Assistant or Associate Dean of Primary Care

Arkansas Colleges of Health Education•Fort Smith, AR

27d•Onsite

About The Position

The Assistant or Associate Dean of Primary Care is a senior academic leader responsible for advancing ARCOM’s primary care mission across education, clinical service, faculty development, scholarship, community engagement, and workforce development. The position provides strategic and administrative leadership for the Department of Primary Care and aligns departmental programs, faculty, resources, and outcomes with ARCOM’s mission, strategic priorities, and commitment to osteopathic medical education. Reporting to the Associate Dean of Clinical Medicine, the dean leads the planning, implementation, evaluation, and continuous improvement of primary care education throughout the undergraduate medical education continuum. In collaboration with the Associate Dean of Biomedical Sciences, the position develops and improves an integrated curriculum connecting foundational biomedical sciences with clinical medicine and osteopathic principles and practice. The role oversees departmental faculty and assigned staff, supports student achievement and professional development, and strengthens partnerships that improve access to primary care and expand training opportunities in rural and underserved communities. Appointment at the Assistant Dean or Associate Dean level depends on leadership experience, academic accomplishments, prior scope of responsibility, and institutional appointment criteria. The role is fully on-site in Fort Smith, Arkansas; remote and hybrid work are not available. The position may include clinical service, significant travel or work away from campus, and attendance at events representing ACHE.

Requirements

Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree from a COCA-accredited college of osteopathic medicine.
Current board certification in an appropriate primary care specialty from an AOA- or ABMS-recognized certifying board, or eligibility to obtain and maintain board certification within an institutionally approved timeframe.
Current unrestricted medical license in at least one U.S. jurisdiction and eligibility for unrestricted medical licensure in Arkansas.
Eligibility for medical staff privileges and coverage by the college’s professional liability insurer, when applicable.
Good standing with all applicable licensing, credentialing, regulatory, and governmental bodies.
Demonstrated leadership, administrative responsibility, and productivity in academic medicine, clinical practice, medical education, research or scholarship, or a related professional setting.
Experience teaching and assessing medical students or residents and demonstrated commitment to osteopathic medical education.
Comprehensive understanding of osteopathic medical education, primary care practice, curriculum design, learner assessment, accreditation, and academic quality improvement.
Ability to lead faculty and staff, manage performance, delegate effectively, resolve conflict, develop talent, and guide organizational change.
Ability to use data and sound judgment to establish priorities, assess outcomes, solve complex problems, manage risk, and make decisions with institutional impact.
Ability to build productive relationships with students, faculty, administrators, clinicians, residency leaders, health systems, community organizations, and external stakeholders.
Strong written, oral, interpersonal, public-speaking, negotiation, and executive communication skills.
Ability to manage multiple complex priorities, budgets, projects, and deadlines with attention to detail and accountability.
Proficiency with standard office, learning, assessment, reporting, and collaboration technologies and ability to adapt to new systems.
Ability to maintain confidentiality and protect private, sensitive, and regulated information.
Effective oral communication, interpersonal, customer service, teamwork, and professional representation skills.
Ability to understand oral and written English-language information and organize ideas into effective communication.
Ability to make decisions with moderate to significant impact on the immediate work environment and outside contributors.
Strong organizational skills and ability to reason, analyze information and events, apply judgment, and solve routine and complex problems.
Expertise in negotiation.
Ability to safely lift and carry 25 pounds, with or without reasonable accommodation.

Nice To Haves

At least five years of progressively responsible academic or clinical leadership experience, including three years as a full-time faculty member at a college of osteopathic medicine, college of medicine, academic health center, or residency program.
Prior service as a department chair, assistant dean, associate dean, program director, course director, or comparable academic leader.
Record of achievement in curriculum leadership, faculty development, accreditation, primary care workforce development, clinical partnerships, or program growth.
Demonstrated scholarly productivity through publications, presentations, funded projects, educational innovation, clinical quality improvement, or medical education research.
Academic credentials and accomplishments appropriate for faculty appointment at the associate professor or professor level.

