An Academic Achievement Calculator for Clinician-Educators in Primary Care

Academic medical centers need better ways to quantify the diverse academic contributions of primary care clinician-educators. We examined the feasibility and acceptability of an "academic achievement calculator" that quantifies academic activities using a point system.

A cohort of 16 clinician-educators at a single academic medical center volunteered to assess the calculator using a questionnaire. Key measures included time needed to complete the calculator, how well it reflected participants' academic activities, whether it increased their awareness of academic opportunities, whether they intend to pursue more academic work, and their overall satisfaction with the calculator.

Most participants (69%) completed the calculator in less than 20 minutes. Three-quarters (75%) reported that the calculator reflected the breadth of their academic work either "very well" or "extremely well". The majority (81%) stated that it increased their awareness of opportunities for academic engagement, and that they intend to pursue more academic activities. Overall, three-quarters (75%) were "very satisfied" or "extremely satisfied" with the calculator.

To our knowledge, this is the first report of a tool designed to quantify the diverse academic activities of primary care clinician-educators. In this pilot study, we found that the use of an academic achievement calculator may be feasible and acceptable. This tool, if paired with an annual bonus plan, could help incentivize and reward academic contributions among primary care clinician-educators, and assist department leaders with the promotion process.