Learning Community Faculty Mentor

Position Summary

The Office of Student Affairs in the Chicago Medical School (CMS) at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science invites applications for four part-time Learning Community Faculty Mentor positions. Learning Community Faculty Mentors are responsible for providing longitudinal advising, mentoring, teaching, and social support to medical students. The learning communities at Chicago Medical School provide medical students with a familiar group of peers that lasts throughout medical school. Under the leadership of a Learning Community Faculty Mentor, approximately 48 students (one-fourth of each medical school class) develop trust and help one another adapt to the culture of medicine. Sixteen Learning Community Mentors link vertically with students in other classes through the four CMS Houses. Learning Community Faculty Mentors are expected to serve a four-year term. The annual faculty salary for this part-time position is $10,000/year, which will be divided into twenty-six equal payments per year for four years.

The learning communities at Chicago Medical School provide medical students with a familiar group of peers that lasts throughout medical school. CMS learning communities allow students to feel part of a dedicated cohort focused on co-curricular learning that is beneficial in terms of feeling supported and validated. Faculty Mentors collaborate with student leaders within the learning community to organize monthly meetings with the students focused on community building, professional development, wellness, and careers in medicine. Additionally, Faculty Mentors make themselves available for students to contact them to address personal and professional issues.

Who We Are

Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science (RFUMS) is a six-college graduate health sciences university dedicated to the interprofessional education of health and biomedical professionals. Chicago Medical School, the original college of the six, has been educating physicians and furthering biomedical research for more than 100 years. Established in 1912, the founders built a combined medical school and hospital where working men and women could study medicine at night.

As a community-based institution, CMS students experience a variety of clinical environments and models; including, inner-city and suburban hospitals, the James A. Lovell Federal Health Care Center that serves U.S. military personnel, as well as private clinics and practice settings. Training focuses on positioning patients at the center of care and as an active member of the healthcare team. During student didactic training, CMS' simulation labs allow students to sharpen their interactive and communication skills and develop critical reasoning. Students have early clinical contact, experience a supportive environment, and can count on a faculty dedicated to student success.

Faculty and staff are passionate about CMS' mission to educate physicians and scientists dedicated to providing exemplary, compassionate patient care, and excellence in scientific discovery within a diverse, supportive, and interprofessional environment.

Essential Duties & Responsibilities

• Onboarding and Professional Development: Participates in required onboarding and annual faculty development related to advising, student support resources, wellness, professionalism, referral pathways, and changes in the curriculum.
• Learning Community Engagement: Collaborates with CMS leadership and student leaders to contribute to and participate in ongoing learning community programming, fostering connection, professional development, and information sharing through structured and informal activities.
• Student Affairs Collaboration: Meets as-needed with the CMS Assistant Dean of Student Affairs and Learning Community Advisors to strategize support for students needing additional academic, professional, wellness, and/or career support.
• Reporting: Collaborates with OSA learning community staff to develop and maintain information for annual reporting on student engagement programs, house meetings, and student one-on-one advising sessions.
• Advising: Beginning in the fall of students' M1 year and then twice a year throughout medical school, community faculty mentors meet individually with every student (average of 50 students per community). Faculty mentors and students review the student's academic performance, discuss their progress concerning transitioning to medical school, professional and career development, and help students create learning plans. These meetings also cover the students' ways of maintaining their physical and mental health. Faculty mentors may receive notification of their students' academic progress and contact struggling students to offer help. In addition to advising students each year on wellness, well-being, and accountability (utilizing academic success resources and attending workshops), LC Faculty Mentors will advise their students on the following topics per academic year:
  • M1: Advising relating to the transition to medical school, career mentoring resources
  • M2: Step 1 study planning, wellness and burnout, and connecting students to career resources/mentors
  • M3: Transition to clinical education, one-on-one meetings to assist in creating and reviewing students' MSPE, Step 2 planning.
  • M4: Student CV review, specialty interviews, connecting students to career advising team for specialty and Match strategies.
• Mentoring: Serves as role models in classroom and clinical settings, supporting early career advising and professional identity formation. Guides students in reflecting on their experiences, values, strengths, and evolving goals. Shares insights from clinical practice and models professional interactions.
• Student Support & Engagement: Identifies students in distress and appropriately escalates concerns to OSA leadership and campus support services as needed. Actively fosters a supportive community by participating in key student milestones (e.g., White Coat Ceremony, Clerkship Transition, Match, Graduation) and engaging in learning community social events, supported by a designated budget. Serves as a professionalism coach for students within their learning community, providing guidance and support for challenges related to executive functioning and lapses in professionalism, and helping students develop strategies for growth and accountability.
• Service: Each LC Faculty Mentor is required to attend CMS admissions training and participate in at least two admissions interviews of CMS applicants.

Conditions of Employment

• Must achieve satisfactory results from a background check
• Must utilize Rosalind Franklin's email for communication and access shared resources

Required Education & Experience

• M.D. or D.O. degree, residency certificate; six years of clinical practice experience and current clinical practice.
• Must possess the highest ethical standards and strong personal and professional integrity.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills are of utmost importance.

Required Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• Familiarity with new practice development and team-based care
• Familiarity and experience in Chicago and the surrounding medical community
• Administrative experience
• A commitment to the RFU core values
• An understanding of student health services

Typical Physical Demands & Working Conditions

Selected candidates must have the mental and physical capabilities to perform the essential functions of the position with or without reasonable accommodations.