Responsibilities

Provide vision and senior academic leadership for the Department of Primary Care in alignment with ARCOM’s mission, strategic plan, and institutional priorities.
Develop, implement, assess, and periodically revise a departmental strategic plan with measurable goals for education, clinical service, faculty development, scholarship, community impact, and workforce development.
Advise senior leadership on primary care education, clinical workforce needs, faculty capacity, student outcomes, and program growth.
Translate institutional priorities into departmental goals, operating plans, performance expectations, and continuous improvement activities.
Represent Primary Care in institutional planning, accreditation, policy development, interprofessional initiatives, and external partnerships.
Supervise, mentor, and support professional development for Primary Care faculty and assigned staff; recruit, onboard, retain, and develop qualified faculty.
Assign, coordinate, and evaluate faculty teaching, advising, clinical service, scholarship, and institutional service workloads; oversee performance evaluations and make personnel recommendations.
Promote a departmental culture of accountability, collaboration, professionalism, inclusion, teaching excellence, mentorship, and continuous improvement; develop succession plans and leadership capacity.
Lead the design, delivery, integration, assessment, and improvement of primary care content across the osteopathic medical curriculum.
Collaborate with the Associate Dean of Biomedical Sciences and other academic leaders to develop and improve an integrated curriculum connecting biomedical sciences, clinical application, osteopathic principles, population health, preventive medicine, behavioral health, health systems science, and social determinants of health.
Oversee the quality and alignment of classroom, laboratory, simulation, standardized-patient, clinical-skills, and experiential learning activities assigned to the department.
Use student performance data, evaluations, board outcomes, accreditation findings, and stakeholder feedback to guide curricular and instructional improvements.
Ensure curricula, clinical encounters, simulations, standardized-patient experiences, assessments, and other learning experiences are designed, mapped, delivered, and evaluated to meet AOA Core Competencies, ARCOM outcomes, applicable entrustable professional activities, and accreditation expectations.
Lead student advising, mentoring, career exploration, and professional identity formation related to primary care and osteopathic practice; support timely and educationally sound feedback, assessment, academic support, and remediation.
Support student participation in primary care interest groups, scholarly projects, community service, professional organizations, and leadership activities; partner with relevant institutional offices to address barriers to achievement.
Strengthen connections among undergraduate medical education, graduate medical education, and primary care practice through collaborative programming and partnerships.
Work with Clinical Medicine and Clinical Rotations leadership to support primary care clinical experiences, identify faculty and preceptor needs, and expand training capacity.
Develop relationships with physicians, residency programs, hospitals, clinics, community health centers, health systems, and public agencies to advance primary care education and workforce goals.
Promote student interest and preparation for primary care careers, particularly in rural and underserved communities; pursue opportunities related to residency development and regional graduate retention.
Provide clinical supervision and leadership for approved student outreach, service-learning, interprofessional, and community health initiatives.
Ensure departmental compliance with institutional policies, accreditation standards, curricular requirements, and documentation expectations; lead preparation for accreditation reports, site visits, self-studies, program reviews, and evidence requests.
Establish and monitor performance indicators and implement improvement plans based on assessment findings, accreditation feedback, institutional priorities, and identified risks.
Maintain accurate and timely departmental records, reports, faculty documentation, workload data, and outcome evidence.
Develop, administer, and monitor the departmental budget; evaluate staffing, facilities, technology, simulation, clinical, and instructional resource needs; and recommend resource allocation to senior leadership.
Ensure responsible use of departmental resources and prepare administrative reports, budget proposals, workforce plans, accreditation documentation, and other requested materials.
Maintain professional competence, medical licensure, board certification, continuing medical education, and credentials required for assigned clinical and academic responsibilities; provide clinical service as assigned.
Maintain a professional portfolio encompassing teaching, leadership development, scholarship or research, clinical service, and institutional or community service.
Promote faculty and student scholarship, research, quality improvement, presentations, publications, and grant development; create or facilitate faculty development in teaching, assessment, feedback, advising, scholarship, leadership, and osteopathic medical education.
Serve on institutional committees, councils, task forces, search teams, and accreditation teams as assigned; represent ARCOM with professional associations, healthcare organizations, public agencies, community partners, and regional primary care initiatives.
Advance ARCOM’s mission and reputation through professional service, community engagement, scholarly contribution, and advocacy for osteopathic and primary care education; demonstrate professionalism, ethical conduct, confidentiality, collegiality, and responsible leadership.
Perform other duties as assigned by the Associate Dean of Clinical Medicine, Dean of ARCOM, or designee.