The role of emeriti and retired professors in medicine

Abstract

University professors, at least in Europe, are requested to retire at fixed ages, independent of their wishes or intellectual abilities. By contrast, in the USA, age alone cannot legally be a reason for imposing retirement. After retirement, in many universities some professors achieve the status of emeritus(a) which in some instances is an honorary title, but usually allows continued research and teaching. However, the nomination of emeritus(a) professors is not granted to everybody, and specific studies on these academic policies are still lacking and is the goal of this study. We conducted an international inquiry focusing on emeritus policy in 99 departments of medicine of 99 universities, in 20 countries of high, medium and low economy (Algeria, Australia, Brazil, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Malta, Libya, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Tunisia, Turkey, UK and USA). Specific questionnaires were sent to 63 active professors and 64 emeritus/retired professors. The response rate was 89.1%. The questionnaire asked about (i) facilities granted through emeritus status, (ii) the possibility of submitting applications for grant support and to receive donations, (iii) participation in teaching activities, e.g. providing tutorial activity, giving seminars and teaching in Masters’ and Ph.D. courses and (iv) about the possibility for …