Colleagues - as I mentioned at our national meeting this past Spring, I am moving along to a new position in our system, and my PC PD position (which is wonderful FYI) is now officially posted and open for applications. If anyone would like to discuss personally, please do feel free to contact me directly!
Karen
The University of Colorado Internal Medicine Residency Program (CU IMRP) and Denver Health and Hospital Authority are seeking an outstanding primary care clinician, educator, and leader for the position of Primary Care Track Program Director (PC PD). The Primary Care Track of the CU IMRP was established in 1977 as one of the first federally funded primary care training programs in the country. It is responsible for the specialized training of up to 30 internal medicine resident physicians. The track aims to produce outstanding general internists with a comprehensive skillset to care for patients in the community or academic primary care setting, to be leaders in all aspects of their work, and to pursue successful careers as clinicians, educators and researchers. Currently based throughout multiple health systems in the Denver area, the primary care track will transition to become the University of Colorado School of Medicine Primary Care Track of the Internal Medicine Residency at Denver Health on July 1, 2020. The consolidation of these resources under the auspices of Denver Health will serve as an exciting opportunity to develop novel educational programs for primary care of the underserved in a nationally recognized, fully integrated safety net healthcare system with access to the educational resources of one of the largest internal medicine residency programs in the country.
Broad responsibilities of the primary care program director include teaching and role modeling; curriculum development, implementation and monitoring of new educational programs; administration; recruitment; and pursuit of medical scholarship.
Clinical Care:
The PC PD is a Denver Health clinical faculty position, with an academic appointment at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Clinical responsibilities will occur within one of the Federally Qualified Community Health Centers that make up the Denver Health primary care network. A commitment to care for underserved patient populations and a focus on health equity are essential for the position. Opportunities exist for inpatient and urgent care, if requested.
Education: The PC PD will provide education and mentorship to residents and medical students in settings including clinic preceptorship, didactic lectures, and group workshop facilitation. Mentorship and precepting of fellows in General Internal medicine, Addiction Medicine, and other primary care disciplines are available, if requested.
Curriculum development, implementation and monitoring:
The primary care program director is responsible for the development, implementation, monitoring, review and coordination of all aspects of the primary care curriculum. Opportunities exist to create novel educational experiences utilizing the unique resources within the Denver Health medical system. The PC PD will ensure a complete and robust curriculum that adapts to the evolving needs of trainees to prepare them to be leaders in primary care, while remaining in accordance with ACGME and institutional policies and requirements.
Administration:
As a track within the larger Internal Medicine Residency Program, the PC PD will administer the track as one component of the larger residency under the leadership of the Internal Medicine Program Director. In conjunction with the support of program assistant(s) the PC PD oversees primary care resident schedules; curriculum; mentoring and coaching residents; recruitment activities (review of applicants, interviewing, and ranking); attending and participating in all CU IMRP programmatic committees and workgroups in close coordination with the IM PD.
The ideal candidate for this position will take advantage of Denver Health and the CU IMRP’s unique opportunities to be innovative both locally and nationally to drive and lead efforts in health equity and population health via curriculum and policy development. Strong leadership and organizational skills are a must.
Requirements: The primary care program director must be board certified in general internal medicine and have experience in providing primary care. The PC PD must also have 3 years of educational administration or curricular experience following the end of their training. Proven experience with underserved populations is preferred.
Denver Health’s Mission is to:
Provide access to the highest quality healthcare, whether for prevention, or acute and chronic diseases, regardless of ability to pay;
Provide life-saving emergency medicine and trauma services to Denver and the Rocky Mountain region;
Fulfill public health functions as dictated by the Denver Charter and the needs of the citizens of Denver;
Provide health education for patients;
Participate in the education of the next generation of healthcare professionals; and engage in research, which enhances our ability to meet the healthcare needs of Denver Health system patients
To achieve its mission, Denver Health integrates acute care with public and community health to deliver preventive, primary and acute care services. This integration promotes continuity of high quality care for each patient. Integration also ensures that healthcare is delivered in the most efficient, cost-effective setting. Today, Denver Health serves a diverse patient population, including low-income and immigrant populations. Each year, Denver Health sees persons from around the world who speak more than 50 languages, most commonly Spanish. In total, Denver Health cares for 25% of all Denver residents, including 37% of all children. With approximately 7,000 employees, Denver Health is the fourth largest employer in Denver.
Denver Health’s achievements in patient care quality, despite the vulnerable status of many of its patients, have become widely known nationally and internationally. All members of the team are deeply committed to making patient safety a top priority and to ensuring that each patient is treated as a unique individual with state-of-the-art medical care. Denver Health strives to eliminate patient harm using technology, redesigning care, reporting concerns and analyzing information to prevent medical errors. The strong culture of patient safety, patient-centered care and high quality at Denver Health is the result of the commitment and focus of the entire team.
Major components of the Denver Health system
Denver Health Medical Center: a 555-bed facility including medical, surgical, psychiatric, obstetric and pediatric units. Denver Health has Level 1 trauma services for adults and Level 2 services for children
Emergency Department: adult and pediatric units, a dedicated Psychiatry Emergency Services unit and Mobile Crisis Services
Denver Paramedics: the sole provider of emergency medical services for the City and County of Denver, as well as the cities of Sheridan, Glendale and Englewood. The Division responds to more than 113,000 calls each year.
Community Health Centers: 9 federally qualified health centers in the Denver neighborhoods of greatest need. In 2017, 164,868 patients were seen within Denver Health’s community and school-based health centers for a total of 566,327 encounters. All primary care clinics have integrated behavioral health services.
School Based Health Centers: 17 clinics located in Denver Public School’s middle and high schools, providing primary care, mental health, reproductive health education and insurance enrollment assistance services.
Specialty care services: full range of medical, surgical, pediatric, orthopedic and Women’s Care clinics.
Outpatient Behavioral Health Services: outpatient specialty treatment for mental health and addictions, including a methadone clinic and neuropsychology.
Care for persons in the criminal justice system: medical and behavioral care at the Denver Detention Center, Denver County Jail, the Arapahoe County jail and the Correctional Care Medical Facility, an inpatient unit in the main hospital with telemedicine capabilities.
Denver Health Nurse Line: provides 24/7 health advice and recommendations for care, enabling more than 91,000 patients annually to get free and confidential answers to health-related questions.
Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center: provides poison and drug information services to medical professionals and the public in Colorado, Nevada, Montana, Hawaii and Wyoming.
Denver Health Medical Plan Inc.: Manages over 100,000 covered lives in its commercial, Medicaid, CHP+ and Medicare lines of business.
Denver Public Health: epidemiology and informatics, communicable disease control, health promotion and specialized clinical services (clinics for TB, STD and Family Planning, HIV care and Immunizations)
Denver Health is scheduled to open the Outpatient Medical Center in 2020. This state-of-the-art, patient-centered medical complex will be a significant expansion on Denver Health’s main campus. The Center will bring together all of the services needed for comprehensive specialty outpatient care. Please note that the Denver Health search committee will be accepting applications for this position until September 30th and will plan to follow up with prospective applicants the first week of October.
Interested applicants should submit CV and cover letter to Mark Kearns, MD and Aaron Ortiz:
Mark Kearns, M.D., Search Committee Chair -Mark.kearns@dhha.org
Aaron Ortiz, Manager Provider Recruitment - aaron.ortiz@dhha.org
Internal Number: DHMC PC PD