Academic Rheumatologist, University of Mississippi Medical Center

At a Glance

• Appointment: Full-time faculty, Department of Medicine, rank commensurate with experience
• Visa sponsorship: H-1B (cap-exempt), J-1 waiver (Mississippi Conrad 30 and Delta Regional Authority), permanent residence (EB-1B, EB-2)
• Practice: Established outpatient practice with a statewide referral base and an on-site infusion service
• Call: Limited night and weekend call as backup for the fellows
• Teaching: ACGME-accredited two-year Rheumatology Fellowship
• Research: Protected time supported by the NIH-funded MCCTR
• Compensation: Competitive guaranteed salary plus productivity bonus, excellent benefits, and a choice of retirement plans
• Apply: CV and brief letter of interest to Jim Hagood, Managing Director, Academic Med

The University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) invites applications and nominations for an academic rheumatologist to join the Section of Rheumatology within the Division of Clinical Immunology in the Department of Medicine. Three things set this position apart. Visa sponsorship is available for any candidate who needs it: H-1B as a cap-exempt academic employer, J-1 waiver through two separate routes, and permanent residence, all coordinated by UMMC’s Office of International Services. Leadership opportunities are part of the plan: this hire is the first step in a deliberate effort to grow Rheumatology, and the right individual can move into fellowship education, clinical program, research, and section and division leadership over time. Protected research time is built in, supported by the NIH-funded Mississippi Center for Clinical and Translational Research (MCCTR), which provides salary support for protected research effort, pilot grant funding, and structured mentorship to junior faculty.

This is an opportunity to join a collegial academic program with exceptional clinical demand, an ACGME-accredited rheumatology fellowship, a distinctive research ecosystem for immunologic and rheumatic disease, and a clear institutional commitment to growing Rheumatology over the coming years. UMMC has retained Academic Med to lead this national search.

What Sets This Position Apart

• Visa sponsorship through every major pathway. H-1B sponsorship as a cap-exempt academic employer (no lottery, filed any time of year); J-1 waiver sponsorship through both the Mississippi Conrad 30 program and the Delta Regional Authority’s Delta Doctors program, which gives UMMC more flexibility on timing and slots than institutions that rely on a single state allocation; and permanent residence sponsorship (EB-1B and EB-2). UMMC’s Office of International Services works with faculty recruits from the offer stage forward.
• Leadership opportunities. An institutional commitment to grow Rheumatology, a meaningful voice in shaping what the program becomes, and, for candidates with the interest and experience, leadership roles in fellowship education, clinical quality and informatics, clinical research, and, over time, section and division leadership.
• Protected research time and the grant mechanisms to use it. Protected time for scholarship is available and will be scaled to your background and proposed program. The NIH-funded MCCTR is the established pathway through which junior faculty in the Department of Medicine secure protected research effort: a Clinical and Translational Research Scholars Program with salary support and pilot funding, a Mentoring Academy, and a biostatistics, epidemiology, and research design core. The Division Director, Gailen D. Marshall, MD, PhD, leads the MCCTR’s Research Services Core.
• A research ecosystem built for rheumatology. An NIH-funded translational lupus program seeking a clinical rheumatology partner, active lupus and lupus nephritis trials, the Jackson Heart Study, national real-world data networks, and the state’s only CAR-T program.
• An established practice from day one. Step into an active statewide referral base rather than spending years building one, with fellows embedded in faculty clinics and a rheumatology infusion service on site.
• Limited call. Inpatient consultation follows a consultative model shared among the faculty in rotation. Fellows take first call, and night and weekend call is limited to backup for the fellows.
• An ACGME-accredited fellowship to teach in. A two-year Rheumatology Fellowship with fellows rotating through faculty clinics, so you teach and mentor from the start rather than building an educational program from scratch.
• A first faculty position built to succeed. Structured mentorship, an initial period of salary protection while you establish your practice, and a Department of Medicine Office of Faculty Development and Advancement. Fellows completing training in 2027 are encouraged to apply.

The position is a faculty appointment with academic rank and responsibilities commensurate with the successful candidate’s experience and accomplishments. UMMC welcomes candidates completing rheumatology fellowship as well as early- and mid-career academic rheumatologists who have chosen academic medicine deliberately: physicians who want to teach fellows, publish with colleagues, and build a clinical or scholarly niche over time. Protected time for academic and scholarly activity will be available, and the balance of clinical and academic effort will be tailored to the successful candidate’s interests and goals. Candidates completing fellowship in 2027, including international medical graduates who will require visa sponsorship, are strongly encouraged to apply.

