Vice Chairs Research Articles

Vice Chair for Education: Twelve Roles to Provide a Framework for Success

An increase in the administrative work in our healthcare system has led to an increase in the number of administrative positions in radiology departments. Many of these are Vice Chair roles, including Vice Chair for Education (VCEd). The responsibility of this position has expanded, often far beyond the original definition. This article defines the role and expectations of the Vice Chair for Education and provides suggestions for success. This article will review 12 vital roles that a Vice Chair for Education must play to be an effective advocate for radiology education within a department. Key attributes of an educational leader are delineated, divided into 12 areas or roles. This article summarizes key leadership skills needed by Vice Chairs for Education in order for them to be effective in their role.

Vice Chairs for Research: What They Do & Challenges They Face

The Vice Chair for Research can be a critical member of a radiology department’s leadership team and help guide its research program. There is, however, little information available on what a Vice Chair for Research is expected to do (i.e., a job description) or what types of challenges they are facing in today’s research environment. A survey of radiology Vice Chairs for Research was done to ascertain the characteristics and responsibilities of a typical radiology vice chair for research, and their commonly encountered challenges. The responsibilities were consolidated into 15 major categories with a variety of individual tasks in each one. There were 18 themes identified in terms of challenges, with the top three reported as funding to support research, engaging clinical faculty in collaborative research, and research time for radiologists. These survey results could help radiology departments define the role of their Vice Chair for Research or for those departments without one to formulate a job description for recruiting, and to consider ways to help Vice Chairs meet challenges in order to enhance department research efforts.

Developing an Education Budget for Radiology Vice Chairs and Leaders: An ADVICER Template

The Alliance of Directors and Vice Chairs in Education group identified the need to develop an education budget template as resource for our community. Having a framework and working knowledge of budgetary considerations is crucial to those with general oversight and executive managerial responsibility for departmental educational programs. An online survey was sent to all the Alliance of Directors and Vice Chairs in Education members. Survey questions included education funding sources, presence of vice chair of finance, expectation of revenue generation, existing education budget, funding decision-makers, education budget formulation and approval, vice chair of education's role in budget, education budget line items, and income statement review. The survey response rate was 41/81 (51%). A majority 26/41 (63%) of respondents had an education budget that typically included funding for all medical students, residents, and fellows but only a minority of respondents report they developed 10/22 (45%), approved 6/22 (27%), or regularly reviewed 6/21 (29%) this budget. In sharp contrast was the role of department chairs and administrators, who presumably all participated in this process. To assist in education budget development and review, as well as meet the need to improve participants' financial accounting knowledge as a key tenet of faculty professional development, the authors developed sample budget templates and an income statement primer. Our survey results suggested the need for an educational budget framework and financial accounting resources for those in radiology education posts, and resources have been provided.

Diagnostic Radiology Resident Recruitment Part II: Advice to Applicants From Vice Chairs for Education

Applicants to diagnostic radiology residencies often obtain advice regarding the process, typically from local individuals. Materials available on the Internet contribute to this process as well. We are a group of current and former Diagnostic Radiology Residency Program Directors and current Vice Chairs for Education who commonly advise medical students, including regarding radiology as a career. This work is meant to provide a "plain talk" resource for those considering a career in radiology via a radiology residency, written from the point of view of an advisor with lots of experience.

Diagnostic Radiology Resident Recruitment Part I: Advice to Programs (and Program Directors) From Vice Chairs for Education

To the best of our knowledge, there is little available organized advice for diagnostic radiology residency program directors and their programs regarding resident recruitment. We are a group of current and former program directors who are current vice chairs for education and continue to advise and to mentor many educators. We have constructed this article along the yearly schedule of trainee recruitment, including an application review, interviews, and troublesome trends that we have observed.

