UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA
MEDICAL SCHOOL
FACULTY HANDBOOK
Welcome and introduction to the University of Minnesota Medical School.
The University of Minnesota came into existence in 1851, even before Minnesota had attained statehood. Medicine and Science were among the original academic disciplines, which set the framework for the eventual creation of the Academic Health Center on the Twin Cities Campus. The Medical School offered its first classes in 1888. A two-year School of Medicine on the Duluth campus with an emphasis in Primary Care, Rural Medicine, and American Indian Health accepted its first students in 1972. In 2004, the Duluth school joined with the Twin Cities program to establish one Medical School on two campuses. Further details on the history of the institution can be found at:
The University of Minnesota is a public land grant research-intensive university that has a dual commitment to serving the needs of the population of the State of Minnesota and advancing knowledge in the arts and sciences. Six of the University's 20 colleges are brought together in the Academic Health Center : School of Dentistry, Medical School, School of Nursing, College of Pharmacy, School of Public Health, and the College of Veterinary Medicine. The Medical School is fully integrated into the University and thus enjoys opportunities for collaboration across many disciplines. The Medical School 's tripartite mission of education, research, and clinical care require faculty committed to excellence in each component of the mission. The Medical School priorities for expanding basic, translational, and clinical biomedical research, to discover new knowledge and ultimately improve diagnoses and cures, include five programmatic areas: cancer; cardiovascular/ pulmonary; diabetes and the metabolic syndrome; infectious disease/immunology; and, neuroscience. These priority areas are supported by three areas of technology: genetics/ genomics; imaging; and, stem cell sciences. It is within these guiding principles that faculty recruitment, development, and retention are executed.
Physician faculty practice at the school's major affiliates: University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview; Hennepin County Medical Center; Regions Hospital; the Veteran's Administration Medical Center; as well as at numerous other hospitals and clinics in proximity to the Twin Cities and Duluth campuses. University of Minnesota Medical School physician full time faculty are members of University of Minnesota Physicians. This independent, not-for-profit organization was founded in 1997 as the practice group for the physician faculty and is governed by a board of directors. UMPhysicians acts as an agent for the Board of Regents of the University and is legally aligned with the University of Minnesota. As a premier multi-specialty physician organization, UMPhysicians provides high-quality, patient-focused clinical care while embracing the research and educational endeavors of the University of Minnesota Medical School , which allows the practice group to continue making significant advances in medicine.
The tripartite mission of the Medical School requires a faculty with many skills and unique strengths. Accordingly, the school has adopted a system of appointments to accommodate the complementary roles and build upon its rich tradition as a leading medical school in a research-intensive university environment. The Medical School 's faculty groups are defined in the school's constitution and bylaws, and include faculty on the regular track, the clinical scholar track, and affiliate faculty. Many community-based volunteer adjunct faculty practitioners serve as preceptors in the medical education programs.
This handbook is intended to provide information for all faculty at various stages in their careers. The faculty tracks available in the Medical School are:
Clinical Scholar track: For faculty whose work is a mix of teaching, scholarship, and applied medical science. Faculty on this track are contract faculty whose appointment requires a probationary period but does not offer tenure at the University of Minnesota .
Regular Faculty track: For faculty whose primary work is research, but who also teach and provide service. This track includes a probationary period leading to review for tenure at the University of Minnesota .
Adjunct Faculty track: For unpaid faculty who volunteer to teach medical students and/or residents within the context of their clinical practice.
Track Transfers: Clinical Scholars are eligible to transfer to the tenure track if a national search was conducted in filling their original position. The chair must be in agreement with the transfer and must sign the track transfer form with the faculty member.
The handbook is divided into six sections:
For your convenience, this handbook includes links to additional websites, lists of current contacts, a compilation of university documents most referred to by faculty, and Medical School specific documents.
QUESTIONS: If you have any questions or need further assistance, please contact the Medical School Faculty Affairs Office in C605 Mayo at 612-624-5442 or msfacaff@umn.edu .
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