Leaders sought for new positions addressing disparities in health care for underserved populations

A $7 million grant from the Health Resources & Services Administration known as PRIME—Primary Care Reaffirmation for Indiana Medical Education—will allow IU School of Medicine to address inequities in health care which have been amplified by the COVID-19 pandemic and current events highlighting systemic racism. Several new leadership opportunities are available aligning with the school’s efforts on diversity, equity and inclusion. These positions will help IU School of Medicine build curriculum designed to help our future physicians recognize and address bias and provide better care for the underserved.

7th Competency Director—health equity, diversity and inclusion

Since the fall of 2016, IU School of Medicine has featured a curriculum based on the six Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) themes: medical knowledge, patient care, practice-based learning and improvement, interpersonal and communication skills, and professionalism. In response to pressing societal and institutional needs, IU School of Medicine is developing a seventh competency theme that will focus on professional attributes and self-awareness in the areas of health equity, diversity and inclusion.

Position summary: The competency director over the area of health equity, diversity and inclusion will work closely with the associate dean for curricular development and oversight and will contribute to the curricular development, oversight and individual student monitoring in areas pertaining to this component of the competency-based curriculum.

New Curricular Threads:

1. Care for the Medically Underserved and Vulnerable Communities
   • This thread will build a strong awareness and understanding of the barriers and health care disparities that exist for various underserved communities (rural, urban, tribal and economically challenged) as well as the vulnerable populations that exist in all communities (children, elderly, people living with disabilities, and certain racial, ethnic or religious populations) which contribute to poor health equity, gaps in care and standard provisions of healthy living.
   • This thread will interact closely with several of the existing IU School of Medicine scholarly concentration themes to compliment efforts and resources in environments around the state, creating content that can be shared broadly in the curriculum.
2. Health Equity and Care of the Underserved: Education on the impact of systemic racism and caring for Indiana’s Black communities
   • This thread will focus on increasing student awareness of the specific health disparities faced in our Black communities as a byproduct of systemic racism.
   • Thread director will lead creation of specific curricular content on the many roles of race in creating health equity gaps and will develop focused, experiential training opportunities in frontline care delivery settings around the state that serve Indiana’s Black communities.

Thread Leaders (2 positions, one for each of the two new threads)

Position summary: Thread leaders provide leadership of a team focused on one of the defined, interdisciplinary, longitudinal topic areas (curricular threads) that contribute to the high-quality and scientific education of medical students in phases 1-3.

Telehealth Director

Telehealth, as confirmed by the COVID-19 pandemic, is an efficient vehicle for delivery of quality health care to the most vulnerable communities and underserved areas in our communities.

Position summary: The Telehealth Director will create and implement an integrated telehealth curriculum that spans all curricular phases. Curriculum will focus on the competencies necessary for students to participate in innovative practices in their clerkship rotations, with an emphasis on primary care and medically underserved communities. They will work with stakeholders and entities (IU Health, VA, AHEC, regional campus clinical partners, and health community partners) to enhance students’ knowledge, skills and attitudes in utilizing this emerging technology.

Point-of-Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) Educator

Point-of-care ultrasound is a necessary skill for the effective delivery of care to underserved populations. The PoCUS Educator will implement a four-year, longitudinal curriculum to train medical students across the state in performing and interpreting point-of-care ultrasound modalities. PoCUS curriculum will be integrated into select courses and clerkships throughout all four years. The task of incorporating this curriculum will require system-wide collaboration across multiple specialties.

Position summary: The PoCUS Educator will work closely with the established PoCUS team and leaders of Undergraduate Medical Education and Graduate Medical Education in the curricular development, implementation, assessment and evaluation of the Primary Care PoCUS curriculum for both UME and GME, while assisting in faculty development and training in these efforts.

Interested in applying?

Anyone interested in applying for any of the above positions should email a one-page letter of interest and their C.V. to Bradley Allen, PhD, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Medical Student Education, at bradalle@iu.edu, prior to the end of business on September 23, 2020.