Chair, Department of Clinical Sciences

Primary Duties and Responsibilities

The Chair of the Department of Clinical Sciences is the senior academic and operational leader responsible for designing, executing, and continuously improving the clinical education enterprise across the undergraduate medical education (UME) program. The Chair ensures excellence, consistency, and accountability in clinical teaching, faculty performance, and learner outcomes across all clinical sites, while advancing the College’s Christ-centered mission and strategic priorities.

• Leadership & Strategy
• Upholds and advances the Christ-centered mission, vision, and values of Belmont University and FCoM.
• Develops and executes a multi-year strategic plan for the Department of Clinical Sciences that strengthens excellence in clinical teaching, scholarship, and community engagement.
• Establishes clear performance expectations, metrics and accountability structures for department success.
• Serves as a member of the Executive Leadership Team, contributing to policy development, strategic planning, resource prioritization, and operational effectiveness.
• Demonstrates future-oriented leadership—promotes teamwork, transparency, accountability, and candor; anticipates long-term implications in a rapidly evolving clinical environment; and aligns departmental priorities with college-wide goals.
• Promotes a culture of collaboration across academic and clinical departments.
• Clinical Education & Curriculum
• Provides academic leadership for all clinical science components across the four-year UME curriculum.
• Ensures alignment of clinical education with institutional learning objectives, LCME accreditation standards, and best practices in medical education.
• Supports effective teaching methodologies, robust assessment strategies, and integration of simulation, interprofessional learning, and technology-enhanced instruction.
• Oversees outcome monitoring, site evaluation processes, and continuous quality improvement across all clinical learning experiences.
• Partners with curriculum leadership to ensure intentional integration of clinical sciences with foundational sciences.
• Contributes to teaching in the medical program, including direct instruction, small-group facilitation, clinical skills teaching, and learner assessment as needed.
• Ensures that all clinical experiences provide appropriate supervision, patient exposure, and progressive responsibility.
• Faculty Recruitment, Development & Evaluation
• Leads the recruitment, onboarding, development, and evaluation of a distributed faculty workforce, including core and community-based clinical educators.
• Establishes standardized expectations for teaching performance, professionalism, and learner engagement across all faculty.
• Implements formal evaluation and feedback systems for faculty, including peer review, learner evaluations, and performance improvement processes.
• Partners with the Office of Faculty Success to support promotion, advancement, and remediation when necessary.
• Buils a culture of accountability, mentorship, and continuous professional development.
• Fostering Research & Scholarship
• Encourages and supports faculty participation in medical education research, clinical scholarship, quality improvement, and community-engaged scholarship.
• Collaborates with the Associate Dean for Research to connect faculty with mentorship, project development support, and training in research methods, compliance, and dissemination.
• Promotes partnerships and collaborations with external organizations and institutions.
• Partnerships & Community Engagement
• Works with the Vice Chair of Clinical Affairs to build and sustain meaningful relationships with clinical affiliates, community clinics, and health systems to secure high-quality clinical placements and longitudinal learning experiences.
• Ensures that all clinical partners meet educational, supervisory, and accreditation standards.
• Represents FCoM and the department in regional and national forums relevant to clinical education and academic medicine to enhance reputation and strategic positioning.
• Administration & Operations
• Oversees departmental operations, including staffing, performance, and resource allocation.
• Manages the departmental budget with fiscal responsibility and stewardship.
• Ensures compliance with institutional policies, accreditation standards, and professional expectations.
• Maintains transparent communication and organizes regular faculty and staff meetings to support coordination and alignment.
• Addresses conflict in a constructive manner and cultivates a healthy, collaborative working environment.

Required Qualifications

• Belmont University seeks to attract and retain highly qualified faculty and staff who will support our mission and vision.
• As a Christ-centered and student-focused community, we aim to: Form diverse leaders of character; Equip people to solve the world’s complex problems through teaching, research and service; And be radical champions for helping people and communities flourish.
• Required MD or DO degree with board certification in a clinical specialty.
• Demonstrated excellence in clinical teaching and medical student education.
• Demonstrated ability to lead complex, distributed clinical education systems with multiple stakeholders and sites.
• Significant academic leadership experience, including faculty supervision and mentoring.
• Strong understanding of medical education and accreditation requirements.
• Excellent interpersonal, organizational, and communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to collaborate across disciplines and diverse clinical environments.
• Demonstrated expertise in LCME standards, accreditation processes, and continuous quality improvement systems.
• Commitment to Belmont University’s Christ-centered mission and whole-person formation.

Preferred Eligibility

• Experience working with or overseeing community-based clinical faculty at scale.
• Track record of scholarship in medical education, clinical science, or quality improvement.
• Experience building or expanding clinical education programs or partnerships.
• Experience in start-up or rapidly evolving academic environments.
• Preferred Eligibility for or current Tennessee medical licensure.