Outside Consulting Policy

The primary activities of full-time faculty members in the School of Medicine are those duties and responsibilities assigned to individuals by the department chair. Included among these responsibilities are teaching, research, patient care and administrative tasks. Contributions to the School and to the University must always make up the predominant professional effort of a full-time faculty member.

The School of Medicine also recognizes its responsibility to provide the expertise and skills of its faculty as a service to the government and to the community. This service is in addition to the assigned primary duties of full-time faculty and does not include the provision of patient care.

Outside services or extramural consulting is defined as the provision of invited professional services by faculty members to governmental agencies and to other public and private organizations as deemed appropriate, and as approved, by the respective department chair. Examples of extramural consulting are service on study sections for the National Institutes of Health, offering expert testimony in court, and service on non-University committees and boards. Detailed arrangements are matters for determination by the department chair and the faculty member. Generally, they must be guided by assessing the value of outside consulting: first, to the academic goals of the school; second, to the professional competence and growth of the individual; third, to the primary assigned duties of a full-time faculty member as noted above.

The department chair is responsible for preliminary approval of any extramural consulting activity. Decisions on these matters should be reported to the Dean for his approval. All such faculty activity should be expected to strengthen the national and regional position of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine.

Fees, honoraria and other fiscal rewards earned by the conduct of extramural consulting will accrue to the individual faculty members providing such invited services.

Provision of clinical and laboratory services and patient care, either in the hospitals of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center or in other institutions are considered to be among the primary duties and responsibilities of full-time faculty members. These activities comprise a part of the total professional effort by a faculty member and all income earned by these activities will be recovered in the name of the University and/or the practice plan.

Should a faculty member fail to credit this income, he/she will be considered in violation of this policy and also in violation of the terms of his/her academic employment. Additionally, he/she will not be protected by the University professional liability insurance for services that are provided where any income which is created is not credited to the University.