The role of principal faculty for the Meharry Medical College (MMC) Physician Assistant (PA) Sciences Program will be a full-time principal teaching faculty member in the PA Sciences Program. Collaboratively assist the faculty and staff in the development the MMC PA Program that is aspiring for Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) Provisional accreditation. The principal faculty position has ongoing development, management, coordination and evaluation of the MMC PA Program’s didactic and clinical curriculum, as well as other duties to include scholarship, academic advising, service to the program and college, and PA professional activities in the college or community. All faculty will participate in the continuous review, analysis and evaluation of the PA program's success through ARC-PA standards and ongoing programmatic assessment. This position affords a talented individual the opportunity for professional development to manage the daily operations of the clinical year of the PA program ensuring the successful completion of clinical year program learning objectives. The candidate will be responsible for coordinating with the Clinical Education Director (CED) the program procedures and system processes for the PA student’s Structured Clinical Practice Experiences (SCPE) that are compliant with the Accreditation Review Commission for the Physician Assistant (ARC-PA) standards, maintaining databases, recruiting sites, and promoting effective working relationships with faculty, students, clinical sites, Information Technology (IT) professionals, and related professional associations/organizations.
- Present innovative course design to our PA students, teaching as course director for didactic and clinical curriculum in the PA Program, course assessment, evaluation, and remediation.
- Admit, advise, assess, evaluate, mentor and precept PA students in the MMC PA Sciences Program.
- Collect and manage data to track student and program performance outcomes to ensure achieving program mission and goals.
- Assist in organizing/structuring of the PA program in accordance with the latest standards from the ARC-PA established educational standards and practices.
- Assist the program director/leadership with the continuous development, review, planning, outcomes evaluation, and general effectiveness of the PA program.
- Coordinate, review and revise academic policies and procedures as needed.
- Perform proctoring of tests, OSCEs, evaluations, and assessments as needed.
- Participation in PA departmental committees, Ad-hoc meetings, commencement, convocation, community service for the PA program, and research development. Coordinates and facilitates scheduled meetings with preceptors, faculty, students, clinical site directors regarding the program as needed.
- Develops and ensures that fully executed Clinical Affiliation Agreements (CAA) are in place for every rotation site and are kept current. Participates in committees responsible for review and assessments of current program and institutional requirements for the program; monitors requirement(s) for updates; works with program director in implementation; and completion of all required updates on the ARC-PA websites.
- Monitors student and preceptor compliance with completion of surveys to ensure required assessments are obtained. Works with the CED and faculty in planning, developing and implementing program’s quality improvement activities.
- Maintains and monitors information in clinical software and other specialty-specific electronic databases, including but not limited to, clinical site attrition, clinical site characteristics, End of Rotation (EOR) exams, student case logs, student and faculty surveys, milestones reporting, and annual program updates.
- Prepares, monitors and maintains program clinical year handbooks, preceptor handbooks, reports, case logs, attendance records and other official documentation to ensure students meet program graduation requirements and maintenance of program accreditation status.
- Performs other related duties as assigned.
80%
- Clinical release for PA clinical practice in a Meharry Medical Group facilities for the maintenance of NCCPA certification and state licensure, clinical development as faculty, as contracted with the MMC PA Program.
20%
=100%
Required Skills
- Graduation from an ARC-PA accredited school in the United States
- Passage of the NCCPA Physician Assistant National Certification Exam
- Innovation in classroom presentation, multimedia resource presentations, virtual and in-person lecturing experience.
- Demonstrate strong collaboration, team building, and mediation skills
- Demonstrate leadership and multi-task management abilities
- Demonstrate strong interpersonal skills
- Demonstrate lecturing and course development abilities
Required Experience
- Terminal degree for Physician Assistant, or relevant field applicable to PA education from a regionally accredited college or university.
- Experience with health professions education desirable.
- Experience with curriculum development and assessment preferred.
- Experience mentoring and coaching didactic/clinical students preferred.
- Clinical practice as a NCCPA certified Physician Assistant.