Administrative Skills Development

The administrative skills curriculum is designed to develop faculty administrators with the skills needed to manage a clinical department and serve as a medical director of a nursing home facility (medical and psychiatry fellows) or clinical director of a community-based dental center. Fellows’ skill sets are expanded through workshops, community service, and undertaking organizational responsibilities.

Workshops

Fellows participate in an administrative skills workshop series to receive a broad exposure to administrative issues in health care, including Health and Social Policy, Planning and Development, Grant Writing, and Chairing Meetings. The business management component of the curriculum includes presentations on Practice Management, Financing Dental Care, Elder Law, Quality Assurance, and Medicare Billing and Coding have been added to provide a well-rounded exposure to faculty practice issues and service delivery.

Community Service

Fellows will have a new opportunity to participate in health planning and work under the mentorship of Sherry Pomerantz, PhD and Diane Brown, PhD(Center for the Elimination of Healthcare Disparities) on the Camden City Health Futures Committee. The committee is a community-academic partnership established to address health and environmental needs of Camden city. Dr. Pomerantz and Dr. Brown serve on the committee together with representatives from county health department, Area Health Education Center, representatives from the African American and Hispanic communities, advocacy groups, community agencies, and local government. Second year fellows will attend committee meetings, where health planning issues will be discussed, and participate in the committee's work of assessing the health status of Camden city residents.

Organizational Responsibilities

As the trainee progresses in familiarity with generic administrative concepts, he or she has the opportunity to reinforce this knowledge by becoming actively involved with administrative responsibilities within the medical and dental schools. Fellows participate in grant writing under the mentorship of research and clinical faculty. All fellows are required to develop skills at planning and chairing meetings. Fellows chair monthly fellowship program meetings and are responsible for setting the agenda, running the meeting, and preparing minutes. Opportunities for fellows to serve on other program planning and quality assurance committees and workgroups are also offered through the NJISA. Fellows participate in monthly faculty meetings where administrative and clinical issues are discussed. Second year medical and psychiatry fellows are given the opportunity to serve as an acting medical director under the mentorship of faculty. Fellows complete a 6-month rotation at a continuing care retirement community (CCRC) or a behavior management unit of a nursing home in which they participate in interdisciplinary care management meetings, attend pharmacy, therapeutics, and quality assurance meetings and develop policies and procedures. The experience is supplemented by online resources and readings. The dental fellows work with Dr. Jill York and serve as acting director for a community-based dental center during the second year. Fellows are given the opportunity to participate in administrative aspects of managing a center, including fiscal issues, policy development, human resource management, and practice management.

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