As a faculty member, many of your challenging professional experiences will likely occur within your institution. However, there are times when you may be drawn into conflicts with entities outside your institution. If not handled appropriately, these can be damaging to your career and the reputation of both you and your institution. External conflicts are particularly problematic because the external party often has a different mission, reporting structure, and organizational culture than yours. The concern of the external organization may involve you alone, a group of faculty members, a division, a department or center, your medical school, the entire academic health center/academic medical center (AHC/AMC), and even the university. Depending upon the circumstances and the number of individuals involved, you may need to seek advice and assistance from different sources including institutional and perhaps even personal legal counsel. By their very nature, external conflicts often have greater potential to get into the media, and you should be prepared for that possibility.