schools). Using departmental web sites, we compared the percentage of family medicine faculty at assistant, associate, and professor rankings with those of other generalist divisions and two other sample departments.ResultsThe distribution of faculty ranks for family medicine faculty does not differ based on the level of NIH funding of the school. When compared to other disciplines, family medicine faculty were less likely to be at advanced ranks compared to some disciplines (neurology) but more likely than in others (general internal medicine).ConclusionThe level of NIH funding does not appear to be a predictor of success at achieving higher faculty ranks for family medicine faculty.

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