Role design and job descriptions for Medical Colleges: defining teaching and service duties
In a medical college the same doctor teaches, treats and administers. Role descriptions that separate these duties let each person see what is expected and let the college plan time.
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Share your requirementsWhy role design and job descriptions matters in medical colleges
Without written roles, a clinical teacher's duties grow by habit. A professor of surgery may be expected to lecture, run a unit, supervise postgraduates, sit on committees and cover emergency calls. A senior resident gets whatever tasks the unit finds convenient. People feel overloaded and cannot show what they actually do, and the college cannot judge who is carrying too much.
Role descriptions solve this by stating, for each cadre, the teaching, clinical, supervision and administrative duties, the reporting line and the usual hours. They are short, agreed with the heads of department and used in hiring, appraisal and promotion. They do not describe medical practice. They describe how a person's week is shared.
How to set it up
1. List the cadres and department types
Professors, associates, assistants, senior residents, tutors and demonstrators, in clinical and pre-clinical departments. Treat each group once.
2. Describe duties under four headings
Teaching, clinical or lab service, supervision of students and residents, and administration. Give a rough weekly share for each.
3. Name reporting lines and substitutes
Who the person reports to, who covers when absent and who approves leave, so that gaps do not stall teaching. See role design and job descriptions.
4. Test the draft with working teachers
Ask a few teachers from different departments to read it, mark what is wrong and suggest what is missing before it is final.
5. Use the roles in hiring and appraisal
Place the description in advertisements, offer letters and appraisal forms, and review each year.
Check these first
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These take an afternoon and use your own records.
- Ask three teachers what they believe their duties are and compare answers.
- Check whether a senior resident has written expectations.
- Look for duties performed by many but listed nowhere.
- Compare two departments' expectations for the same cadre.
GullyHR can do this with you. Read how we approach role design and job descriptions in general, or share your requirements and we will tell you where to start.
Questions owners ask
They should shape them, but a common template and a review by HR helps keep wording and structure consistent. A head writing alone tends to describe the person rather than the post.
One or two pages is enough. List the main duties by heading, the weekly shares, the reporting line and the substitutes. A longer document will not be read and goes out of date quickly.
They make overload visible. Once weekly shares are written, a teacher whose real week is far beyond the pattern can raise it, and the college can decide whether to add people or change duties.