Harold B. Haley

Compensation for Volunteer Clinical Faculty

Medical schools are extending medical education to nearby and remote communities, thus increasing practicing physician involvement in the education of students and residents. Some volunteer physicians believe that in the tradition of the Hippocratic oath, where one was taught by those who came before, one has the responsibility to teach the next generation. For other volunteer physicians, the primary motivations are that teaching is fun and intellectually stimulating as well as a form of continuing medical education. A students intense approach to clinical problems is a strong learning stimulus for the teaching physician. Under which circumstances should volunteer teachers be paid? The amount of time given for teaching should be considered. A second consideration is whether the teaching is part of the normal activities of the physician or whether it requires him to develop new schedules, responsibilities, and roles. In medical schools and teaching hospitals, membership on the staff includes