Department: Office of the Dean Salary: Commensurate with experience
Description:
The Associate Dean for Community Health (ADCH) serves as the principal liaison between the Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine (COM) and communities and organizations in Greater Houston, partnering to improve their health and health care. The ADCH works closely with the Associate Dean for Medical Education to contribute to the curriculum development and delivery in the area of Community Health and with the Associate Dean for Research in the development of research programs focused on improving the health and healthcare of our partnered communities. The ADCH provides leadership in the COM in Community Health and provides clinical care (if relevant) to underserved patients in a primary care setting.
Responsibilities
1. Community Liaison:
• 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 with partner communities and organizations aligned with the College's mission.
• Provides strategic oversight and institutional alignment for Health Commons as a shared governance partnership, ensuring its continued development, sustainability, and impact on community-identified health priorities.
• 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
2. Medical Student Education:
• 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).
3. Research:
• 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).
4. Leadership:
• 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.
5. Clinical Care (if relevant):
• Actively provides clinical care to underserved patients in a primary care setting.
• Provides clinical instruction to COM students while providing clinical care.
6. 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.
Salary and rank commensurate with experience.
Required Attachments by Candidate
• CV
• Contact information of three references through the University of Houston's Human Resources job portal or Letters of recommendation.
Applicants must have a PhD, MD or DO, depending on the position, from an accredited institution. Official transcripts are required for faculty appointment and will be requested upon selection of the final candidate(s). Physician applicants must possess an unrestricted Texas Medical License and board certification in their specialty. While exceptions may be considered, approval must be obtained from the Vice Dean of Education and/or the Dean of the College of Medicine and the Office of the Provost. All positions within the University of Houston System are security sensitive and will require a criminal history check. Physician applicants are required to provide documentation of current licensure and board certification as part of their application materials.
Employees are expected to have a home address in the state of Texas for the duration of their appointments.
Official transcripts are required for a faculty appointment and will be requested upon selection of the final candidates.
All positions at the University of Houston-System are security sensitive and will require a criminal history check. Individuals conducting research in critical infrastructure areas (i.e., communication infrastructure systems, cybersecurity systems, electric grid, hazardous waste treatment systems, and/or water treatment facilities) are subject to regular review to ensure the security and integrity of the research is maintained.
