Faculty Compensation Resources

Yale School of Medicine is committed to creating an environment where every faculty member is fully confident that their compensation level has been fairly and reasonably determined. With fairness and equity in mind, the medical school’s compensation policies and procedures are structured to provide flexibility to recognize individual achievement; enable departments to respond to market forces; and guarantee sound management of financial risks and resources of departments, the medical school, and the university.

Salaries and total compensation (salary + bonus/incentive pay), exclusive of fringe benefits, for faculty in a ladder track rank are benchmarked using the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) Faculty Salary Survey Reports. The AAMC benchmarks used are based on public and private schools in the Northeast region. If a Northeast region benchmark is not available, then the national benchmark for private schools is applied. Compensation benchmarks for either fixed/contractual salary or for total compensation are available to YSM.

Please carefully review the definitions and appropriate use descriptions below to ensure the correct benchmark is applied. If you require assistance, or have questions about the materials provided, please contact YSM Academic Analytics.

Fixed/Contractual Salary – Compensation, exclusive of fringe benefits, that is fixed for the fiscal year and contractually obligated to the faculty member for the year assuming performance. This compensation component includes salary that is tied to assigned administrative duties. The fixed/contractual salary is also called a faculty member institutional base salary and does not include bonus or incentive payments.

Bonus/Incentive Pay – Income earned by the faculty member because of the achievement of specific performance goals by the individual or the department or medical school. Bonus/incentive pay is variable and is typically aligned with departmental metrics. Incentives may be tied to individual performance or to group performance.

Total Compensation - For benchmarking purposes, total compensation is the sum of the full-time equivalent salary and bonus/incentive pay received in a twelve-month period, typically the fiscal year.