Deciding on an academic career. -- About an academic career. -- What you need to know about the academic medical center. -- Finding the academic job you want. -- Basic academic skills: clinical practice, teaching, and scholarship. -- Advanced academic skills: doing research, getting grants, and writing for publication. -- Administrative skills. -- Academic medicine success skills. -- How to manage your career and your life. -- Planning for the future. -- Appendix 1: Glossary. -- Appendix 2: Collected academic medical aphorisms. -- Appendix 3: Allopathic medical schools in the United States. -- Appendix 4: Osteopathic medical schools in the United States. -- Appendix 5: Medical schools in Canada.