The Organization and Regulation of Voluntary Faculty

A large number of psychiatrists have been, or are currently, unpaid, voluntary, or “clinical” faculty. In 1987-1988, in 127 medical schools, there were approximately 122,000 clinical faculty members, outnumbering regular faculty by approximately two to one. Yet, in contrast to primary faculty, administrative policies (e.g., appointment, reappointment, promotion) regarding clinical faculty are often ill-defined or absent entirely. We discovered in a survey of 8 departments of psychiatry that most departments do not have separate administrative guidelines or policies for these faculty. This article addresses specific mechanisms for determining clinical faculty membership and duties and suggests policies for appointment, reappointment, and promotion. The authors focus on administrative management strategies, such as the creation of a departmental Clinical Faculty Committee and the consideration of quality assurance issues.