VCOM Administrative and Classified Staff Handbook

Overview of the Educational Program and the Role of Faculty

VCOM offers a four-year course of study leading to the degree of Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (D.O.). The progressive integration of basic science and clinical experience over the four years begins with a basic science emphasis in the first year and finishes with a predominately clinical emphasis in the fourth year. Clinical experiences are integrated throughout the curriculum, as are basic science and osteopathic principles and practices. VCOM has incorporated the latest technology throughout the facility in order to offer the latest in education programs. Students are exposed to inter-professional educational experiences to learn the importance of the healthcare team, and to residency programs (a minimum of one in the third year and up to five in the fourth year) to assure they are ready to apply and to assist them to be successful in attaining a residency. The Provost, Campus Deans, and the Associate Deans oversee the curriculum to assure a high-quality program, assuring that the most current medical knowledge is offered, assuring consistency across campuses, and assuring that the latest technology is used in educational delivery. The Associate Deans, Biomedical Chairs, and Clinical Chairs assure the content and student performance standards are met. The content is the responsibility of the Chairs and the faculty who deliver the curriculum. The Provost, Campus Deans, and Campus Associate Deans direct the format or "style" of delivery of the curriculum across campuses through the Curriculum Oversight Committee. The Provost and Campus Deans have the final say in curriculum style and delivery. Biomedical Faculty responsibilities include teaching, service, and research. The educational/teaching duties include, but are not limited to, the timely preparation and presentation of accurate and up to date educational materials, as well as incorporating the latest in educational technology and strategies pertinent to medical education. Faculty are also required to be collaborative with other College disciplines in the creation and continual refinement of a College-wide curriculum. Biomedical faculty have a duty to perform research (primarily bench, bench to bedside, or population-based research, but can include educational research) as agreed upon with the Associate Dean for Biomedical Affairs, the AVP for Research development and the VP for Research. Biomedical faculty are expected to perform service including College committees, interviews, and other service as assigned by the Campus Dean. All Biomedical Faculty are expected to participate in scholarly activity including publication. These are the duties by which biomedical faculty are evaluated. Clinical Track Academic Faculty responsibilities include teaching, patient care service, College service, and participation in research and scholarly activity as pertained to clinical practice or education. The educational or teaching duties include, but are not limited to, the timely preparation and presentation of accurate and up to date educational materials, as well as incorporating the latest in the use of educational technology and in content delivery strategies in medical education. Clinical faculty are also required to be collaborative with other College disciplines in the creation and continual refinement of the curriculum, both the clinical curriculum and the clinical integration of the biomedical curriculum. The clinical track academic faculty have a duty to participate in research in scholarly activity, which may include clinical case reports, clinical population-based research (in hospital population, in practice populations, or in the larger community population-based research). Unless defined in the contract or designated by the Associate Dean, faculty research does not always include seeking the funding for that research; however, if clinical faculty are provided with protected time for academic preparation, and the research warrants, academic track clinical faculty are expected to perform service including college committees, interviews, and other service as assigned by the Associate Dean and Campus Dean. The majority of clinical faculty have a commitment to patient care and to teaching students in the clinical setting. Therefore, their scholarly activity may be limited to research and scholarly activity regarding patient care and medical education. All academic track clinical faculty, or those employed and whose employment includes protected time for academic preparation in addition to teaching are expected to produce scholarly activity including publication related to research in education and/or clinical practice service. These are the duties by which clinical faculty are evaluated.

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