Leading an Academic Radiology Department: Using Vice Chairs

Leading an Academic Radiology Department: Using Vice Chairs

Developing a Job Description for a Vice Chair of Education in Radiology: The ADVICER Template

The newly formed Alliance of Directors and Vice Chairs of Education in Radiology (ADVICER), a group within the Alliance for Clinician Educators in Radiology, identified an acute need for a generic job description template for Vice Chairs of Education in Radiology, a role that is being developed in many academic Departments of Radiology. Eighty-three percent of current members who responded to a survey had no detailed job description, and over half had no job description at all. Having a comprehensive and detailed job description is vital to developing this key position. Using the results of a survey sent to ADVICER members and seven Education Vice Chair job descriptions provided by members, the authors developed a detailed job description encompassing all potential elements of this position. Only 17% of survey respondents had a detailed job description. The role of an Education Vice Chair varies significantly between institutions in its scope and level of responsibilities. The resultant generic job description that was devised is intended to provide a template that would be modified by the candidate or the Department Chair. It is unlikely that any one individual would perform all the described activities. ADVICER has developed a comprehensive, flexible job description for Vice Chair of Education in Radiology that can be adapted by institutions as appropriate. It can be downloaded from http://aur.org/ADVICER/.

Leadership Considerations for Executive Vice Chairs, New Chairs, and Chairs in the 21stCentury

Leadership Considerations for Executive Vice Chairs, New Chairs, and Chairs in the 21^stCentury

The Activities and Responsibilities of the Vice Chair for Education in U.S. and Canadian Departments of Medicine

A profile of the activities and responsibilities of vice chairs for education is notably absent from the medical education literature. The authors sought to determine the demographics, roles and responsibilities, and major priorities and challenges faced by vice chairs for education. In 2010, the authors sent a confidential, Web-based survey to all 82 identified department of medicine vice chairs for education in the United States and Canada. The authors inquired about demographics, roles, expectations of and for their position, opinions on the responsibilities outlined for their position, metrics used to evaluate their success, top priorities, and job descriptions. Analysis included creating descriptive statistics and categorizing the qualitative comments. Fifty-nine vice chairs for education (72%) responded. At the time of appointment, only 6 (10%) were given a job description, and only 17 (28%) had a defined job description and metrics used to evaluate their success. Only 20 (33%) had any formal budget management training, and 23 (38%) controlled an education budget. Five themes emerged regarding the responsibilities and goals of the vice chair for education: oversee educational programs; possess educational expertise; promote educational scholarship; serve in leadership activities; and, disturbingly, respondents found expectations to be vague and ill defined. Vice chairs for education are departmental leaders. The authors' findings and recommendations can serve as a beginning for defining educational directions and resources, building consensus, and designing an appropriate educational infrastructure for departments of medicine.

Career Development Needs of Vice Chairs for Education in Departments of Surgery

To identify the career development needs Vice Chair for Education in Surgery Departments (VCESDs). In all, 33 VCESDs were invited to complete an online survey to identify the scope of duties, scholarly activity, job satisfaction, and career development needs. A total of 29/33 (88%) VCESDs responded. Time constraints were the most frequent impediment for MDs vs. PhDs (p < 0.05). Dominant faculty development needs were conducting educational research (2.0 ± 0.78 for MDs, 1.33 ± 0.76 for PhDs), developing resident selection systems (1.68 ± 0.73), and mentorship programs (1.95 ± 0.77) for MDs, and developing teach the teacher programs (1 ± 0), and program performance evaluation systems (1.33 ± 0.76) for PhDs. The skills deemed to be of greatest importance were ability to communicate effectively (1.27 ± 0.55), resolve personnel conflicts (1.32 ± 0.57), and introduce change (1.41 ± 0.59). PhDs revealed a greater need to learn strategies for dealing with disruptive faculty (1.0 ± 0 vs 2.15 ± 0.87). This information will inform the future career development of VCESDs and will assist Department Chairs who wish to recruit and retain VCESDs.

Why Help a Growing Scientific Giant?

The pace of progress in Chinese science and technology, from high-speed rail to supercomputers, has been breathtaking. The Web of Science s Essential Science Indicators show China to be ranked at fourth place internationally, behind the United States, Japan, and Germany, in terms of the number of published papers in the peer-reviewed literature. The country comes in at eighth place in number of citations. Almost all of this has been fueled by central government funding which, in the basic sciences, has increased at an annual rate of over 20 percent per year for the last few years. It is a staggering rate of investment compared to other countries. Certainly, China is emerging as a scientific giant, and the rate of growth is the envy of many.

Incoming Meetings Board Chairs and Vice Chairs

Incoming Meetings Board Chairs and Vice Chairs