Position: Social and Health Systems Instructor
Description: The Office of Medical Student Education is seeking instructors (seminar leaders) for the Social and Health Systems 3 (SHS 3) course during Foundation phase. SHS 3 is taught to all medical students in Fall of second year, in weekly seminar groups. It is part of a sequence of SHS courses throughout Foundation, Application, and Individualization phases. In Foundation phase, the SHS courses are:
- SHS 1 (MS1 Fall) – social and cultural factors that influence health and health care;
- SHS 2 (MS1 Spring) – ethics in clinical encounters, research, and public health;
- SHS 3 (MS2 Fall) – policy dimensions of health care and their impacts on populations.
SHS 3 instructors will lead teaching sessions with a group of students (12-13) one afternoon each week of the Fall 2024 semester. Most weeks, instructors will facilitate topical discussions; course topics include health insurance policy and history, the uninsured and underinsured, clinical practice organization and financing, pharmaceutical and device regulation and safety, child health, substance abuse, carceral health, health of older adults, environmental health, migration and health, and workplace health. Through readings, class discussions, a health care reform exercise, and a panel discussion among formerly incarcerated persons, students learn about various dimensions of health policies as they operate at federal, state, community, professional, and institutional levels. Relevant themes and concepts from SHS1-2 are reprised. Graded exercises include an oral presentation for and participation in a debate among stakeholders in health care reform, and a written policy brief.
SHS 3 instructors will prepare for each session by reviewing preparatory documents assembled by course directors and attending faculty meetings. Instructors must be available from 1-3:30 pm each week one afternoon (either Tuesday or Wednesday, not both) during Fall 2024. They will attend the weekly faculty development meeting (1-1:45 pm), and then lead their small group sessions (2-3:30 pm).
SHS 3 seeks instructors who can create a supportive learning environment for students and have a strong commitment to social sciences and humanities approaches to contexts of health-related policies. For more information on SHS requirements and expectations, please see here.
Support: This position is supported at 0.05 FTE.
Dates: Instructors must be available for 15 sessions between August 6 and December 4, 2024.
Application Process: Please contact the SHS 1-2-3 Co-Directors, Raúl Necochea (necochea@med.unc.edu) and Barry Saunders (barry_saunders@med.unc.edu) with inquiries. Applicants should email a CV, a short cover letter describing prior experience in education and their interest in the role, their availability/preference for teaching on either Tuesday or Wednesday, and a statement of support from their chair or division chief to Allison_Maldonado@med.unc.edu by 2/8/2024.