Rheumatology is among the most undersupplied subspecialties in the country, and the shortage is most acute in the Southeast. As Mississippi’s only academic medical center, UMMC draws referrals from across the entire state, and the impact of one additional academic rheumatologist is felt statewide.

The Division of Clinical Immunology

Rheumatology at UMMC is housed within the Division of Clinical Immunology, an integrated division of the Department of Medicine that brings together adult rheumatology and allergy, asthma, and clinical immunology under a single academic home. The division is led by Gailen D. Marshall, MD, PhD, Professor and Director, holder of the R. Faser Triplett Sr. MD Chair in Allergy and Immunology, Vice Chair for Research for the Department of Medicine, past President of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, and an NIH-funded investigator recognized in 2025 with UMMC’s highest award for cumulative extramural research funding. Dr. Marshall also leads the Research Services Core of the NIH-funded Mississippi Center for Clinical and Translational Research, giving the section a direct line into the institution’s clinical and translational research infrastructure. The division sponsors ACGME-accredited fellowships in both Rheumatology and Allergy and Immunology, and its integrated structure gives rheumatology faculty daily proximity to immunology expertise, translational investigators, and a shared research infrastructure.

Rheumatology Faculty and Clinical Practice

The current Rheumatology faculty includes Hanan B. Ibrahim, MD, Rheumatology Fellowship Program Director, and Rachana Marathi, MD, Medical Director of the Rheumatology Clinic, both Assistant Professors of Medicine. The practice is predominantly outpatient, based in the University Medical Pavilion adjacent to University Hospital, and is supported by a rheumatology infusion service. Inpatient care follows a consultative model shared among the faculty in rotation, with fellows taking first call and faculty providing attending oversight. Rheumatology at UMMC carries limited night and weekend call as backup for the fellows.

Mississippi’s patient population produces a very high volume of systemic lupus erythematosus, vasculitis, inflammatory arthritis, and gout, and the most complex and rare rheumatic disease in the state is referred to UMMC. The incoming faculty member will step into an established practice with an active referral base rather than spending years building one. This recruitment is the first step in a deliberate plan to grow the Rheumatology faculty, and the successful candidate will have a meaningful voice in shaping what Rheumatology at UMMC becomes, with opportunities for the right individual to grow into program, section, and division leadership over time.

ACGME-Accredited Rheumatology Fellowship

The division’s two-year, ACGME-accredited Rheumatology Fellowship is a core strength of the program and an immediate platform for teaching, mentorship, and scholarship. Fellows rotate through faculty clinics, and the incoming faculty member will teach and mentor fellows from day one rather than building an educational program from scratch. Program highlights include:

• Year-round hospital consultation service at UMMC and the G.V. “Sonny” Montgomery VA Medical Center.
• Multiple half-day fellow and faculty clinics each week at the University Medical Pavilion, plus dedicated fellow clinics at the VA.
• Experience with the Rheumatology Infusion Service.
• Musculoskeletal ultrasound with institutional support for training.
• Training in metabolic bone disease and osteoporosis, with access to bone mineral densitometry and certified interpretation.
• Elective rotations in pediatric rheumatology, dermatology, musculoskeletal radiology, sports medicine, and neuromuscular neurology.
• An extensive conference program: clinical case conference, clinical and basic science topic reviews, journal club, multidisciplinary conference, and core internal medicine topics.
• Support for textbooks, board review materials, and travel to regional and national meetings, with a strong emphasis on scholarship and quality improvement.

Pediatric Rheumatology and Molecular Immunology

UMMC is also home to a separate Division of Pediatric Rheumatology and Molecular Immunology in the Department of Pediatrics, based at Children’s of Mississippi, the state’s only children’s hospital. The pediatric division provides comprehensive care for children with arthritis, autoimmune, and connective tissue disease, trains its own ACGME-accredited pediatric rheumatology fellows, and conducts research into the causes and treatment of pediatric rheumatic disease. Together, the adult and pediatric divisions form a robust ecosystem for immunologic and rheumatologic care, research, and education, with natural opportunities for collaboration in pediatric-to-adult transition of care, lupus outcomes, and shared educational programming.

