Since it has come up recently both here and at work, thought I'd share a few tips I picked up when going through the promotion process at an academic medical center earlier this year.
#Medtwitter
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The first is to read your center's promotion manual and any info on the faculty affairs website VERY carefully. This crap is hella confusing & there can be a lot of minute details. "WTF?!?" was something I commonly thought to myself during this process...
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Every place has their own designations for the various tracks, & criteria for promotion. Most places hold info sessions, & it's worth your time to attend one (or more) to hear what the experts have to say & to ask questions (lots of questions). Picking the right track helps!
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Another key thing to do early is to speak to leadership in your division/dept. They'll know if you're ready to go up or not. They likely have an internal pre-review committee, & its better to hear from them what needs to be added/revised as opposed to the actual committee.
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A fantastic thing I discovered on my center's website is that Faculty Affairs offered consultations to review CVs & promotion packages. SUPER helpful to make sure format/layout was correct (it matters), that nothing important was missing, things were in the right place, etc.
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Side note related to that - make sure you are well-acquainted with your institution's internal CV format. It's probably nightmarishly long and annoying, but it is usually required, and is a good way of forcing you to remember EVERYTHING you've ever done.
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Getting letters of reference is one of the most stressful parts about the promotion package because you have limited control over it. You generally need to have letters from both "partial" and "impartial" referees.
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Pay close attention to what your center defines as "impartial". It is likely there will be people you know (or know via colleagues - "Kevin Bacon game" style) who qualify as "impartial". You shouldn't just suggest a bunch of strangers with expertise in your field.
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While most folks want to help others get promoted (& have been there themselves!), if you know someone is more likely to write you a letter that is both strong & done in a timely fashion, then why not choose them?!? Anything that makes the process less stressful is great!
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In addition to evaluators, find other good stuff people have said about you to use. Good teaching evals? Use trainees' comments. Nice note from a patient? Include in your clinical portfolio. Email from colleague saying they liked a talk u gave or Tweetorial u did? Use it.
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Reputation in your field is often a part of academic promotion. One way to demonstrate that is giving talks. Haven't done many? Chat with some friends about inviting each other to give talks to your team/trainees - super easy/free to do over Zoom & shows you are in demand!
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"Am I really good enough to get promoted?" is the "elephant in the room" question, and it's where the #ImposterSyndrome really kicks in hard. Take a deep breath and step back for a second. Remember you deserve to be where you are and you're awesome.
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This is especially an issue for women in medicine. We are much more likely than men to under- rather than oversell ourselves. This is NOT the time for that. You are showing the committee why you should be promoted!! Future invited talks, papers in development, sell it all!
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A senior male doc told me my package was "direct and not shy" (see? one of those WTF?? moments)
I'm sure no one says that crap to men, and, um, isn't that the point?? This is the time to say "I'm pretty great, you should appreciate all I do for this place & act accordingly".
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The higher you go up the academic ranks in medicine, the fewer women you have in each category - only 37% of associate and 25% of full professors. So it's REALLY important that more women get promoted! @AAMCtoday @AMWADoctors @WIMSummit
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The metrics for promotion are finicky, so make sure you're including everything you do and paying close attention to guidelines for your chosen track. You may have to present something in a different way depending on your main focus in the institution.
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If a colleague has successfully gone through this, it can be helpful to review their paperwork & see how they packaged things. And include EVERYTHING - journal reviewer, committee member, leader of a particular clinical program, involved in team science, etc - it all adds up.
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Don't let the process make you feel like "I haven't accomplished anything." Rather, realize "Hey, I've done a lot of stuff!" And whether it's patient care, teaching, research, admin, or likely a combo, this is your time to own it! You have to embrace it to sell it.
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So if you've been thinking about going up for promotion, get working on your package!!! Your institution should WANT you to succeed so they should be on your team. And so is the Twitterverse.

OK #MedTwitter, drop any suggestions u have for the promotion process!!
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