We are excited to announce that William Mills, Jr., MD MPH has been named and accepted the role of Director of Medical Student Education in Pediatrics and the Course Co-director for the Care of Specific Populations (CSP) Course in the School of Medicine. Dr. Mills is a Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine. His role will focus on curriculum development and assessment in the Pediatric block portion of the course.
Dr. Mills is a proud Tar Heel, having graduated from UNC School of Medicine after earning his undergraduate degree from Davidson College. He completed Pediatric residency training and Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellowship at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Children’s Center. He returned to North Carolina to join the faculty of our School of Medicine in 2008.
Dr. Mills has demonstrated significant leadership success in his roles as the Associate Director of Medical Student Education in the Department of Pediatrics for over 10 years. In addition, Dr. Mills has served on the Implementation and Curriculum Leadership Team for the UNC Physician Assistant Training Program. His leadership success in these roles is clearly evidenced by the number of successful mentoring relationships amongst medical students and resident trainees. He has developed and implemented innovative simulation curricula and is co-leader of a distance learning curriculum in the Pediatric Emergency Department to augment the clinical experience of trainees affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Mills is an enthusiastic and talented educator who is highly knowledgeable and skilled in the clinical setting. He is a passionate teacher who cares deeply about student education and an equitable, inclusive learning environment. In his role, Dr. Mills will not only co-lead the CSP course, but also integrate pediatric curricula within the School of Medicine, direct pediatric career advising, and mentor trainees interested in medical education.
Dr. Mills will work closely with Ms. Lynn West who has served as the Pediatric Medical Student Coordinator since 2017 and has done an outstanding job organizing student schedules, clinical assignments, and curricular activities. Dr. Mills will begin his new leadership role June 28, 2021, the beginning of Trimester 2 of the Application Phase. Dr. Mills and Ms. West will begin a call and search for a faculty member to fill Dr. Mills’ current role of Associate Director of Medical Student Education in Pediatrics immediately.
We want to extend our sincere gratitude to Dr. Rick Hobbs, MD who has served as the Director of Medical Student Education in Pediatrics since 2014 and Co-director of the CSP Course since the beginning of the TEC curriculum. Dr. Hobbs was instrumental in successfully transitioning the Pediatric Clerkship into the integrated Care for Specific Populations Course. He has developed innovative curricula incorporating technology into undergraduate medical education and was named the inaugural Director of the Technology in Medical Education (TiME) program.