Open Rank Clinical Faculty - Associate Dean for Community Health

Responsibilities

• Provides strategic oversight for the Office of Community Health and works in close partnership with the Executive Director of Community Engagement to ensure strong coordinated and sustained relationships with partner communities and organizations aligned with the College’s mission.
• Oversees other COM efforts to engage communities (e.g., activities by the Family Care Center, student interest groups, individual faculty efforts where students are involved) ensuring alignment with the COM strategic plan and appropriate compliance with applicable laws, regulations, policies and procedures.
• Facilitates bidirectional engagement to understand community-informed research priorities and explore opportunities for community-driven research partnerships.
• Serves as the Course Director for the Household Centered Care (HCC) program and works with the Vice or Associate Dean for Medical Education, the Office of Medical Education, and course directors for physicians, patients, and populations (PPP) and clinical focus sessions (CFS) to contribute to curriculum development and delivery in the area of Community Health.
• Develops and leads service-learning activities for COM students, and students from other relevant UH Colleges, focused on the care of neighbors in the Third Ward and Greater Houston.
• Provides both didactic and clinical teaching to medical students in HCC, PPP, CFS, longitudinal primary care (LPC) and/or clinical electives (clinical setting only if relevant).
• Works in close partnership with the Associate Dean for Research and the Director of the Community-Engaged Research (CER) core to support high-quality, funder-aligned, and community-responsive research.
• Works with COM students and the Director of Student Research to develop and support student research in the area of Community Health.
• Conducts research within the area of Community Health, community engaged research, and healthcare delivery (if relevant).
• Provides strategic, dedicated leadership which meets the educational, clinical, and community goals of the COM.
• Develops, maintains and oversees a strategic plan for improving the health and health care of partnered communities, including the development of Health Commons.
• Advises the Dean on matters related to the community health mission of the COM.
• Provides strategic oversight of the College’s community-engaged research ecosystem, ensuring alignment across community partnerships, research, education, and clinical programs.
• Identifies and addresses institutional and administrative barriers to community-engaged research (e.g., compensation, onboarding, IRB processes).
• Works with institutional leadership to streamline systems and reduce friction.
• Actively provides clinical care to underserved patients in a primary care setting.
• Provides clinical instruction to COM students while providing clinical care.
• Oversees the establishment of metrics and evaluation frameworks to track: Community engagement activities. Faculty participation and capacity. Grant funding and research outputs. Community impact and partnership quality.

  Qualifications

  • PhD, MD or DO from an accredited institution.
  • Unrestricted Texas Medical License and board certification in specialty (for physician applicants).
  • Experience in community health, medical education, and research.
  • Strong leadership and strategic planning skills.
  • Ability to work effectively with diverse communities and stakeholders.
  • Experience in clinical care and teaching.