Office of Faculty Development and Advancement

The overarching mission of the DOM Office of Faculty Development and Advancement (OFDA) is to promote faculty success and efficacy through recruitment, integration, development, and professional advancement across the faculty continuum and throughout the career stages of individual faculty. Our efforts focus exclusively on faculty within the Department of Medicine, with support from faculty development teams in Faculty Affairs and the School of Medicine.

The OFDA supports its faculty members in their careers. In addition, we support medical school and university initiatives to recruit and retain a diverse faculty. The OFDA contributes to new faculty orientation and provides workshops and seminars to promote career development in clinical care, education, research, and leadership.

The goals of the program are to:

• Promote the fulfillment of the Education Strategic Plan’s learning and teaching principles through a comprehensive faculty development program that covers the continuum of medical education.
• Identify faculty needs for professional development and support efforts to facilitate faculty professional and personal goal alignment.
• Support individual faculty in their roles as educators.
• Help faculty in advancing their careers as medical educators by developing their contributions in educational scholarship.
• Promote collaboration across all three missions: clinical service, education, and research.

Our Team

The office is led by Jimmy Stewart, MD, Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics.

Jimmy Stewart, MD
Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education/DIO
Vice-Chair For Faculty Development
Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics

"My professional career has been that of a clinician educator with a clinical and research focus in cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment, specifically with hypertension in children and adults. I have been involved in graduate medical education for the past 20 years, most of which was as an associate program director and program director of the Med-Peds residency program. I currently am serving as the Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education and have oversight responsibility for 66 ACGME accredited residency and fellowship programs, as well as 3 CODA accredited dental residencies. This encompasses approximately 685 individuals in training at the University of Mississippi Medical Center."

Professional Development Committee

Navigating an academic career can be challenging, especially for junior faculty members. The Department of Medicine (DOM) offers individualized coaching through our Professional Development Committees, which utilize the experience of senior faculty leaders in the department, strategic collaboration with other faculty members, and an Individualized Development Plan (IDP) in a longitudinal experience to provide assistance in achieving their professional goals.

Mentorship

The Department of Medicine's mentoring efforts center on the importance of the mentoring relationship including: finding and selecting a mentor, maintaining and maximizing a mentor-mentee relationship, and developing mentorship-specific skills. As busy clinicians, researchers, and educators, mentoring is not “one size fits all" and the departmental mentoring program is comprised of multiple resources that aim to engage faculty at all levels of need.

Promotions and Tenure

Promotion and Tenure is the advancement process available to faculty within UMMC’s Department of Medicine (DOM) based on achievement in the academic mission areas.

In support of our faculty, we partner closely with many offices across the department, medical school and university.

Faculty Affairs

The Office of Faculty Affairs serves faculty members across the School of Medicine. It oversees faculty review and promotions and supports career development, mentoring, communication, faculty policy changes, gender equity and diversity.