Conroy adds Associate VP to list of duties

MUSC Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine chair Joanne M. Conroy, M.D., has assumed additional duties as associate vice president for medical affairs.

The newly created post comes as a result of significantly increased MUSC Medical Center clinical services activity and the need for a more centralized leadership transcending departmental lines.

“We've made much progress in the direction of high quality, accessible, cost-effective and patient-friendly clinical activities,” said vice president for medical affairs and College of Medicine dean Layton McCurdy, M.D., “but much more still needs to be done.”

In addition to the traditional hospital and university clinic operation, McCurdy said, there also is the interface with Carolina Family Care and other primary care networks in the Tri-County area. He included a growing need for interface activities between University Medical Associates and other physicians throughout the Lowcountry.

Also, developments in Beaufort, on Hilton Head Island, in Georgetown, in Myrtle Beach and Hampton County all demand involvement by the MUSC clinical leadership, he said.

In its August meeting, the MUSC Board of Trustees authorized the creation of the associate vice president for medical affairs position to assist McCurdy with many of the duties involved in facilitating the clinical activities of the College of Medicine's full-time faculty. This includes interface activities with the university hospital and with the health care professionals in MUSC's expanded clinical network.

As the new associate vice president for medical affairs, Conroy reports to the vice president for medical affairs and dean and has the responsibility and authority to work with department and division heads in establishing and maintaining practice standards for the full-time faculty. This includes methods of determining compensation for clinical activities (including incentive plans), establishing clinical schedules on and off campus, and working with chairs and division heads to establish policies and procedures. The medical directors of the university hospital and Charleston Memorial Hospital report to Conroy.

In addition, Conroy is responsible for establishing and reviewing contractual arrangements with various departments of the university hospital, overseeing the clinical “centers of excellence,” and works in close collaboration with the College of Medicine department chairs, the medical center administration, the UMA administration, and with deans and faculty of the other colleges where opportunities exist for interdisciplinary clinical activities.

McCurdy said that Conroy was chosen after months of consultation with department chairs, faculty leaders, MUSC president James B. Edwards, DMD, and other members of the university administration. “Dr. Conroy is a skillful academic leader with a relentless but tolerant dedication to the changes necessary to sustain our mission as we move rapidly into a changing environment,” McCurdy said.

Joanne M. Conroy, M.D., is a 1977 cum laude graduate and Robert Sloan Scholar of Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. She earned her M.D. from MUSC in 1983 and completed her residency at MUSC in 1986. She was chief resident from 1985 to 1986. She joined the MUSC faculty as an assistant professor of anesthesiology in 1986.

During her affiliation with the Medical University, Conroy has risen in faculty rank to associate professor in 1990 and professor in 1995.

She has served in administrative capacities, including director of residency education, director of the anesthesiology pain clinic, department vice chair, assistant dean for admissions, admissions committee chair, scholarship board chair, UMA at-large board member, UMA board nominating committee member, department finance committee chair, College of Medicine strategic plan subcommittee chair, medical staff president-elect, medical staff by-laws committee chair, interim chair of the Department of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, and medical staff president.

In addition to her educational and administrative accomplishments, Conroy continues to pursue an active research career, generating more than 120 peer-reviewed journal articles, abstracts, book chapters and presentations.

Conroy holds membership in numerous professional societies, including the American Medical Association, the International Anesthesia Research Society, American Society of Anesthesiologists, American Society of Regional Anesthesia, Southern Medical Association, South Carolina Medical Association, South Carolina Society of Anesthesiologists, Charleston County Medical Association and the American Board of Anesthesiology. She has served as assistant editor of the Southern Medical Journal and on the journal's strategic planning committee, and is co-editor of the text, Anesthesia for Orthopedic Surgery.

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