Careers and Promotions

Career Pathways, roadmaps and goals will be different depending where you are in your career and your point of entry into the field of research. The NIH provides an excellent Career Path overview, covering Undergraduate Education, Early Career, Graduate / Clinical Doctorate, Established Investigator and Post-doctorate / Residency.

Research Education Programs at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Master of Science in Clinical Research (MSCR) program is comprised of a two year curriculum that provides an exceptional and dynamic educational experience. You can find out more here.

The Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP) is a one-year, certificate version of the Master’s program, which focuses on core work in biostatistics and epidemiology. You can find out more here.

The Master of Public Health (MPH) program is a fully accredited two-year competency-based program requires coursework in one of eight, specialty tracks as well as a 150-hour, Applied Practice Experience, and a Culminating Experience. You can find out more here.

Academic Appointments at Mount Sinai

Mount Sinai offers a range of different academic appointments. Faculty at the rank of Instructor or higher in the Investigator Track, the Clinician and/or Educator Track, the Research Track and the Clinical Practice Track are expected to possess doctoral degrees and to have completed their academic training. Doctoral degrees include Doctor of Medicine, Dentistry, Podiatric Medicine, Veterinary Medicine, Osteopathy, Jurisprudence, Public Health, Science, Social Work, and Philosophy (PhD).

The Mount Sinai Faculty Handbook provides further information about each of these tracks, and you can follow the links below to find out more about the track you are interested in.

 

Investigator track

The Investigator Track is designed for faculty whose principal responsibilities involve innovation and discovery.

Instructor Track

Instructor level may be extended to individuals who have demonstrated excellence in research and/or clinical practice and/or education of medical and/or graduate students and/or postdoctoral trainees, with potential to contribute as experts, innovators and leaders in their fields.

Clinical and / or Educator Track

Candidates for appointment or promotion in the Clinician and/or Educator Track will be evaluated based on the sum of their academic accomplishments in five major categories of activities: clinical care, education, administrative functions, research/scholarship, and funding.

Research Track

The Research Track is designed for scientists who are key members of a research team, support the activities of multiple investigators or a Shared Resource Facility (SRF), or play a substantial institutional leadership role that broadly supports the School’s scientific enterprise. 

Clinical Practice Track and / or Administrative Leadership

This Track is designed for full-time faculty physicians and select other clinically-oriented faculty who devote 90 percent or more of their professional activities to clinical practice, clinical teaching, clinical laboratory leadership, and/or leadership roles in clinical administration.

Other Full-Time Titles

These appointments include Research Assistant, Teaching Assistant and Associate.

Preparing for Promotion at Mount Sinai

  • Attend “Navigating the Promotion Process” sessions organized by the Mount Sinai Office of Academic Development and Enrichment containing a panel discussion with freshly promoted faculty and members of the Promotion Committee followed by Q&A.
  • Start your Mount Sinai format Curriculum Vitae ASAP. Update it regularly with any awards, publications, graduating students, grants, invited talks, conference presentations, service on committees, service on review boards, or service as journal reviewer. It will be hard to remember everything if you start writing your CV right before applying for promotion.
  • Identify what track you are on and what the requirements are for your next promotion (different for clinical/educator track vs. research track vs. academic track).
  • Show your CV to senior faculty to identify weaknesses and assess your readiness for promotion (e.g., need more invited talks or senior author publications or teaching activities).