The University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, Knoxville

Dean Announces New Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs Position

James Neutens, PhD, Dean, announced a new position for the UT Graduate School of Medicine: an Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs. Rajiv Dhand, MD, has agreed to serve as the first Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs. In this part-time appointment, Dr. Dhand will oversee all matters related to the clinical services offered by the UT Graduate School of Medicine to include the Resident Clinics for Internal Medicine and Obstetrics/Gynecology and the Family Medicine Clinic to ensure accessible, comprehensive, patient-centered, streamlined, efficient and coordinated care. In this role he will work closely with the chairs and clinic directors of those departments. Several key clinical areas have been identified as needing representation within administration including clinical and EMR integration; meaningful use opportunities; expedited 72-hour access for patients without a PCP jointly with The University of Tennessee Medical Center; continuous quality improvement and CLER expectations; space utilization; equipment needs; and budget.

As Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs, Dr. Dhand reports directly to the Dean and will continue in his role as Chair of the Department of Medicine. Dean Neutens said, "This is an important step for UTMC and GSM to unify our approaches for clinical operations."

Dr. Dhand came to the UT Graduate School of Medicine in 2012 in the position of Chair of Medicine. He is board-certified in pulmonary and critical care medicine. Dr. Dhand received his MBBS degree from the Government Medical College, Amritsar, and his doctor of medicine degree from the Postgraduate Institute in Chandigarh, India. After completing his internship at VJ Hospital, Amritsar, India, he received internal medicine residency and pulmonary fellowship training at the Postgraduate Institute, Chandigarh. He did postdoctoral fellowship training at the Virginia Mason Research Center and the University of Washington-Seattle. He obtained his fellowship in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois, and later served as a faculty member and pulmonary attending physician at LUMC and Edward Hines, Jr. VA Hospital.