Assistant Dean for Foundational Sciences

Alice L. Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM) is seeking experienced, motivated, and dedicated leaders and educators to participate in the design and delivery of an innovative four-year medical school curriculum that engages medical students in active and novel learning.

Job Title:

Assistant Dean, Foundational Sciences

Reports to:

Associate Dean, Curricular Affairs

FLSA Classification:
Exempt

Location:

Bentonville, Arkansas (On-site)

Date Reviewed: 06/05/2026

Founded in 2021, Alice L. Walton School of Medicine (AWSOM) is a nonprofit, four-year MD program that will enhance traditional medical education with the arts, humanities, and whole health principles. The school’s culture embraces self-care to empower students to care for their own well-being as well as their patients’. The school’s state-of-the-art medical education facility is located in Bentonville, Arkansas on the Crystal Bridges campus, home to Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and Heartland Whole Health Institute.

The school has been granted preliminary accreditation status by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education.

The Assistant Dean, Foundational Sciences is instrumental in helping design and deliver an innovative, integrated, four-year medical school curriculum that actively engages students through interactive learning methods.

Reporting to the Associate Dean, Curricular Affairs, the Assistant Dean, Foundational Sciences is responsible for the pre-clerkship phase of the ARCHES Curriculum, including curriculum design and integration, student assessment, teaching faculty performance and development, and program evaluation/continuous quality improvement. The Assistant Dean also will be responsible for appropriate integration of foundational sciences content into the third (clerkships) and fourth (electives and preparation for residency) curricula.

• Operational responsibility for the successful completion anddeliveryofallfoundational sciencescoursesof theARCHESCurriculum, with direct responsibility for oversight ofhigh-stakestesting and the weeklycases.
• Provide feedback to the Chair of the Department of Medical Education regarding foundational sciences course directors and educators.
• Liaising with leaders of other components of the ARCHES curriculum to assure appropriate integration of content and development of weekly cases in the first two years.
• Designing and implementing curriculum improvement projects inallfoundational sciences courses, asdeterminedby student needs, trends in medical education, accreditation requirements, and recommendations byAWSOMCurriculum Committee.
• Overseeingfoundationalscience curricular integration withinall phases of the ARCHES curriculum.
• Providing classroom instruction within areas of expertise for medical students.
• Providing and/orparticipatingin faculty development initiatives as needed forthefoundational sciences educators.
• Participating as an ex-officio member of the AWSOM Curriculum Committee, providing reports on the pre-clerkship phases of the curriculum as a whole or on any of its components.
• Chairing
  
  Phase1 and 2 Subcommittee of the Curriculum Committee.
• Participating as an ex-officio member of the Phase3-4
  
  Subcommittee.
• Assisting the Associate Dean of Curricular Affairs with implementing strategic initiatives for the four-year medical curriculum as they pertain to Foundational Sciencescurriculum.
• Ensuring that thefoundationalscience portions of the curriculumare incompliance withall regulatory and accrediting bodies, including but not limited to the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME).
• Participatinginacreditationand reaccreditation processes.
• Coordinatingwithappropriate leaders, departments, and institutions to ensure continued development, assessment, and improvement of all foundational science curriculum elements.
• Production of scholarly contributions andfacilitatingscholarly output by UME personnel and teaching faculty
• Stayingabreast of national trends in medical education and strategically advocating for and guiding institutional adaptation to changes in the educational environment.
• Assisting in the recruitment and hiring of faculty and staff.
• Supporting the medical school strategic planning process.
• Supporting strategic budget planning and the effective allocation of financial resources.
• Other duties as assigned

• Lead, coach, and develop direct reports, fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and high performance.
• Conduct regular one-on-one meetings, providing feedback and professional development opportunities.
• Support recruitment, onboarding, and training of teaching faculty to ensure alignment with organizational standards and practices.
• Monitor and manage team performance, addressing attendance, conduct, or productivity issues promptly and professionally.
• Model professionalism and service excellence, serving as a role model for your team in maintaining quality and operational standards.
• Encourage employee…