Faculty Development Seminars Provide Tools for Academic Careers

Those in the early stages of their careers will gain insights into successful academic careers from experts during the new Faculty Development Seminars from 7 to 8 a.m. today and Tuesday in Room 410 A-B (Level 4) Hilton San Diego Bayfront. Developed by the ATS Members In Transition and Training Committee, the seminars are tailored to clinical and research fellows, postdoctoral fellows, residents, and junior faculty pursuing academic careers in pulmonary, allergy, critical care, and/or sleep medicine. Registration is required.

Today’s seminar, “How to Successfully Compete for an Academic Job: What the Division Directors Want and Do not Want in Candidates,” will feature three division directors who will offer guidance on what they look for in applicants within the physician-scientist, clinician educator, and clinician tracks of their organizations.

“To successfully compete for academic positions it’s important for applicants to make sure their CVs accurately reflect their accomplishments, articulate what types of positions they’re looking for, and determine if a job at an institution matches their expectations,” speaker, Lynn Schnapp, MD, chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Sleep Medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston.

For example, a candidate applying for a physician-scientist post should have a proven track record in publications and grants, she adds.

“Our goal is to help applicants put their best feet forward and give them an understanding what division chiefs are looking for,” Dr. Schnapp says.

Tuesday’s seminar, “The Roadmap to Success in Early Academic Career Development: Your First Five Years,” will provide strategies for those who are within the first five years of their careers, the transitional period between completing fellowship and starting as junior faculty.

Planners called on audience registrants to send questions prior to the conference, and those questions will be winnowed down for the five speakers to address.

“We wanted to create something that was more interactive and leveraged the audience’s input, and we wanted to share concrete tools,” says Moderator Jeremy Richards, MD, MA, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and associate director of the Medical ICU at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston.

Time management issues, prioritizing obligations, interacting with division or department chairs, and developing successful collaborations are among the topics planned.

“This is an opportunity for participants to interact with and gain strategies from an impressive group of successful academics. I am hopeful that the session will be engaging for the panel and participants,” Dr. Richards says.

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