Position Responsibilities

Clinical Care

1. Provide expert diagnosis and longitudinal management of adults with rheumatic, autoimmune, and musculoskeletal disease in outpatient and consultative settings.
2. Practice in UMMC’s outpatient rheumatology clinics, precept fellow clinics, and share in the faculty rotation for inpatient consultation, with the specific clinical schedule and effort tailored to the candidate’s academic pathway.
3. Collaborate with referring physicians and multidisciplinary colleagues across the Department of Medicine and UMMC, including nephrology, dermatology, pulmonary, and hematology-oncology.
4. Contribute to the continued development of efficient, high-quality rheumatology access, care pathways, and specialty services.

Education and Mentorship

1. Teach and mentor rheumatology fellows, internal medicine residents, medical students, and other learners.
2. Participate in clinical conferences, case-based teaching, journal club, and other divisional and departmental educational activities.
3. Support the continued strength and growth of the Rheumatology Fellowship and contribute to scholarship and quality improvement involving trainees.

Scholarship and Program Development

1. Develop or advance a scholarly focus appropriate to the candidate’s interests and experience, which may include clinical or translational research, clinical trials, medical education, quality improvement, population health, or program development.
2. Leverage UMMC’s research ecosystem and collaborative opportunities in immune-mediated disease, cardiovascular and metabolic health, health disparities, and clinical and translational science.
3. For research-focused candidates, develop an independent or collaborative research portfolio and pursue extramural support as appropriate to rank and role.
4. Help define and grow a distinctive clinical or academic area within Rheumatology, such as lupus and lupus nephritis, vasculitis, rheumatoid arthritis, gout, combined rheumatology-dermatology care, musculoskeletal ultrasound, tele-rheumatology, clinical quality and informatics, clinical trials, or an expanded inpatient consultative service, aligned with program needs and candidate expertise.
5. For candidates with the interest and experience, pursue leadership opportunities in fellowship education, clinical quality and informatics, clinical research, and, over time, section and division leadership.

Qualifications

Required

1. MD, DO, or equivalent medical degree.
2. Successful completion of an accredited fellowship in Rheumatology by the anticipated start date.
3. Board eligibility or board certification in Rheumatology.
4. Eligibility for an unrestricted Mississippi medical license and appropriate medical staff appointment.
5. Demonstrated commitment to high-quality patient care across the full breadth of general rheumatology and to the academic missions of education and scholarship.
6. Qualifications for appointment at the rank of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, or Professor in the UMMC School of Medicine, as applicable.

Preferred

1. Evidence of teaching, mentorship, scholarship, clinical research, quality improvement, or program development.
2. A defined clinical, educational, or research interest that complements and expands the current program.
3. For experienced candidates, a record of academic productivity, collaborative leadership, and successful program growth commensurate with career stage.
4. Interest in serving a diverse, statewide patient population and advancing access to specialty care across Mississippi.
5. A collaborative, team-oriented approach to practice and a desire to build a long-term career at UMMC.
6. International medical graduates are encouraged to apply. UMMC sponsors H-1B, J-1 waiver, and permanent residence petitions for faculty physicians.

Mississippi Center for Clinical and Translational Research (MCCTR)

The NIH-funded MCCTR, a statewide IDeA Clinical and Translational Research center led from UMMC, provides the infrastructure an early- or mid-career investigator needs to launch a program: structured mentorship through a Mentoring Academy, pilot project funding, a Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Research Design core, community engagement resources, and a Clinical and Translational Research Scholars Program that provides salary support for protected research effort and pilot funding to junior faculty. The MCCTR is the established pathway through which promising junior faculty in the Department of Medicine secure protected research effort, and Dr. Marshall and Michael E. Hall, MD, MS, Chair of Medicine, both hold leadership roles within the center.

Translational Lupus Research and Clinical Trials

Lupus is a defining clinical and scientific opportunity at UMMC. Erin B. Taylor, PhD, Assistant Professor of Physiology and Biophysics and of Medicine, leads an NIH-funded program on immune dysfunction, obesity, hypertension, and cardiovascular and renal injury in systemic lupus erythematosus, and her laboratory is extending its work into patient-based studies that call for a clinical rheumatology partner. Colleagues in the Division of Nephrology share a large lupus nephritis population and an active interest in a collaborative lupus nephritis and glomerular disease program, with a clinical cohort and trials to follow. Industry-sponsored clinical trials in lupus and lupus nephritis are active on campus, and UMMC’s Office of Clinical Trials provides centralized project management, recruitment, regulatory, and data support for investigator-initiated and industry-sponsored studies.

