Survey: Low job satisfaction at Stony Brook med school

In a survey by the nation's medical school association that rated job satisfaction among medical school faculty, Stony Brook scored at the bottom in a number of areas, including collegiality and fear of retribution.

The questionnaire by the Association of American Medical Colleges, which represents the nation's 131 medical schools, included 120 questions to assess satisfaction among doctors and scientists at 23 medical schools. These included Stanford School of Medicine and the University of South Florida College of Medicine. The 23 medical schools voluntarily participated in the survey to understand their faculty's quality of life at work, according to the association.

Stony Brook came in last on nine questions, including: "If I had to do it over again, I would choose to work at this medical school" and "Faculty can express their opinions about the medical school without fear of retribution."

It scored next to last on nine other questions, including: "The workplace culture at the medical school cultivates excellence."

Among just doctors, Stony Brook did worse: It scored a 23, the lowest score, on 12 questions and a 22 on 13 questions.

Stony Brook ranked at the top on one question: "My department is successful in recruiting female faculty members." Its next highest score was a 3, on health benefits.

In a statement, Stony Brook said it participated in the survey to make Stony Brook "the best medical school in the region. . . . We anticipated candid responses, which we knew would provide a solid base upon which to build."

The results have already been discussed with much of the faculty, the medical school said. "As a start, we are putting into place immediately practices and policies addressing three of the most frequently mentioned issues, collegiality/mentoring, participation in decision-making and transparency," the school said. "As evidence of the latter is our wide and immediate circulation of this report itself."

Few faculty members were willing to discuss the survey publicly. "It is what it is," said Dr. Roy Steigbigel, head of the medical school faculty's Senate.