Head of Wide Bay Learning Community

• Rural Clinical School

• Part-time (0.1FTE), fixed-term position until December 2028  

• Base salary will be in the range $175,404 - $193,070 + 17% super (Academic Level D) 

• Based at the Hervey Bay hospital 

Shape the future of rural medical education and inspire the next generation of healthcare leaders. The University of Queensland is seeking an accomplished clinical academic to lead a Learning Community within the Rural Clinical School, where you will create an inclusive, supportive, and high-performing environment that enables medical students to flourish throughout their Doctor of Medicine journey.

This is a highly visible leadership opportunity to influence student success, strengthen partnerships across rural and regional health services, and champion excellence in medical education while contributing to a vibrant culture of collaboration, scholarship, and community impact.

As Head of the Learning Community, you will cultivate meaningful connections between students, clinical educators, health professionals, and local communities, ensuring students benefit from exceptional learning experiences across diverse healthcare settings. Working alongside dedicated rural clinicians and academic leaders, you will help foster a strong sense of belonging while advancing UQ's commitment to creating positive change through education, research, and service. 

Key responsibilities will include:  

• Teaching: Lead the Learning Community to foster an inclusive and supportive environment where medical students can thrive, enhance student-centred learning across the MD Program, strengthen clinical education experiences, support student assessment and progression processes, and provide mentorship to regional clinical education leaders.

• Research: Maintain academic standing through research and scholarship of teaching and learning, contribute to educational innovation, engage in scholarly activities, and foster a positive and collaborative research culture within the Rural Clinical School.

• Supervision and Researcher Development: Lead responsible research practices, mentor and develop students and emerging educators, provide coaching and feedback to support performance and professional growth, and encourage a culture of continuous learning and development.

• Citizenship and Service: Build strong partnerships across hospitals, general practices, community health services and regional stakeholders, contribute to University governance and strategic initiatives, champion rural medical careers, demonstrate leadership through collaboration and mentoring, and uphold UQ’s values and commitment to staff and student wellbeing

This is a teaching focused position. Further information can be found by viewing UQ’s Criteria for Academic Performance.  

• Medical qualification with specialist registration, or eligibility for registration, as a medical practitioner in Australia with AHPRA.
• A Master’s degree, PhD, or equivalent experience, preferably in medical education, clinical leadership, or a related field.
• Extensive clinical experience and demonstrated expertise in contemporary medical education, curriculum delivery, and student-centred learning.
• A proven record of high-quality clinical teaching, mentoring, and supporting learners across undergraduate, postgraduate and professional healthcare settings.
• Exceptional communication, relationship-building and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to collaborate effectively across academic, healthcare and community environments.
• Demonstrated leadership experience, including leading change initiatives, mentoring others, fostering academic excellence, and a strong commitment to rural and regional healthcare.

Located within the UQ Medical School, the Rural Clinical School (RCS) is the largest rural clinical school hosted by a single university. It works to foster and sustain a skilled and dynamic medical workforce to meet the needs of rural, regional, and remote Queensland.

The Rural Clinical School provides students with rigorous clinical training built upon hands-on experiences in hospitals and community-based practices. Above all, we give our students the unique opportunity to live and work in some of Queensland’s amazing rural, regional, and remote locations. Our classrooms are the public and private hospitals, specialist consulting rooms, general practices and community healthcare settings throughout rural, regional and remote Queensland. Our teachers are dedicated and passionate rural clinicians. Our students get the opportunity to learn in a range of clinical contexts across the public, private and community sectors.

The greater benefits of joining the UQ community are broad: from being part of a Group of Eight university, to recognition of prior service with other Australian universities, up to 26 weeks of paid parental leave, 17.5% annual leave loading, flexible working arrangements, access to exclusive internal-only vacancies, and genuine career progression opportunities via the academic promotions process.  

For more information about this opportunity, please contact Professor Riitta Partanen at [email protected]

For application inquiries, please reach out to the Talent Acquisition team at [email protected], stating the job reference number (below) in the subject line.  

When you apply, please ensure you upload a resume, cover letter, and responses to the ‘About You’ section.  

Pre-employment checks may include verification of the right to work in Australia, qualifications, professional registration (e.g. AHPRA), criminal history checks, mandatory immunisations, First Aid and/or CPR certification, and Blue Card checks. This may also include checks relating to gender-based violence matters or other integrity and conduct requirements.  

You must maintain unrestricted work rights in Australia for the duration of this appointment to apply. Employer sponsored work rights are not available for this appointment.   

We're dedicated to equity, diversity, and inclusion. We recognise that career pathways and opportunities differ, and encourage applications from candidates who may not meet every criteria but can demonstrate their potential relative to opportunity. We’re also happy to support any accessibility needs throughout the recruitment process. Just let us know how we can help by emailing [email protected] or calling +61 7 3365 2623. 

Applications close 29th of September 2026 at 11.00pm AEST (R-69006). Please note that interviews have been tentatively scheduled for early to mid-October 2026.