Clerkship Director, Psychiatry

The Clerkship Director (CD) is responsible for the clerkship educational program delivered at New York Medical College (NYMC) School of Medicine (NYMC or “College”) clinical affiliate sites in required disciplines. The CD reports to the Phase 2 Director of the M.D. Degree Program (Director) who reports to the Assistant Dean of Clinical Sciences (ADCS) in the Office of Undergraduate Medical Education (UME). The CD is responsible for the education, evaluation, advisory, administrative, and professional responsibilities as relates to the clerkship educational program in the specified clerkship discipline. Requirements related to clerkship educational programming are in turn associated with Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) guidelines and requirements.

Student Education, Feedback, Assessment and Remediation Responsibilities:

• Provide instruction/teaching for orientation to the clerkship program for students rotating across all NYMC affiliate sites; review the clerkship’s goals, objectives and assessment measures.
• Serve as a lead, visible teacher in the clerkship didactic program.
• Develop and maintain an up-to-date and accurate course syllabus and materials housed within the learning management system ("LEO") to support and facilitate student learning.
• Monitor the mid-clerkship feedback process, ensuring that all students at all sites have one or more meaningful feedback conversations with a designated faculty member; provide direct feedback to students as appropriate.
• Teach faculty feedback skills and provide constructive feedback to faculty members that supports the improvement of their skills in this area; target faculty skills development based on the review of content contained in the mid-clerkship feedback exercise.
• Communicate identified student problems to the Office of Student Affairs, the Phase 2 Director, and/or ADCS immediately; meet with any students requiring assistance or remediation.
• Review, collate, and ensure final grades with narrative comments for students are completed for all rotating students according to deadlines set by the ADCS and Phase 2 & Phase 3 Subcommittees (e.g., within four weeks of the end of the clerkship rotation).
• Serve as a small group faculty facilitator and a small group faculty leader for the student transition programs; identity and recruit additional faculty in your discipline to support the small group learning experiences.
• Provide student evaluation as a faculty evaluator for the Clinical Competency Assessment of Phase 2 Students.

Faculty and Program Evaluation Responsibilities:

• Review student evaluations provided by the Offices of Assessment and Evaluation and UME and create short- and long-term action plans as appropriate, and in concert with the academic department chair, Phase 2 Director and the ADCS.
• Develop processes with the academic department chair whereby faculty and resident teaching evaluation summaries are communicated to affiliate site representatives and faculty for the purposes of continuous quality improvement.
• Complete annual clerkship director reflection form or other course evaluation tool to outline areas of strength, areas that need improvement, and support institutional continuous quality improvement under direction of the Phase 2 Director and/or the ADCS.
• Review feedback about faculty and resident teaching performance.
• Identify faculty for outstanding teaching recognition(s) and bring to the attention of the Phase 2 Director and/or ADCS.
• Identify faculty that warrant remediation and bring to the attention of the Phase 2 Director and/or ADCS and academic department chair; work to develop an action plan in concert with local site leadership (e.g., chair, chief of service, residency program director) and the Offices of Faculty Affairs/Development and UME, as appropriate.

Advisory Role & Responsibilities:

• Counsel students for career development in your field.
• Oversee and participate in the identification, recruitment, development of faculty career mentors/ advisors/ sponsors in your discipline and/or sub-specialty area, and at least bi-annually communicate a roster of faculty members to the Offices of Student Affairs and UME.
• Incorporate and utilize career advising materials provided by the Office of Student Affairs.
• Write letters of recommendation as requested by students.
• Oversee and ensure that all departmental letters for residency program applications are of high quality and completed in a timely manner.

Administrative Responsibilities:

• Oversee and collaborate with affiliated site directors to ensure that all students have comparable schedules/ duty hours and balance of required activities.
• Participate as an active member of the Phase 2 & Phase 3 Curriculum Subcommittee of the Education and Curriculum Committee; attend monthly and ad hoc meetings.
• Meet with the Phase 2 Director and the ADCS at least twice per year to review clerkship progress and individual performance.

Clinical Affiliate Site Responsibilities:

• Supervise local site directors at all NYMC clinical affiliate sites.
• Schedule meetings among all site directors at least bi-annually to review clerkship feedback and to ensure site comparability and quality.
• When possible, visit each affiliate site annually, document your visit and provide formal communication on your findings to the Phase 2 Director and/or ADCS, Office of UME, and academic department chair.

Professional Development:

• Maintain board certification and/or active MOC in specialty discipline.
• Participation in Medical Education Grand Rounds and faculty development workshops.
• Attendance at national clerkship director or other appropriate education-related meeting(s).
• Scholarly pursuit encouraged.

Education requirement: M.D., D.O. with experience and demonstrated interest in undergraduate medical education.

Licenses or certifications: Board-certification/eligibility and/or active MOC status in related clinical discipline.• Advanced training in health professions education preferred.

Technical/computer skills: Computer literacy in PC and Mac-based software applications including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and MS Office Suite, LEO, virtual platforms (Zoom, etc.).

Prior experience:

• Experience developing, implementing, and planning complex medical education programs and curricula.
• Evidence of excellence in teaching in an undergraduate medical education and/or other medical education setting.
• Experience in faculty development, educational research, and academic scholarship preferred.

Other skills:

• Outstanding interpersonal, verbal, and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to develop strong relationships internally and externally with colleagues, stakeholders, faculty, and staff.
• Excellent leadership skills, planning and organization skills requiring time management in a deadlinedriven and goal-oriented environment.
• Ability to efficiently manage multiple projects concurrently from inception to completion.
• Ability to exercise sound judgment routinely and independently in making decisions.
• Understand organizational and change management and its processes with track record of working collaboratively to plan and organize successful initiatives.
• Ability to engage and motivate a group of diverse team members.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to role model and work cooperatively with colleagues, supervisors, and support staff.
• Ability to oversee and maintain an effective team of task-oriented employees who can work both autonomously on projects and as a team.
• Ability to help maintain a positive work environment built on trust and camaraderie among team members.
• Courage and maturity to make difficult decisions when required.
• Ability to give, accept, and act on constructive feedback.
• Demonstrate the highest standard of professionalism, cultural sensitivity, and ethical behavior in all aspects of personal and professional actions and performance, including discretion and confidentiality that upholds the Family and Educational Rights and Privacy Act.

Physical demands: General office environment; ability to travel to affiliate clerkship sites.