Trends in Faculty Attrition at U.S. Medical Schools, 1980-1999

Access to reliable, nationwide data on faculty attrition is essential for leaders in academic medicine who wish to put the rates and patterns of faculty leaving their own institutions within a national context. To provide these data, AAMC researchers have analyzed trends in the attrition of full-time faculty in U.S. medical schools over a 20-year period between 1980 and 1999. In this analysis, we addressed the following questions: 1) Are medical school faculty members leaving their positions at an increasing rate? 2) Do trends in attrition rates vary among faculty by degree (M.D. vs. Ph.D.) and department type (clinical vs. basic science)? and 3) Do trends in attrition rates vary among faculty by gender and race? 

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