Jackson Heart Study

Based at UMMC, the Jackson Heart Study is the nation’s largest and longest-running longitudinal study of cardiovascular health in African Americans, following approximately 5,300 participants for more than two decades with extensive phenotypic, biomarker, imaging, and outcomes data. Given the burden of lupus and other rheumatic disease in this population and the cardiovascular complications of autoimmune disease, the study offers open opportunities for ancillary investigations in rheumatology, an area that remains largely unexplored.

Population Health and Real-World Data Research

UMMC’s John D. Bower School of Population Health, founded in 2016, is one of only a handful of schools of population health in the country and the only one in the Deep South, with faculty in population health science, data science, and preventive medicine. For investigators interested in epidemiologic and database research, UMMC provides a de-identified institutional research data warehouse through its Center for Informatics and Analytics and access to national real-world data networks, including Epic Cosmos and TriNetX, each of which now exceeds 300 million patient records. Biobank Mississippi, a partnership with Mayo Clinic, links patient biospecimens to the electronic health record for precision-medicine research.

Cellular Therapy and CAR-T

UMMC operates Mississippi’s only bone marrow transplant and CAR-T cell therapy programs, directed by Carter P. Milner, MD, within the Division of Hematology and Oncology. As CAR-T and other cellular therapies move from oncology into lupus, vasculitis, and other refractory autoimmune disease, UMMC’s established cellular therapy infrastructure, regulatory experience, and clinical expertise position the institution to adopt these therapies in rheumatology as they mature, and offer a rare opportunity for a rheumatologist interested in innovative therapeutics.

Telehealth Center of Excellence

UMMC is one of only two federally designated Telehealth Centers of Excellence in the country, a designation renewed for a further five years in September 2026. The center’s infrastructure supports remote patient care, remote monitoring, and telehealth-based clinical trials across Mississippi, and tele-rheumatology remains an underdeveloped opportunity for a faculty member interested in extending subspecialty access to a rural, statewide population.

Additional Centers and Collaborators

• Center for Immunology and Microbial Research: brings together basic science and clinical investigators in immunology and immune-mediated disease, with a pilot grant program and a PhD program in immunology and microbial sciences.
• Cardiorenal and Metabolic Diseases Research Center and Cardiovascular-Renal Research Center: NIH-funded programs with flow cytometry, cell sorting, and imaging cores relevant to lupus, vascular inflammation, and cardiometabolic complications of rheumatic disease.
• Mississippi Center of Excellence in Perinatal Research: an NIH center with active work on adaptive immunity and autoantibody-mediated disease and pilot funding for early-stage investigators.
• Mississippi Center for Obesity Research: a natural partner for work on obesity, inflammation, and metabolic comorbidity in rheumatic disease.
• Myrlie Evers-Williams Institute for the Elimination of Health Disparities: an institutional platform for community-engaged research on access, outcomes, and disparities.

UMMC and the Department of Medicine

Located in Jackson, UMMC is Mississippi’s only academic health science center and home to the state’s only Level I trauma center, only children’s hospital, and only organ transplant programs. Its mission integrates education, health sciences research, and advanced patient care, with a major institutional commitment to improving health throughout Mississippi and reducing differences in health outcomes related to race, geography, income, and social status. UMMC includes six health science schools, more than 3,000 students, and more than 10,000 full- and part-time employees.

The Department of Medicine is UMMC’s largest academic department, with 13 divisions and approximately 150 faculty members who educate more than 120 residents and 70 fellows and provide more than 120,000 outpatient visits each year. Under the leadership of Michael E. Hall, MD, MS, Chair since 2022, the department is actively investing in faculty recruitment across its divisions and advances a tripartite mission of expert patient care, education of the next generation of physicians, and research directed toward more effective therapies and cures. Faculty development is supported through a dedicated Department of Medicine Office of Faculty Development and Advancement.

