While universities nationwide struggle with high turnover and burnout among directors of clinical education, University of the Pacific has found a unique solution that is making a huge impact on faculty, students and the community.

Director of Clinical Education Strategy and Partnerships Marjan Hazrati eases the strain of administrative loads and empowers directors of clinical education to focus on what matters most: supporting students, mentoring clinical supervisors and strengthening relationships with clinical partners.

Faculty say the role, and Hazrati’s leadership, is a game changer.

“The support we’ve received has allowed us to stay in our roles longer and really invest in our students’ success,” said Alicia Rabena-Amen, assistant professor and director of clinical education. “Marjan helped streamline everything from contracts to workshops. It’s had a ripple effect that touches every part of our work.”

Clinical education, sometimes referred to as fieldwork education, provides students pursuing careers in health professions with the essential hands-on experience and training they need before graduating.  

Directors of clinical education typically balance teaching, recruiting clinical sites, mentoring supervisors and ensuring student readiness while navigating administrative duties. Hazrati’s position aims to offset the workload to empower directors of clinical education to build stronger relationships with students.

“The addition of Marjan’s position has improved the workflow for the directors of clinical education and that trickles down to the student experience, it allows the directors of clinical education to devote more of their time toward gaining valuable clinical placements for students and mentoring them,” Rabena-Amen said.

Since the role was introduced, director of clinical education turnover at Pacific has remained low. Faculty attribute this to the collaborative, cross-disciplinary support Hazrati’s position fosters.

“Marjan is fantastic at keeping us as a cohesive group,” said Megan Black, professor of speech-language pathology and former clinical director. “At Pacific, it's really nice that we have that community within the School of Health Sciences. There are the nine of us who get to get together, share experiences, learn from each other and support each other. I can reach out across disciplines for support, and that’s rare.”

Earlier this year, Pacific launched the inaugural interdisciplinary clinical educator training workshops. With one workshop on each campus and participants from 11 different health disciplines, the sessions offered continuing education credit and were so well received that Hazrati is now developing an online version to reach a broader audience.

Evaluation results from the workshops showed 100% of participants felt more confident and prepared to supervise students.

“When clinical directors feel more confident, our students get better training, and ultimately, the community receives better care,” Hazrati said. “This unique position was designed at Pacific to make that kind of impact.”