Building a Dream Team to Change Medical Education in Southern Nevada
Meet Jamie Fairclough, PhD, MPH, MSPharm Associate Dean for Assessment and Evaluation
Self-described data geek, Jamie Fairclough, has more initials after her name than one can count. As a member of Roseman University College of Medicine’s Dream Team, assembled by Dean Joe Greer, MD, to shape new thinking at this emerging school of medicine, Fairclough joined in July 2020 as Associate Dean for Assessment and Evaluation.
What does that all mean? According to Dr. Fairclough, evaluation and assessment analytics ensure the College of Medicine and its curriculum are delivering on their promise and generating strong ROI to the community, to donors, to students, and to patients.
“In simple terms, data and number crunching is about assessing impact,” said Dr. Fairclough. “And at the end of the day, it’s all about ensuring we are taking care of our patients and the community the way we intend to and in the way we have publicly declared in our mission.”
According to Dr. Fairclough, data and assessment is particularly important as Roseman works toward its accreditation. In business, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the buzzwords of the decade, and so it should be with medical schools to ensure data is accurate, insightful and actionable, she said.
“Data that tells the story of our impact is incredibly useful with the community, with patients, with donors and with stakeholders. Making data understandable and user friendly is also key, and that’s the part I love most. Get me in a room with coffee and data and I can work all day and through the night to make it relevant and applicable. It’s what I thrive on.”
According to Dr. Fairclough, Roseman will be using advanced analytics and robust data systems to capture and analyze community data. “Our approach is to merge data pertaining to the social determinants of health with clinical data to develop multilevel models that will ultimately predict population health outcomes. We are also identifying metrics and outcomes that are important to our internal and external stakeholders to ensure that we meet the needs of those we serve.”
With a B.S. degree in health sciences, a master’s degree in public health, a master’s degree in pharmacy with a focus in applied pharmaoeconomics, a PhD in human sciences with post-doctoral fellowship training in behavioral medicine research at Duke University, and subsequent post-graduate training in both medical statistics and data science at Stanford University and the University of Texas McCombs School of Business, Fairclough is typically the most educated person in the room.
Thank goodness her multidisciplinary training allows her to interpret complex data and communicate comprehensible findings to the rest of us!
