Dr. Gregory M. Polites has been selected to serve as the new executive vice dean at Carle Illinois College of Medicine following a nationwide search. His appointment will begin on April 16, 2023, pending Board of Trustees approval.
In this role, he will provide executive oversight for several academic areas within the College of Medicine around student and faculty recruitment and development, admissions, as well as strategic academic partnerships and programs, including international partnerships, new certificate and degree programs, and pathway partnerships for the medical school. He will also advise Dean Mark Cohen on strategic planning related to the college’s educational mission, initiatives, and research interests, and ensure the effective representation of the medical school throughout the community, the state, and the academic/medical communities throughout the country.
“I am thrilled to be joining the incredible team at Carle Illinois College of Medicine. It’s an honor to return to Urbana-Champaign where I completed my first year of medical school and to serve in such an impactful role as the executive vice dean for the College of Medicine,” Polites said. “Carle Illinois stands at the forefront of becoming THE premier institution in the country for training physician innovators. Its engineering-based curriculum allows those with a passion for discovery to unharness their full potential within science and medicine. I am excited about the future for our medical students, the College of Medicine, and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.” Dr. Polites joins Carle Illinois College of Medicine after a distinguished 20-year career at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis where he achieved the rank of professor of emergency medicine. He earned his medical degree from the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago and completed his residency in emergency medicine at Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University School of Medicine. His clinical interests within emergency medicine are in the areas of trauma and critical care.
Polites has in-depth, vertically integrated leadership experience in medical education, curricular development, admissions, and student advising. He has worked with learners at every stage of the educational ladder and has a track record of improving, strengthening, and growing major educational programs within the medical school and on the main campus of Washington University.
During his time at Washington University, Polites served in many leadership roles including assistant director of the emergency medicine residency program and course director of the Practice of Medicine (POM) courses for the M1 and M3 medical school classes. In the latter role, he identified areas of opportunity in the curriculum to enhance assessment and accountability in clinical skills education and modified other aspects of the POM courses to meet LCME requirements. Leading a team of over 100 participating physicians involved in didactic, bedside, and clinic-based teaching, he oversaw faculty section leaders in the content areas of physical exam skills, patient-physician communication, standardized patients, ambulatory/PCP mentoring, diversity and inclusion, humanities, ethics, clinical epidemiology, and public health. Polites also created the clinical mentoring elective and its didactic curriculum for M4s and supervising faculty that has been in use for the past decade at Washington University for all M1 students. Polites has extensive experience in medical school admissions and has served on the leadership of the Committee on Admissions at Washington University for the past 8 years. In this role, he has worked closely with the Office of Diversity Programs in ensuring a holistic approach to medical school admissions. He has vast experience serving as an advisor and mentor to premedical students, medical students, and resident physicians and directed a very popular undergraduate course called MedPrep which has become a staple of the pre-health preparation for application to medical school. He has also worked extensively in educational efforts with Fudan University in Shanghai, China, directing one of the most successful study-abroad courses for pre-health students at Washington University, and has lectured extensively at Varna Medical University in Bulgaria.
Polites holds national leadership positions as chair of the International Conference Committee for the American Academy of Emergency Medicine (AAEM) and co-chair of the CPC task force for the Council of Residency Directors in Emergency Medicine. He serves on several other national committees for both AAEM and the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine and is an active oral board examiner for the American Board of Emergency Medicine.
Nationally, Dr. Polites speaks on the topic of emotional intelligence and resiliency and their importance in medical education, particularly as it pertains to emergency medicine. He has been recognized with multiple teaching awards during his time at Washington University. He is a 3-time recipient of the Course Director of the Year Award from the M1 class and a 2-time recipient of the Clinical Teacher of the Year Award from the M4 class. Other awards include the Samuel R. Goldstein Leadership Award in Medical Education, two Distinguished Service Teaching Awards, and the Stanley Lang Lecturer of the Year Award. He is a 2-time nominee for faculty induction into the Alpha Omega Alpha Honor Medical Society (AOA) and has received the Golden Stethoscope Award for Outstanding Clinical Teaching, an annual award given by the residents in emergency medicine. Polites also co-founded the WashU chapter of the Gold Humanism Honor Society and as faculty advisor, was the first faculty member in the School of Medicine inducted into the chapter.
About Carle Illinois College of Medicine:
Carle Illinois College of Medicine, the world’s first engineering-based medical school, represents a new concept in the field of healthcare education. Innovation is the cornerstone of our curriculum, with emphasis on human factors, design thinking, medical technologies, and entrepreneurship. We are preparing caring, compassionate, and skilled physician innovators for the practice of modern medicine.
The college is educating a new generation of physicians trained to develop transformative health care solutions at the intersection of engineering, science, and medicine. Created in 2015 as a partnership between the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and Carle Health, Carle Illinois is now home to nearly 160 students and 700 affiliated clinical and academic faculty members.
Unlike traditional medical education, Carle Illinois’ curriculum immerses students early in clinical, case-driven, problem-based active learning intended to instill passion and creativity for discovering innovative solutions to the world’s most difficult healthcare challenges. More than 80 percent of our students have backgrounds in engineering, advanced mathematics, computer science, and other quantitative science disciplines. Courses are designed and co-directed by teams that include a basic scientist, a clinician, and an engineer.
The first Carle Illinois graduating class will enter residency in summer 2022, ready to make an immediate impact, not only with their exceptional clinical knowledge and patient care skills, but with their talent and passion for leveraging technology and data to improve patient care and outcomes.
Our graduates will be well-prepared to navigate the technological advances and digital transformation happening in health care today. As emerging leaders, they will contribute ideas, solutions, and innovations that will benefit the communities, health care organizations, and patients they have the privilege to serve.
About Dr. Gregory M. Polites, MD:
Dr. Gregory M. Polites, MD is an emergency medicine doctor in Saint Louis, MO specializing in emergency medicine and general practice. Dr. Gregory M. Polites, MD is affiliated with Washington University Physicians and Barnes-Jewish Hospital.
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