Chair, Department of Neurology

UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS FOR MEDICAL SCIENCES

The University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) is the state’s comprehensive provider of medical education, research, and academically based clinical care.  UAMS offers 73 baccalaureate, master’s, doctoral, professional, and specialist degree programs and certificates through the Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, Health Professions, Public Health, and the graduate school.  UAMS operates programs in all of Arkansas’ 75 counties, including eight UAMS Regional Centers, seven regional Centers on Aging, and one of the most successful Head Start programs in the nation.  Combining education, research, and clinical programs, UAMS has a unique capacity to lead state-wide health care improvement.

UAMS is the largest public employer in the state of Arkansas with more than 10,000 employees and is consistently recognized as having the best hospital in the state.  UAMS is one of the most significant economic engines in Arkansas; the financial impact of UAMS and its key partners, Arkansas Children’s Hospital and Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System, has been estimated at $4.5 billion annually.

The Chair, Department of Neurology reports to the Dean, School of Medicine and the CEO of UAMS for service line responsibilities and will ensure the excellence of the Department’s educational, scientific, and clinical programs and have overall responsibility for operations and strategy across the Department.  The Chair will also oversee the advancement and development of outstanding clinical and educational programs and focus on growing the research enterprise while sustaining the Department’s reputation in all mission areas.  Additionally, with potential to serve as UAMS’s Neuroscience Service Line Director, the Chair will be able to influence outstanding clinical programs across a comprehensive and integrated set of offerings.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CHAIR

• Provide visionary and innovative leadership to lead the Department into the next phase of growth and development with the aim of achieving superior clinical and academic programs; as Service Line Director, manage integrated neuroscience capabilities for UAMS.
• Work closely and collaboratively with UAMS leadership to build, grow, and integrate areas of acknowledged clinical excellence with outstanding outcomes and patient satisfaction; expand clinical programs to provide appropriate access to care and reduce patient backlog.
• Assure delivery of excellent clinical education and advanced training to medical students and residents.
• Together with the Dean, define and lead the Department’s research strategy.  Recruit and support principal investigators and other faculty within the Department in efforts to secure NIH and other grant funding to support research priorities.  Ensure a deliberate investment into research activities and priorities within the Department.  Support collaborative research efforts at UAMS and across the state.
• Supervise, prepare, implement, and monitor the Department budget that encompasses all funding sources and ensures compliance with grant, legislative, and institutional guidelines.
• Recruit, develop, and retain outstanding faculty and staff in support of Department activities.  Ensure an atmosphere of support and development for all contributors and help create succession plans for individual faculty while ensuring strategic personnel planning for the Department.
• Provide leadership in enhancing diversity, equity, and inclusion and promote cultural competence within all aspects of the Department and University.
• Require ethical medical and financial practices across the Department.  Support compliance activities as necessary.
• Partner with the Dean’s office to cultivate philanthropic support.

IDEAL EXPERIENCE

• Personal academic accomplishments and credentials within Neurology as well as the experience and national reputation necessary to ensure the enhancement of the research, clinical, and educational missions of the Department.
• Success managing complex clinical programs focused on access, quality, patient satisfaction, and support of faculty and staff; financial understanding of clinical operations within a complex academic medical center is desirable.
• Financial and business acumen, with appropriate knowledge of the complex financial pressures facing academic medical centers and health care delivery organizations.
• An M.D./D.O. degree and Board Certification in Neurology; candidates should hold the academic rank of Associate Professor or Professor and be eligible for medical licensure in Arkansas. 

THE SEARCH PROCESS

The executive search firm Spencer Stuart has been retained to assist in this recruitment.  Inquiries, nominations, and applications are invited and should be submitted to Sanna Bryant at sbryant@spencerstuart.com.  Review of applications will begin immediately and will continue until the position is filled, although indication of interest is encouraged by Friday, October 21, 2022, for full consideration.