Clinical Professor Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of a clinical professor. Feel free to use our job description template to produce your own clinical professor job description. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as a clinical professor.
Who is a Clinical Professor?
A Clinical professor is an expert who works in medical, legal, business schools, institutions, and more, depending on their field. Most clinical professors are medically-focused, so you are likely to see this role in the medical sector compared to others. A clinical professor in medicine, as the name implies, works closely with patients to help them understand their illness and determine the best treatment options.
Clinical professors are frequently needed to have substantial expertise in their profession. They may need to finish more training or work as an assistant before taking on full-time teaching duties. They must also be able to display a thorough comprehension of the most recent research findings and be able to translate this information into patient recommendations. The primary responsibilities of this position are teaching or managing students in the practice requirements of their degree programs in a manner that advances the educational mission of the university in a significant way.
Clinical professors may also conduct research and publish findings in academic journals. Clinical professors do a lot of research work. Firstly, they search for pending issues in their field or a topic that has not been addressed as it should. Then get funding either from their purses or apply for one from institutes that give scholarships for the purpose. They use these funds to travel to places and get first-hand information on their chosen topic, both theoretical and practical. They also source information from already written works. After gathering enough information, analyses, and specimen, they sometimes get contributions from their colleagues, then send the work for review and editing. They also work with students to design research proposals, examine their research proposals, and evaluate the results. They assist students in learning how to search for a research topic, how to conduct research, and the whole process and achieve results. They also support students who plan to publish their works by contributing to them or reviewing them.
Clinical professors must be licensed to practice in their field. This license requires that they meet educational and professional standards set by the state or country where they work. They can be full-time, part-time, or volunteers; and are known for focusing on skills training rather than theoretical issues; as a result, most members should have extensive practical experience in their fields.
Clinical professors can specialize in professions such as medical, dentistry, business, legal, and nursing. Their job entails instructing students in practical rather than theoretical aspects while retaining their professional work. They frequently work in a large research university, where they can balance the teaching program with their duties.
Clinical academics provide students with the necessary intellectual and practical skills to advance their careers as aspiring medical professionals. Clinical professors teach at their institutes as well as nearby medical facilities. One of the most satisfying aspects of being a clinical professor is the opportunity to impart practical knowledge while walking along their career path and guiding students on their own. The educational credentials that a clinical professor must have vary based on the field of specialty. They must be a medical doctor, for example, if they want to be a clinical professor in medical school.
Some clinical professors are visiting professors, so they visit different healthcare centers and institutes to impact knowledge, theoretically and practically. As part of your work responsibilities, you must guarantee that you meet the course objectives and that long-term professional relationships with students are maintained. You should be conversant with numerous clinical terminologies and activities, as well as have a research-driven approach, to be able to execute in this job capacity. You should also have strong communication and presentation abilities. You should also be able to deliver clear directions and foster a learning environment.
Clinical professors work in hospitals, medical schools, or other healthcare settings. They could even have their private practices. Their working hours vary depending on their job responsibilities, although they are usually full-time employees. Many clinical professors also teach seminars or undertake research, which necessitates more time. Clinical professors may work evenings or weekends to suit their client’s schedules. They might also be on-call, meaning they are available to their patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Clinical professors progress in their careers by taking on more responsibility within their organizations, such as becoming department heads or deans. They could also advance by participating in further research or publicizing their work. Clinical academics may take on administrative roles within their organizations or even open their practice in some situations.
Clinical Professor Job Description
Below are the clinical professor job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write a clinical professor job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
- Teach lesson plans and theories in a physical classroom and through online courses.
- Supervise student-patient relationships and activities.
- Prepare and assess practical and academic assignments.
- Perform research in their field of expertise.
- Offer psychiatric care and assistance to patients.
- Explain new techniques and practices to medical practitioners.
- Consult with medical institutions about curriculum development and new programs and practice implementation.
- Examine the scientific literature and publish the results of research in peer-reviewed publications.
- Maintain professional certification by taking continuing education classes.
- Assist students in making sensible clinical decisions.
- Motivate students to improve their clinical skills and knowledge.
- Engage in and organize a variety of educational activities and events.
- Visit institutes and healthcare facilities as a visiting professor.
- Encourage and maintain professional ties with students.
Qualifications
- High school certificate
- Associate’s or Bachelor’s degree
- Master’s degree in a chosen field
- Extensive teaching experience and practice (or clinical training for the medics)
- Has contributed to journals and other published works
Essential Skills
Clinical professors need the following skills to be successful in their field:
- Teaching: Before you become a clinical professor, you should have excellent teaching skills in your field. Even after you become one, you still have to teach students in a classroom environment or whatever setting deems fit at that moment. You will teach not just undergraduates but master’s students and your fellow professors. Being a great teacher means you know how to explain topics and initiate interactive sessions between you and your students. You should know how to engage them in a way they can freely ask questions when they do not understand a topic or term.
