Academic Orthopaedic Hand Surgeon

THE POSITION

The Department of Orthopaedics at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill (UNC) seeks a full-time faculty member at any rank. The appointee will have inpatient and outpatient responsibilities in the context of a career in academic medicine. Essential duties will include teaching and supervision of residents and fellows along with scholarly activities. This position is an opportunity to be part of a dynamic team featuring upper extremity surgeons, researchers, and advanced practice providers who are focused on creating a hand and upper extremity program with excellence in education, research, and clinical care.  

THE ROLE OF HAND SURGEON

The appointee will work with multiple other full-time faculty members, including surgical and non-surgical partners and advanced practice providers caring for patients with hand and upper extremity problems. The appointee will be expected to work with other surgeons focused on clinical practice growth, developing best practices for surgical and non-surgical UE patient treatment while measuring and enhancing UE patient outcomes across the UNC health care system. The Division currently serves 7,000 + patients per year. It performs 1,300 operations at the main UNC Hospital campus in Chapel Hill, UNC Hillsborough Hospital, and an ambulatory surgery center in neighboring Wake County.

KEY OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES

Besides bringing high-quality surgical skills and a demonstrated academic portfolio, the candidate will participate in the tripartite departmental mission of clinical care, education, and research. The core duties of the role reflect this commitment and include:

Building a robust clinical practice that promotes quality and can serve the needs of a growing healthcare system:

• Developing a clinical practice that meets patient needs, enhances quality of care, and implements care innovations. Clinical care should also support departmental research efforts. Efficiency, volumes, and excellent service to patients and referrers will be a high priority in the outpatient arena. The outpatient care organization may also involve outreach, contracts with other organizations, or collaboration with UNC’s Physicians Network or other UNC Health Care System (HCS) entities.
• Growing the clinical practice strategically in collaboration with other departments and divisions.
• Providing supervision of medical services to assure appropriateness, quality, and safety of patient care within the Division's scope.
• Working with HCS leadership to participate in Population Health Management and value-based care initiatives.

Creating a research program that brings innovations to patients and new learning opportunities to residents:

• Participating in research may include basic, translational, clinical outcomes, health services, education, or ethics research.
• Supervising and advising resident research.
• Producing research in the form of abstracts for regional, national, and international meetings and manuscripts published in recognized peer-reviewed journals.

Fostering an inclusive and nurturing educational environment by:

• Participating in the development, implementation, supervision, and evaluation of undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate, and continuing education programs in the Division.
• Participating in the educational mission, including clinical and didactic teaching and mentorship (career guidance and scholarly projects) with learners.
• Supporting continuing professional development/medical education for faculty, advanced practice providers, and staff.

The candidate will participate in formal QI initiatives within the Division, Department, and UNC HCS and will actively support QI initiatives and other activities necessary to meet quality outcome measures for the UNC HCS.

QUALIFICATIONS AND EXPERIENCE

The successful candidate will have the following qualifications, skills, or experiences:

• Doctor of Medicine or equivalent
• Eligible for medical licensure in the State of North Carolina
• Board-certified or board eligible in Orthopaedic Surgery
• Completed an ACGME-approved Orthopaedic Surgery residency or its equivalent
• Completed an ACGME-approved hand fellowship