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Position Descriptions
The associate dean for curriculum is also the chair of the Council on Curriculum. The duties of this position are to: serve as the principal source of information about the medical curriculum for others, both internally and externally verify compliance with all relevant LCME accreditation standards; integrate and implement policies and procedures approved by the Council on Curriculum that are consistent with university and/or medical school policies and procedures; and direct and coordinate the overall structure and goals of the Council on Curriculum. The chair is appointed by the dean of the School of Medicine for a term of seven years.
The Council on Curriculum consists of twelve voting members, six of which are elected by the faculty and five are appointed by the Dean of the School of Medicine. The chair is the twelfth voting member and he/she only votes to meet a quorum or in the case of a tied vote. The duties of these members include attending monthly meetings to draft, review and revise curriculum policies and procedures; to develop and supervise the ongoing review of all clinical clerkship and coursework required for graduation at the School of Medicine via the executive performance review process; to coordinate and advise as new curriculum is proposed; to provide recommendations for curricular renewal and change based on outcome measures; to monitor and report on student, clerkship, and cohort-specific measures of students’ clinical experiences on all required clerkships by using patient tracking-generated data; to review all student curriculum petitions and new electives; and to occasionally serve on ad-hoc committees to accomplish the aforementioned duties. The council also consists of the following ex-officio, non-voting members: one clinical medical librarian, one representative Department of Medical Education and Research, Assistant Dean Years 1 & 2, one representative Clinical Performance Assessment and Remediation Committee, one representative of Student Affairs, and one representative Office of Diversity and Inclusion. Elected and appointed members serve a term of three years.
Sara Gardner, MD | Chair, Senior Associate Dean of Medical Education |
Michael Wacker, PhD | Associate Dean of Pre-Clinical Medical Education |
Jacqueline Walker, MD | Associate Dean of Clinical Medical Education |
Doug Cochran, MD | Elected Docent |
Anthony Makovec, MD | Docent – Alternate |
Sean Gratton, MD | Clinical Science Faculty |
Brandon Elder, MD | Clinical Science Faculty |
Helen Hill, DO | Clinical Science Faculty |
Aaron Reed, PhD | Basic Science Faculty |
Soheila Hamidpour, MD | Basic Science Faculty |
Trent Myers, MD | Humanities/Social Sciences Representative |
Cheerag Upadhyaya, MD | Saint Luke’s Hospital Representative, Clinical Science Faculty |
Maria Dycoco, MD | Clerkship Director |
Kevin Varghese | Student Representative, Voting Member |
Neal Shah | Student Representative, Alternate |
Erin Galakatos | Student Representative, Alternate |
Kristy Steigerwalt | Clinical Medical Librarian* |
Tyler Smith, MD | Diversity and Inclusion Representative* |
Jennifer Quaintance, PhD | Office of Assessment and Quality Improvement Representative* |
Connor Fender | Council on Evaluation Representative* |
Betsy Hendrick | Student Affairs Representative* |
Emily Haury, MD | Assistant Dean of Clinical Medical Education* |
Darla McCarthy, PhD | Assistant Dean of Pre-Clinical Medical Education* |
Megan Frasher | Manager of Medical Education* |
Ashley Sylvara | Curriculum Coordinator* |
Vacant | Curriculum Administrative Assistant* |
*Ex-officio Member
By-Laws of the Council on Curriculum