Assistant Dean, Clerkship - CBMC

PURPOSE OF CAMPUS: 

Dalhousie University and Cape Breton University entered into a partnership in 2022 to establish the Cape Breton Medical Campus in Sydney, NS, with a goal of admitting the first cohort of learners in 2025. Together, the institutions share the goal of enhancing their contribution to Nova Scotia’s evolving health reform agenda by: 

• increasing the number of family physician specialists and, eventually, Royal College specialist physicians serving communities in rural Nova Scotia;
• training physicians with exceptional skills and cultural competencies in the areas of family medicine, rural family medicine, rural practice, and L’nu health;
• advancing healthy communities through promotion of a preventative and collaborative care model that enables equitable access across the full continuum of care;
• creating opportunities for interprofessional education between physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, social workers, public health professionals, and other healthcare professionals to meet the current and future needs of communities in rural Nova Scotia; 
• improving health outcomes in rural communities and across Nova Scotia health zones, through interdisciplinary research, particularly in the areas of aging, frailty, and other diseases prevalent in rural communities (such as cancer and diabetes), as well as Indigenous health and African Nova Scotian health; 
• mobilizing inspired, passionate physician leaders to increase training capacity in Cape Breton and rural Nova Scotia; and
• advocating for family physicians and the health care system as a whole.

PROGRAM DESCRIPTION:

Cape Breton Medical Campus (CBMC) is one of the three campuses of Dalhousie Faculty of Medicine. The main administrative office is located on the CBU Campus in Sydney.   CBMC offers a continuum of education programming for up to 30 students per year over the 4-year undergraduate program. In addition, postgraduate residency training programs will be developed, and additional core clinical rotations will be provided through the postgraduate training programs based in Halifax and other areas of rural Nova Scotia. Clinical teaching is provided by more than 650 faculty distributed throughout the clinical teaching sites and supported by local staff and academic leadership in Nova Scotia Health regional facilities. A partner in the Nova Scotia Health Innovation Hub, Cape Breton is a developing leader in rural clinical trials capacity building. The Centre of Excellence for Healthy Aging is dedicated to programs and research that translates into improved care for older adults in rural Nova Scotia. Continuing professional development is provided to all faculty regardless of geography

JOB SUMMARY:

The Assistant Dean, Clerkship (CBMC) provides strong academic and administrative leadership in the Faculty of Medicine for the Med 3/4 curriculum. The Assistant Dean provides management oversight of the development and delivery of the curriculum for Med 3 and Med 4, ensuring the objectives and experiences prepare students to meet the educational outcomes of the clerkship curriculum.  The Assistant Dean will undertake this mandate accountable to the Senior Associate Dean, CBMC and Associate Dean, UGME and working in close collaboration with other senior leaders including Assistant Deans Clerkship DMNB and DMNS, Clerkship directors, Assistant Dean Distributed Education, among others.

This role is a 0.3 FTE role and the ability to work flexible hours within the CBMC schedule structure is a requirement

SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:

• Work closely with and provide support to the clerkship directors and their administrators to ensure highly successful delivery of the Med 3/4 curriculum. 
  
• Work closely with and provide direction and oversight to the UGME Administrators in the ongoing delivery of the Med 3/4 curriculum.   

• Provide oversight and management of the development and renewal (as necessary) of the Med 3/4 curriculum.  

• Oversee the management of the student assessment components and processes of the Med 3/4 curriculum and ensure compliance with Progress Committee and University policies and guidelines. 

• Ensure the ongoing program evaluation of the Med 3/4 curriculum and reporting to appropriate governance structures.  

• Ensure ongoing support and guidance to clinical teachers including Faculty Development in Continuing Professional Development. 
  
• Monitor preceptor and unit/service evaluation process. 
  
• Monitor clinical teaching capacity and collaborate with clerkship directors, health authority partners and senior leadership to ensure adequate clinical teaching capacity.

• Work with the Assistant Dean Distributed Education, clerkship directors and others involved in distributed medical education ensure to comparability of curriculum and educational experience, including simulation experiences. 
  
• Manage, oversee, and evaluate the development and implementation of a longitudinal integrated clerkship model and potential additional sites. 
  
• Ensure compliance with all accreditation standards that relate to clinical teaching and the clinical teaching environment. 
  
• Interact with students as necessary with regards to their educational concerns and in particular to develop support and/or remediation as required. 

Accountability:

• Reports to the Senior Associate dean CBMC and Associate Dean, UGME through: 
• regular meetings;  
• oral reports as required at the Council of Associate/Assistant Deans’ meetings; 
• annual written reports to the Senior Associate Dean, CBMC outlining goals achieved and newly established; and 
• oral and/or written reports as required by the Associate Dean, UGME. 

QUALIFICATIONS & SKILLS:

• MD degree required;
• Master’s degree in Education or Medical Education is considered an asset;
• Ability to work a flexible schedule;
• Experience as departmental clerkship director an asset;
• Exceptional attention to detail;
• Proficiency in MS Office applications (Word, Excel) and database systems is required;
• Knowledge of Brightspace, One45 and Sharepoint would be considered an asset;
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to organize and prioritize workloads; as well as the ability to work independently and multi-task in a deadline driven, team environment;
• Ability to navigate and work with confidential setting with sensitive data;
• Knowledge of medical education programs and/or academic health care environment would be beneficial;
• Must have ability to work independently with minimal supervision
• Demonstrated self-starter that has shown to exercise initiative and sound judgment in all aspects of work.

Applications for the successful candidate will include a:

• cover letter describing the expertise of the applicant
• complete resume
• list of at least three references.
  • Short listed candidates will be required to submit three reference letters.

Please upload all required documents to Additional Documents if no designated area is listed. Incomplete applications will not be considered.