Arthur Ollendorff named associate dean for graduate medical education at Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine
Arthur Ollendorff has been named associate dean for graduate medical education at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine (VTCSOM). He will serve in this role while also acting as the designated institutional official responsible for all of the graduate medical education programs at Carilion Clinic, a role he has held since September 2021. Ollendorff is a professor in the VTCSOM departments of OB/GYN and health systems and implementation science.
“Dr. Ollendorff’s appointment will facilitate collaborations across the spectrum of undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education that are highly valued at both VTCSOM and Carilion Clinic,” said Lee Learman, dean of the medical school. “These collaborations will support organizational opportunities to advance teaching innovation and excellence, diversity, equity and inclusion, physician well-being, and workforce development, as well as the intersection of health systems science education with training in systems-based practice, quality improvement, and patient safety.”
“I am excited to take on this new role because it will allow graduate medical education to grow the already strong relationship with Virginia Tech Carilion,” Ollendorff said. “Our residents and fellows enjoy their role in the education of medical students as they themselves are learning in the same educational environment. That makes the richness and quality of the environment so important.”
Ollendorff praised the clinical learning model that VTCSOM and Carilion Clinic have established.
“This is just one example of how the commitment to excellence is there, Ollendorff said. “We hope to have residents and fellows share an identity with both Carilion and VTCSOM.”
Before joining Carilion, Ollendorff worked in Asheville, North Carolina, as director of medical education at Mountain Area Health Education Center and clinical professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. At Mission Hospital, he served as an OB hospitalist and the women’s service line. In addition, he was the physician champion representing western North Carolina for North Carolina Medicaid and the clinical lead for maternal projects for the Perinatal Quality Collaborative of North Carolina (PQCNC).
Ollendorff’s national roles include being the current president of the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics as well as current and past membership in several Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education initiatives including the Milestones Committee for practice-based learning and improvement and the OB Milestones 2.0 committee.
Ollendorff earned his medical degree and completed his OB/GYN residency at Northwestern University Medical School. He initially joined the faculty in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of Cincinnati, where his academic interest was introducing evidence-based medicine into the undergraduate and graduate medical education curricula. During his 13 years in Cincinnati, he held several leadership positions including OB/GYN Residency Program director, chair of the GME competency committee, chair of the competency and assessment task force for the medical school curriculum re-design and chief of GYN at the VA Medical Center.
