Course Director

Alice L. Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM) is seeking experienced, motivated, and dedicated leaders and educators to participate in the design and delivery of an innovative four-year medical school curriculum that engages medical students in active and novel learning.

Job Description:

About Us

Founded in 2021, Alice L. Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM) is a nonprofit, four-year MD program enhancing traditional medical education with the arts, humanities, and whole health principles. The School’s culture embraces self-care to empower students to care for their own well-being as well as their patients’. The School’s state-of-the-art medical education facility is under construction in Bentonville, Arkansas on the Crystal Bridges campus, home to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Heartland Whole Health Institute. The School has been granted preliminary accreditation status by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

What We Seek

We are building a cadre of medical professionals trained in conventional medicine and in whole health, by reimagining medical education. We seek leaders and faculty who are excited by this endeavor. Ideal candidates are committed to our goals of excellence, and to facilitating optimal health for all using a whole health approach.

Faculty and staff members will contribute to the development and rollout of the ARCHES curriculum, which is built on evidence-based approaches to teaching and learning. It includes the following six core elements:

• Art of Healing
• Research
• Clinical
• Health Systems Science
• Embracing Whole Health
• Science of Medicine

All six areas of the curriculum will be interwoven throughout the four-year curriculum.

About The Position

The Alice L. Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM) is seeking an experienced, motivated, and dedicated physician educator to participate in the design and delivery of an innovative and integrated longitudinal four-year medical school course that engages medical students through active learning. The course director will oversee the Integrated Principles of Medicine (IPM) course as part of the AWSOM curriculum. The course director will recruit content areas and coordinate with course directors and teaching faculty to ensure the integration of the Art of Healing (AofH), Health System Science (HHS), and Embracing Whole Health (EWH) content areas across the four years of the curriculum. The course director will shape and manage the learning objectives, active learning activities, and student assessments for these areas of emphasis. This individual will also design, implement, and deliver learning activities within the IPM course that align with the course director’s expertise. This role requires a highly collaborative individual who works well within an interdisciplinary team of curricular developers, educators, and administrators.

The ARCHES curriculum is built on evidence-based approaches to teaching and learning. It includes the following six core elements:

• Art of Healing: This curriculum component focuses on the human dimensions of care by merging the methodologies used in the humanities and arts with medicine. 
• Research: Students learn the basic principles of research and evidence-based medical practice, including how to locate, analyze, synthesize, and apply medical literature effectively. 
• Clinical Education: This curricular thread focuses on providing longitudinal clinical skills training and early clinical experiences throughout the first two years of the curriculum. In year three, students complete a diverse array of clinical requirements, and in year four, students explore focused discipline-specific patient care.
• Health Systems Sciences: Students are introduced to current health system structures, processes, and consequences, focusing on developing design skills to address them.
• Embracing Whole Health: Students learn the fundamentals of whole person-centered care, which considers the physical, behavioral, spiritual, and socioeconomic aspects of a person's life experience.
• Science of Medicine: Foundational sciences are featured and integrated into the curriculum in a horizontal and vertical pedagogical model. Students learn the core concepts of the foundational sciences of medicine and how they relate to normal and abnormal processes in the body in an organ-system approach.

All six threads of the curriculum will be interwoven throughout the four-year curriculum.

This position is open at the Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor level within the non-tenure track, depending on experience and qualifications.

We are building a workplace and learning climate in which whole health principles are inextricable parts of our culture and practices. All voices are heard and valued, and professional and personal growth are actively supported. While AWSOM does not have a tenure track, we are building a school that will facilitate exceptional professional development opportunities for our faculty and other team members.

Major Responsibilities/Essential Functions Specific to the Position:

• Ensure alignment of AofH, HHS, and EWH curricular threads with AWSOM medical education program objectives.
• Coordinate integration efforts with colleagues to ensure the appropriate representation of the AofH, HHS, and EWH curricular threads across the curriculum.
• Recruit and train content experts as needed.
• Implement active learning methodologies (e.g., flipped classroom) including pre-session preparation material, in session activities, and formative and summative assessments that align with expertise.
• Collaborate with the Senior Director of Assessment and Evaluation in the development and interpretation of  assessment and evaluation strategies.
• Collaborate with the Director of Curriculum Management to facilitate curriculum mapping related to the curricular threads.
• Update curricular content based upon course evaluation and directives from the curriculum committee.
• Actively participate in service-related activities, including membership on committees and workgroups within AWSOM and the community.
• Participate in professional development programs to enhance teaching, educational and other skills needed to execute responsibilities.
• Together with the Faculty Affairs Office, facilitate faculty development related to IPM.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Minimum Education

• M.D., D.O., from an accredited medical institution.

Minimum Work Experiences

• > 3 years of experience in undergraduate medical education in an LCME or COCA accredited medical school

• Demonstrated experience and expertise in curriculum development and delivery

• Strong background in preventive approaches

• Ability to apply adult learning theory

Preferred Work Experiences and Qualifications

• Proven accomplishments in research and scholarly activity

• Comfort with an array of educational technologies and active learning methodologies

• Additional training and demonstrated achievements in diverse therapeutic perspectives are desirable.

• Experience with case-based learning.

Skills Expected of All AWSOM Team Members

• Exemplary written, verbal, and other communication skills.
• Adaptability: Flexible to the needs of the position and the school.
• Collaborative Skills: Build and maintain relationships internal and external to the organization.
• Highly self-directed, reliable, and accountable.
• Strong commitment to self-care.
• Commitment to meet and maintain professional and/or faculty development requirements related to this role.

How to Apply

Applicants should submit the following materials:

• Letter of interest highlighting essential qualifications and interests
• A detailed curriculum vitae
• Teaching philosophy statement

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Physical Demands and Work Environment

The physical demands and work environment characteristics described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Physical demands: In the work environments described below, position requires utilizing a computer and other educational technology for prolonged periods of time, interpersonal and written conversation with others, large group facilitation of educational activities requiring extended periods of standing and walking throughout the classroom setting, transporting (up to 10 lbs.).

• Work Environment: Work will be performed in an office environment and in academic spaces (e.g. classrooms, labs, etc.). The noise level in the work environment is usually low to moderate. Some overnight travel may be necessary. Flexibility in working hours, including weekends and evenings, may be necessary to support operational needs.