Association for Behavior Analysis International

The nature of clinical practice, biomedical research, and medical education in a medical school rewards independent, entrepreneurial, risk-taking behavior by its faculty. These behaviors, while successful in many regards, also result in a fragmented, nonhierarchical, “flat” faculty structure and culture that is somewhat peculiar to medical schools. These cultural forces have been magnified at the University of Nevada School of Medicine (UNSOM) by years of economic and political assaults that left UNSOM with a particularly high level of disengagement, reduced faculty satisfaction anda highly centralized leadership structure that disempowered department chairs and detracted from faculty ownership and investment in UNSOM missions. The speakers will describe strategies used to assess and transform the culture of UNSOM using behavioral systems approaches in order to adapt to changing social demands on the organization (e.g., culturally competent physicians and community engagement). The goals are greater faculty engagement, an emphasis on faculty career development, explicit commitments to achieving individual career and institutional objectives, more decentralized leadership, and a focus on communication, investment, accountability, transparency, and partnership. The use of behavioral assessments will drive socially significant practices within and external to the organization.

Psychologists, behavior analysts, graduate students and anyone interested in how a culture can be changed by behavior analysis.