Compensation, Benefits, and Appointment

UMMC offers a competitive compensation plan with a guaranteed base salary plus productivity bonus, benchmarked to national academic survey data, with an initial period of salary protection while a new faculty member establishes their practice. The comprehensive benefits program includes a choice between the Public Employees’ Retirement System of Mississippi and an optional retirement plan with immediate vesting, generous personal and medical leave, paid parental leave, occurrence-based professional liability coverage provided at no cost to the physician, and a half-tuition waiver for dependent children at the University of Mississippi. As a state institution, UMMC is a qualifying employer for Public Service Loan Forgiveness, and research-focused faculty may be eligible for the NIH Loan Repayment Program. Academic rank, the balance of clinical and academic effort, protected time, and available resources will be commensurate with the successful candidate’s experience, accomplishments, and proposed role. Specific terms will be discussed with qualified candidates.

Living in Jackson, Mississippi

Jackson is the kind of place where an academic physician’s salary goes a long way. The metro area’s cost of living runs roughly 18 percent below the national average, with housing costs about 40 percent below, so a faculty family can afford a home, land, and a short commute that would be out of reach in most academic markets; the average commute is under 25 minutes. Most UMMC faculty families live in the surrounding communities of Madison, Ridgeland, Flowood, Brandon, and Clinton, each ten to twenty minutes from campus. The public school districts in Madison County, Rankin County, Clinton, and Pearl all carry A ratings, and the area’s private schools include St. Andrew’s Episcopal, named one of the 50 best private schools in the nation, along with Jackson Academy and Jackson Prep. Faculty children also qualify for a half-tuition waiver at the University of Mississippi.

As the state capital, Jackson offers cultural depth that surprises most newcomers. The city is home to the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum, the first state-sponsored civil rights museum in the country, the Museum of Mississippi History, the Mississippi Museum of Art, and the Eudora Welty House, and by act of Congress it is the permanent American home of the USA International Ballet Competition, one of the world’s premier ballet competitions, held here every four years. The Fondren district anchors a lively restaurant, music, and arts scene, and Jackson’s food culture has drawn national attention. Outdoors, the 33,000-acre Ross Barnett Reservoir sits just north of the city with 105 miles of shoreline, 16 parks, and year-round boating, sailing, and fishing, and the Natchez Trace Parkway runs along its western shore for cyclists and runners. Winters are mild, New Orleans and Memphis are about three hours by car, the Gulf Coast beaches are under three hours, and Jackson’s airport, 15 minutes from campus, offers nonstop service to Atlanta, Dallas, Houston, Charlotte, Washington, Miami, and Orlando.

Visa Sponsorship and Support for International Medical Graduates

UMMC actively recruits and sponsors international medical graduates, and physicians who will need visa sponsorship at the completion of fellowship are strongly encouraged to apply. UMMC’s Office of International Services works directly with faculty recruits and their departments from the offer stage forward, and international physicians who joined UMMC on visa sponsorship now practice and hold leadership roles across the Department of Medicine. Sponsorship is available through every major pathway:

• H-1B sponsorship: as a state academic medical center, UMMC is a cap-exempt H-1B employer, so a faculty petition is not subject to the annual H-1B lottery and can be filed at any time of year.
• J-1 waiver sponsorship through two routes: the Mississippi Conrad 30 program, administered by the Mississippi State Department of Health, and the Delta Regional Authority’s Delta Doctors program, a federal pathway separate from the state’s Conrad 30 allocation whose footprint includes the Jackson area. Access to both routes gives UMMC more flexibility on timing and slots than institutions that rely on a single state allocation.
• Permanent residence sponsorship: UMMC sponsors employment-based permanent residence for faculty, including the EB-1B outstanding researcher and EB-2 pathways, so that a position that begins on a J-1 waiver or H-1B can become a long-term academic home.
• A career, not a waiver placement: UMMC is looking for a colleague who wants to build a career here, and the division and department will invest in that career from the start: an established practice, structured mentorship, protected time for scholarship, and a defined path into fellowship, research, and section leadership.

Application and Nomination Process

UMMC has retained Academic Med to lead this national search. All inquiries, nominations, and applications should be directed to Jim Hagood, Managing Director, Academic Med. Candidates should submit a curriculum vitae and a brief letter describing their interest and relevant experience. Applications and nominations will be reviewed as received and will continue until the position is filled. All inquiries will be held in strict confidence.

UMMC is an equal opportunity employer and prohibits discrimination and harassment on the basis of race, color, national origin (including limited English proficiency and primary language), disability, age, sex (as that term is defined in applicable laws such as 45 CFR § 92.101(a)(2) and binding court decisions), religion, genetic information, veteran’s status and any other status protected by applicable law.