- Data collection and Research: You should be good at data collection and research to excel as a clinical professor. You can hardly find a clinical professor that does not have published works to their name. They involve themselves in a lot of research. When they find a research topic, they use their money or apply for funds to gather data; from internet sources to first-hand sources, they even travel to far places if the need arises. They use research methods like quantity and qualitative to make the process possible. They also get data through various means such as interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, existing data, and other forms.
- Time management: Clinical professors are usually busy as they may have a variety of responsibilities, including teaching, research, and taking care of patients (for those in the medical field). They learn how to organize their tasks and manage their time so they can finish their assignments on time. Some travel a lot as visiting academics, then the next day, they might have a workshop to facilitate or a client to take care of, so proper time management should be in their basic skills.
- Communication: Clinical professors interact with students, profs, officials, and patients regularly. They may communicate verbally to teach lesson contents, respond to student inquiries, and provide comments. Clinical instructors write emails, evaluate assignments, and engage with other profs using textual communication. They push themselves to focus on patient or client involvement to enhance results; this implies they must be able to effectively interact with patients and assist them in comprehending the need to adhere to treatment regimens. Clinical professors should learn to improve their communication, education, and counseling skills as patient engagement becomes increasingly crucial. They must also be able to collaborate with other members of the healthcare team to guarantee that patients receive the care they require.
- Interpersonal and Collaboration: Clinical professors frequently collaborate with their colleagues and students, so they must be approachable. Sometimes, their work entails working with other experts in the field to develop and execute new courses; this may necessitate a collaborative approach in which they may work with others to explore new ideas and find answers. Some are consultants and have private practices. If you know your onions as a clinical professor and do not know how to collaborate in your industry; you might have a problem finding clients or getting invited for professional purposes by the people in your field.
- Technological: Technology is the present and future, so every career is learning to incorporate it for a better process and experience. Telehealth is a growing trend that is rapidly altering how healthcare is delivered. Telehealth is the distribution of medical services and information electronically. Hospital patients can now receive care from doctors and nurses that are hundreds of miles distant due to technological advancements. This development is a significant impact on the medical industry since it allows for more efficient resource allocation and ensures that patients receive high-quality care. Clinical professors will learn to use technological tools to incorporate telehealth into their teaching approaches. There are cases where a clinical professor’s attention is needed; but might be stuck in traffic or experiencing flight delay, so they have to communicate through their devices through video calls to offer the required service.
- Inquisitive and open to learning: No one expects them to know everything as clinical professors, however, they expect them to be experts in their field. Clinical professors should understand how to integrate quality improvement practices in their courses as quality improvement becomes increasingly significant; this includes constructing critical thinking-promoting learning environments and developing evaluation tools. To achieve these, you should be keen on acquiring knowledge; by reading, researching, writing, asking questions, and more.
How to Become a Clinical Professor
A clinical professor’s level is remarkable as it is not something one wakes up and becomes just like that; it takes different paths in education, years of hard work, academic contribution, and practice to get there.
You have to, first of all, graduate from high school to become one. After high school, you go for your associate’s or bachelor’s degree. The clinical professorship is more common in the medical field, although there are other fields in a person that can become one, such as law, business, psychology, veterinary, and others. That is to say that you have to get your first degree in any of those courses. For instance, if your goal is to become a veterinary doctor, you should study veterinary medicine as your first degree.
After your first degree, you need to specialize in an aspect of your discipline, so you go for your master’s as a second option. Getting it will help you streamline your focus and become great at a specific field. The next step is to get your doctoral degree.
While getting these degrees, you are to undergo clinical training and improve your skills. Teaching alone might not help you become a clinical professor, but practice too. As a medical doctor who aims to be one, you should practice medicine for several years.
You can not overlook certification and getting the necessary licenses when towing this path, as they give you a professional edge in your journey. You should work towards contributing to several writings such as journals and textbooks.
Where to Work as a Clinical Professor
- Tertiary institutions
- Hospitals
- Clinics
- Pharmaceutical companies
- Business management schools
- Research institutes
- Private practice (self-employed)
Clinical Professor Salary Scale
A clinical professor’s salary varies as it depends on the field, demand, location, workplace, and negotiation skills. In countries like the United States, a clinical professor in the medical field may earn $91,200. The salary range may fall between $86,420 – $102,500. Some make even lower, like around $72,000, while some $130,650. Some in schools like Harvard and top schools/hospitals make as high as $200,000 annually.