Staff Clinician

Background

A Staff Clinician is an NIH employee on a time-limited, renewable appointment or, by exception, on a permanent appointment for retention and recruitment reasons. The Staff Clinician is a physician or dentist who spends a majority of his/her time providing critical patient care services but who may also be the principal investigator on clinical protocols, under the supervision of a Senior Investigator.

The Staff Clinician is expected to provide clinical leadership and the highest level of clinical care. Performance will be evaluated on the level and quality of the clinical activities. Staff Clinicians in general will not receive resources to conduct independent laboratory or clinical research, and do not have oversight of independent resources.. However ICs may provide resources for research on a case-by-case basis. Such research must be sponsored and supervised by a tenured or tenure-track investigator and undergo review by the IC Board of Scientific Counselors (BSC). Appointments are made following a recommendation by the Medical Executive Committee and approval by the NIH Associate Director for Clinical Research.

Most Staff Clinician appointments are made in Title 42. With regard to guidance concerning the possible use of permanent appointments for Staff Clinicians, there are three situations in which use of a permanent mechanism (General Schedule Civil Service or Commissioned Corps) might be necessary or appropriate, based on the needs of the Institute. (1) For recruitment of Staff Clinicians from outside the NIH: After an appropriate search has occurred, using the same process currently used to identify tenure-track candidates, the Scientific Director could request to the Deputy Director for Intramural Research that a permanent mechanism be used for the recruitment, based on the long-term necessity of the program/project, the likelihood that the candidate's skills will be relevant for the foreseeable future, and the difficulty in recruiting the candidate to the NIH using Title 42 at an appropriate salary. (2) For retention of Staff Clinicians already at the NIH: In exceptional circumstances, based on a long track record at NIH of high quality research or clinical support, productivity, and adaptation to changing programs, projects, and technologies, a Staff Clinician could be given a permanent appointment. This would require review by an Institute Promotion and Tenure Committee, followed by the request of the Scientific Director, through the IC Director, to the Deputy Director for Intramural Research for approval. (3) For scientists already at the NIH in a permanent GS position, appointment to a Staff Clinician position would be in a permanent GS position. Permanent appointments into Title 5 are made under special circumstances, when issues of recruitment or retention are involved. Use of a permanent mechanism requires approval by the Deputy Director for Intramural Research.

For further discussion, see the SD Minutes, 2.04.98.2

Appointment Mechanisms

Title 42

Title 38

Commissioned Corps (Link to be added)

Criteria for Appointment and Promotion

 Is board eligible or board certified in his or her area of expertise.
Provides superior and efficient clinical care.
Works collaboratively to facilitate the conduct of clinical investigations.
Supports the clinical infrastructure by serving on important clinical committees.
Supports clinical training programs.
Shows excellence in clinical teaching activities.
Spends the majority of time in these clinical activities.

Appointment procedures are outlined in Flow Chart for Approval of Intramural Professional Designation, Clinical Credentials, and Salary.

Manual Issuance

For more detailed information about the policies and procedures for the appointment of Staff Clinicians you may down load the manual issuance at the following site:

Manual Issuance - M95-5 - Appointment of Staff Clinicians at the NIH Clinical Center
or contact Laura Lee, CC Medical Executive Committee on 496-8025.

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