Medical Director, Physician Assistant Program

West Coast University•Richardson, TX

2d•Onsite

About The Position

Reporting to the Program Director, the part-time Medical Director serves as a member of the faculty to provide continuous, competent medical guidance to the Program Director and faculty. The Medical Director will assist the Program Director with development and ARC-PA accreditation for the program, and will assist in ensuring that both didactic instruction and supervised clinical practice experiences meet current practice standards as they relate to the PA role in providing patient care. The Medical Director will be involved in evaluating student performance; designing, implementing, coordinating and evaluating curriculum; participation in, and the development and routine review of, the program's curriculum and competencies; and accreditation related activities. The Medical Director will also serve as an advocate for the program within the medical and academic communities through active participation in the program. The Medical Director may be involved in providing instruction and clinical site development, as directed by the Program Director.

Requirements

PA Candidates: Graduation from an ARC-PA accredited PA program.
PA Candidates: Master’s degree or higher in education or a related health- or social-science discipline.
PA Candidates: Current or previous National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) board certification.
PA Candidates: Current or eligible for state PA licensure in state of campus location.
Physician Candidates: Doctor of medicine degree and completion of residencies whose accreditation is duly recognized by the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education.
Physician Candidates: Current or previous board certification, either by an ABMS or AOA specialty board.
Physician Candidates: Current or eligible for state licensure in state of campus location.
For PA and Physician Candidates: Minimum of three (3) years of clinical experience.

Nice To Haves

Prior experience in physician assistant/associate (PA) education, medical education, or graduate health professions education.
Previous experience serving as a Medical Director, Associate Medical Director, Program Director, Medical Science faculty, Clinical Preceptor for PA students, Clinical Education leader, or comparable leadership role within a health professions program.
Demonstrated familiarity with Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA) Standards, accreditation processes, program evaluation, continuous quality improvement, and self-study activities.
Experience supporting curriculum design, curricular integration, instructional delivery, student assessment, and competency-based education in PA, graduate medical, or health professions education.
Experience working collaboratively with PAs in clinical practice, education, leadership, or team-based care environments.
Demonstrated commitment to team-based, patient-centered healthcare delivery and interprofessional collaboration.
Experience with clinical site development, preceptor engagement, healthcare partnership development, or healthcare systems leadership.
Prior teaching experience in higher education, graduate medical education, residency/fellowship education, or continuing medical education.
Experience mentoring students, residents, advanced practice providers, or healthcare professionals.
Demonstrated scholarly activity, including presentations, publications, research, quality improvement initiatives, or professional service activities.
Strong organizational, communication, and leadership skills with the ability to collaborate effectively across academic, clinical, and administrative settings.
Experience with assessment, outcomes analysis, strategic planning, or programmatic quality improvement initiatives.
Familiarity with educational technologies, learning management systems, simulation, or innovative instructional methodologies.
For physician candidates: prior experience supervising, collaborating with, or educating PAs in clinical practice.
For PA candidates: prior experience as principal faculty, academic leadership, course director, or clinical coordinator within an ARC-PA accredited PA program.
Doctoral degree (e.g., DMSc, EdD, PhD, DHSc, MD/DO with additional academic leadership training) preferred.
Ability to communicate using bilingual skills is a plus but not mandatory.

Responsibilities

Collaborate as a member of the programmatic leadership team to achieve a shared vision for the program.
Must be an active participant in the program and support the development of the program competencies to meet current practice standards as they relate to the PA role.
Serve as a strong advocate for the MPA program and the PA profession.
Foster relationships with key stakeholders and community partners to strengthen the MPA program.
Collaborate with the Program Director and MPA faculty to develop, review, and revise the program’s mission statement, program goals, and competencies as necessary.
Provide competent medical oversight to ensure the curriculum and supervised clinical practice experiences (SCPEs) reflect current standards of medical care and scope of PA practice.
May participate in the recruitment, development, and retention of high-quality clinical sites and preceptors to ensure quality and sufficiency of clinical slots.
Actively participate in the program’s evaluation process, self-study, and accreditation activities as required by the Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant, Inc. (ARC-PA).
Advocate for the program within the medical community and promote interprofessional collaboration.
Ensure ongoing compliance with ARC-PA accreditation Standards and best practices by performing programmatic evaluation.
Perform administrative duties related to the Medical Director role, including assisting with faculty recruitment as needed.
May serve on departmental, college, and university committees as assigned.
Assists the institution with quality assurance efforts related to design, development, implementation, institution and regulatory compliance and continuous ongoing improvement of the program (e.g., meeting/exceeding expectations of the ARC-PA; Western Association Schools and Colleges (WASC); Bureau of Consumer Affairs, etc.).
Actively enlists the understanding and support of practicing physicians, medical communities, and health administrators to develop and expand a catalog of affiliations that ensure sufficient quality and quantity of requisite clinical field sites, physician preceptors, and clinical rotations.
Actively participates in development and/or review of documents, reports, accreditation application, outcomes, and self-studies as part of quality assurance management.
Guides as needed the Director of Clinical Education (or designee) in monitoring the quality of clinical education, supervision, and assessment practices.
Assists with curricular design, development, implementation, evaluation, review, and maintenance, ensuring the program is fully compliant with ARC-PA Standards.
May serve as clinical preceptor to West Coast University physician assistant students.
Attends and actively participates in milestone and community-facing events such as student orientation, white coat ceremony, and graduation.
Serves as a role model for physician led interdisciplinary health care teams.
Represents the program within the medical and academic communities and to various constituencies and stakeholders.
Actively participates as an active member of the Program Advisory Committee (PAC) or board.
Attends and actively participates in program or faculty meetings.
May participate in the program’s admissions process, including recruitment, application review, interviews, and application selection for admission, as needed.
Solicits and affirms opportunities for increased visibility of program, expansion of clinical site, improved learning, student research linkages, and employment pathways