Director of Didactic Education, Physician Assistant

POSITION SUMMARY:

The Director of Didactic Education is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the didactic (pre-clinical) phase of the Physician Assistant (PA) Program. This role requires effective leadership to ensure the program consistently meets student learning outcomes and programmatic goals related to didactic instruction. Working collaboratively with the Program Director and other members of the PA Faculty, the Director of Didactic Education ensures that the didactic phase is fully compliant with all ARC-PA Accreditation Standards. Additionally, the Director of Didactic Education is expected to coordinate efforts and maintain alignment with their counterparts at other South University PA program campuses to promote consistency and excellence across the institution. The Director of Didactic Education holds a faculty appointment within the Physician Assistant Program (rank commensurate with experience). In fulfilling the responsibilities of this role, the incumbent is expected to uphold and promote the philosophy of South University, which emphasizes quality services to students and stakeholders; development, engagement, and recognition of employees; sound economic and operational principles; and an environment that fosters innovation, positive thinking and institutional growth. This position offers a $10,000 signing bonus.

KEY JOB ELEMENTS:

• Coordinates curriculum development with the Director of Clinical Education, including the design and implementation of the didactic phase in alignment with the program’s student learning outcomes and PA competencies.
• Oversees evaluation, assessment, and continuous improvement to the didactic curriculum, including courses, student performance, and instructional faculty effectiveness.
• Manages faculty coordination by assigning didactic coursework and ensuring sufficient instructional coverage.
• Serves on the PA Department’s Curriculum Committee and collaborates with didactic counterparts at other South PA programs to ensure consistency and quality.
• Provides instruction in the PA program, including:

• • Leading coordination of all didactic course instruction annually.
  • Teaching in areas of clinical and/or professional expertise.
  • Serving as a faculty student advisor.

• Collaborates with the Program Director in the recruitment and hiring of full-time, adjunct, and instructional faculty for the didactic phase.
• Assists the Program Director in designing and implementing faculty development initiatives.
• Contributes to accreditation activities, ongoing program evaluation, and mission and vision statement and program goals review.
• Participates in the admissions process, including attendance at open houses, student recruitment, application reviews, candidate interviews, and student selection.
• Engages in service, community involvement, campus relations, Program Advisory Committee (PAC) meetings, and scholarly activities consistent with the responsibilities of the role.
• Participates in annual faculty development related to teaching effectiveness and academic administration.
• Assists with clinical site development, monitoring, and retention.
• Provides student success support and remedial instruction as needed.
• Assists with other responsibilities as determined by the Program Director, PA Department Chair, Dean of the College of Health Professions, and/or the Campus Director/Dean of Academic Affairs & Operations.
• Fulfills instructional duties as assigned, in accordance with the job description and the provisions of the Faculty Supplement to the South University Employee Handbook.
• Maintains the learning environment by keeping accurate records and enforcing academic policies consistent with the University, College, Program, and campus standards.
• Ensures compliance with South University’s academic policies and procedures, SACSCOC and ARC-PA programmatic accreditation standards, and state agency regulations.
• Assists with the investigation and resolution of student academic and-or professionalism issues in accordance with South University policies and procedures.
• Collaborates with the Director of Clinical Education and Assistant Director of Didactic Education on ongoing assessment of student performance relative to program’s student learning outcomes.
• Participates in scholarly and service activities appropriate to the role of Director of Didactic Education and PA faculty member.
• Assists with other program, department, or university responsibilities as determined by the Program Director, PA Department Chair, Dean of the College of Health Professions, and/or the Campus Director/Dean of Academic Affairs & Operations.

JOB REQUIREMENTS:

Knowledge:

• Terminal degree in healthcare disciplines such as physician assistant, pharmacy, medical doctor, and public health. Minimum of a Master’s degree is required.
• Eligibility for professional licensure/certification in the applicable state and healthcare discipline (if applicable) or holds an active, valid and unencumbered state license.
• 1-2 years teaching experience in a graduate health-related profession highly preferred
• 2 years of clinical experience required, if applicable, five years is preferred.
• Experience in PA/medical classroom teaching and PA education administration highly preferred.
• Physician Assistants are preferred.
• PAs must have graduated from an accredited PA program and have current NCCPA certification or emeritus status.
• Emeritus clinicians are not required to hold active licensure.

Skills:

• Excellent verbal and written communication skills including the ability to build successful relationships with students and faculty.
• Strong interpersonal skills with student, faculty, and staff populations.
• Excellent critical thinking, conflict resolution, and decision‐making skills.
• Superior organization, prioritization, and self-motivation skills.
• Strong computer skills, including MS Office Suite, ExamSoft, and WebAdMIT.

Abilities:

• Ability to interact effectively with clinical health care providers and administrators to establish and maintain strong relationships with clinical affiliates/sites.
• Ability to interact effectively as both a leader and as a member of a team and work collaboratively with other departments.
• Ability to read, understand, interpret, and implement accreditation criteria and state agency regulations.
• Ability to effectively present information to faculty, academic and campus leaders, corporate leaders, and public groups.
• Ability to resolve inquiries and complaints from employees, students, regulatory agencies, or members of the academic or business community.
• Ability to listen to staff, students, clinical preceptors, and members of the medical community in order to understand and respond appropriately to their needs and requests.
• Ability to adapt to changing assignments and multiple priorities.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and successfully meet deadlines.

WORK ENVIRONMENT:

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The term "qualified individual with a disability" means an individual with a disability who, with or without reasonable accommodation, can perform the essential functions of the position. While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to communicate professionally in person, over the telephone, through email and other electronic means, move about the office or school, handle various types of media and equipment, and visually or otherwise identify, observe and assess.

South University is an Equal Opportunity Employer and embraces diversity as a critical step in ensuring employee, student and graduate success. We are committed to building and developing a diverse environment where a variety of ideas, cultures and perspectives can thrive.

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EducationLevel

Master’s Degree