Supporting voluntary faculty members in departments of psychiatry

Unpaid voluntary faculty members do substantial amounts of teaching in medical schools. This article discusses strategies for recruitment, retention, and development for these individuals.

The authors describe a compendium of literature searches and their own experience administering a large medical student education program and residency programs.

Voluntary faculty members are internally motivated to teach. Concrete or monetary compensation is much less valued than simple acknowledgment and teaching-excellence awards.

Departments should thoughtfully decide how they wish to reward voluntary faculty members for their contributions. Small gestures of gratitude generally are appreciated out of proportion to their intrinsic value. Departments can successfully retain excellent teachers who contribute to the educational mission without spending scarce resources.