Details
Posted: 08-Jun-22
Location: Asheville, North Carolina
Type: Full Time
Required Education: Masters
Categories:
Academic / Faculty
Academic / Research
Sector:
Community Health Center/Community Clinic
The Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) is creating a Center for Community Bioethics and invites applications for a Senior Bioethicist to direct this initiative. The new director will lead an innovative program for Western North Carolina (WNC). Its aim is to promote and enhance ethical practices in health care that are sensitive and responsive to the rich cultural diversity of WNC.
Established in 1974, Mountain Area Health Education Center (MAHEC) is a nationally recognized, federally designated area health education center (AHEC) that provides integrated physical, mental health and substance use disorder (SUD) services to 170,000 patients annually in Western North Carolina (WNC). MAHEC is committed to improving health in Western North Carolina through innovative health professions training and education and compassionate healthcare.
Center for Community Bioethics
Vision: A Center for Community Bioethics that nurtures and sustains Western North Carolina’s unique communities, building upon local strengths through inclusive partnerships and diverse voices, to improve the quality of health and wellness for all people.
Mission: The MAHEC Center for Community Bioethics Advisory Group will support the initial process to identify and recruit the most qualified candidate for Senior Bioethicist and Director, with a focus on inclusivity, diverse perspectives, respect for local strengths, and cultural humility.
The Senior Bioethicist will directly support the Center for Bioethics’ three primary functions:
provide clinical consultations with hospitals and other healthcare organizations in the region and with community-based organizations. engage deeply in educational ventures with community groups, MAHEC, hospitals in the region, UNC Schools of Medicine and Public Health, Pharmacy, faith communities across traditions, and beyond. serve as a resource for policy development for health care organizations and public health initiatives, including consultation on organizational ethics.
SPECIFIC RESPONSIBILITIES:
Qualities, knowledge, and experience evident in the Director of the Center for Community Bioethics will include:
- Excellent communication skills (listening, writing, mediating, and speaking)
- Cultural humility and sensitivity to the rich history and cultural diversity of WNC
- Strong clinical consultation experience and skills
- Comfortable and knowledgeable in facilitating, educating, and promoting conversations across the community and with health professionals regarding key ethical concerns such as access to care, mental health, issues in reproductive and pediatric care, and advance care planning
- Connect with ethics committees and ethicists across the state and the region, as well with professional ethics organizations such as the ASBH
- Community-based research and community needs assessments
ADDITIONAL DUTIES:
- Must have demonstrated ability to multitask with regular interruptions.
- Must be able to successfully prioritize multiple competing tasks.
- Must have demonstrated ability to apply systems thinking, quality and process improvement, and problem solving to daily responsibilities
- Must be able to work independently.
- Must be able to maintain organization in a fast paced, changing environment; pay attention to detail; maintain a high degree of motivation; and work effectively as a member of the team.
- Must be able to monitor their own work for quality.
EDUCATION:
- At least a Master’s degree in Bioethics or a related field and terminal degree (JD, PhD, MD, DO or other) preferred
- A minimum of 5-7 years of practical bioethics experience including clinical consultations
- Clinical Ethics Consultation (CEC) certification through the American Society for Bioethics and Humanities (ASBH) preferred
