Becoming Community-Based Faculty
Becoming a Community-Based Clinical Faculty Member
The UC Riverside School of Medicine is proud to have more than 1,000 community clinicians who teach our medical students the application of clinical and basic sciences in the areas of patient care. These appointments are a valuable way to utilize the interest and experience of practitioners on a part-time, volunteer, unsalaried basis in the areas of teaching, patient care, and clinical research.
The types of appointments include:
- Clinical Instructor
- Assistant Clinical Professor
- Associate Clinical Professor
- Full Clinical Professor
Questions? Please contact Clinical Affiliate Relationship Manager KA Aguilar.
Eligibility
The program is open to physicians with state licenses to practice in the healthcare field.
Non-physicians, e.g. psychologists, nurses, social work professionals, may be appointed in the clinical faculty series as long as they have the terminal degree and a state license to practice in the field, as well as certification of registration by a national society when available.
This program is not for faculty who hold a position at UCR Health or UC affiliated health providers who have been credentialed through the medical staff office.
Application Process
Physicians who wish to become clinical faculty should submit their up-to-date CV via email to cbfaculty@medsch.ucr.edu. Please make sure that the subject line of your email contains "Community-Based Faculty Application." The CV will be routed to the appropriate coordinator.
After submission, the coordinator will work with the chair of the specialty to complete the Appointment Summary Request Form. The CV and form will be submitted to the Office of Academic Affairs for committee review. Upon approval, the physician will receive an appointment letter which will need to be signed and returned.
The full process takes from four-to-eight weeks to complete.
How do Community Based Faculty Participate in Medical School Education?
The Longitudinal Ambulatory Care Experience (LACE) is a unique part of the undergraduate medical education curriculum at the UCR School of Medicine. The program bridges the gap between classroom learning and clinical application by providing our first-, second-, and third-year students hands-on clinical experience with community-based primary care providers. First- and second-year students see patients with their assigned LACE preceptor for one half-day session every other week. Third-year students attend LACE every week for one half day.
Problem Based Learning (PBL) sessions occur throughout students’ first and second years with two Friday morning sessions reviewing a clinical case. Faculty facilitators guide and support the by asking questions to assist students with identifying the limits of their knowledge, monitoring the group process (encouraging participation) and providing a framework for constructing models of understanding. Content expertise on the part of the faculty may be helpful but is not considered necessary for effective facilitation.
The doctoring course provides first and second year students a small group learning environment to practice history taking with the support of peers, faculty facilitators, and standardized instructors. Additionally, doctoring provides instruction on basic communication, physical examination and critical thinking skills defined as core competencies.
The Clinical Skills Course spans the first eighteen months of school for all medical students. Students begin to develop and refine their clinical examination skills in a small group setting through the support of peers, faculty facilitators, and standardized instructors. In clinical skills, students learn to communicate with patients, families, and other members of the care team; examine patients; develop clinical reasoning skills; and understand the important role of a student-doctor in a patient’s care.
In Year 3, each student experiences core areas of clinical education including medicine, surgery, family medicine, pediatrics, obstetrics-gynecology, psychiatry, neurology and emergency medicine at clinics, medical centers, and hospitals in Inland Southern California. UCR provides innovative longitudinal curriculum that rotates students through clinical clerkships over the course of two six-month blocks. Students also are provided two selective rotations at the end of each six month block to spend three weeks in a specialty of their choice. Faculty members from a diverse set of specialties serve in multiple aspects of clerkship education in ways best suited to their availability and clinical setting.