Expectations of and for the medicine clerkship director.

Abstract

Maintaining quality in curriculum and evaluation in core clerkship rotations requires the supervision of a dedicated individual, who is not only expert in the subject matter of internal medicine but skilled in educational practice and in administration. This CDIM commentary aims to facilitate the mentoring of the clerkship director by listing expectations of and for the position. The clerkship director should have resources commensurate with the tasks to be performed. On average, clerkship directors report spending 28% of their time on clerkship administration (CDIM Evaluation Task Force Survey, 1996; unpublished data). CDIM recommends that 25% should be considered a minimum estimate of time for the "essential" administrative aspects of running a clerkship, not including time spent teaching students in seminars and lectures or in patient care activities. If scholarly activity in the clerkship is to be a principal measure of productivity towards academic promotion, then additional time will have to part of the clerkship director's week. Since a personal role in teaching is usual and scholarly productivity desirable, a minimum of 50% of a full-time equivalent should be expected.