Will join Department of Surgery at the UTRGV School of Medicine
Courtesy Photo
Brigitte Ortiz | THE RIDER
After three years as executive vice president of Health Affairs and two years as the dean of the School of Medicine, John Krouse will step down from his administrative post in August 2021.
Krouse was hired as dean in July 2017 and executive vice president in the Spring of 2018.
Prior to joining UTRGV, he served at Temple University in Philadelphia as the senior associate dean for clinical affairs and president of Temple University Physicians.
Krouse said he made the decision himself to step down because he feels like he has accomplished much of what he set out to do for the UTRGV School of Medicine.
“I think coming here, I had clear goals of what I wanted to do, had been very satisfied with that, and I have built a team and an infrastructure that will allow the school and the division to move forward positively,” Krouse said. “So, from my standpoint the time will be right and I’m ready to move on to the next stage of my career.”
He said he will be continuing the same roles in leading and growing the clinical program, work on the School of Medicine’s accreditation with the LCME (Liaison Committee on Medical Education) and look for opportunities in fundings for both research and programmatic.
“I’m fortunate to have a very strong team in place that manages these various programs and fortunate that we have a good leadership at the university level that will continue to support the medical school,” Krouse said. “So, the school’s in a very good position, I will continue to work over the next year promoting those interests that I have done over the past three years.”
He said he will go back to being a faculty member in September 2021 as a professor in the Department of Surgery in the UTRGV School of Medicine.
“I have several programs that I really would like to work on,” Krouse said. “I have so many graduate program concepts that I think are innovative and will help to grow the range of programs available in the medical school. So I look forward to coming back, working with students, working as a mentor to young faculty. I’m certainly looking forward to helping the new leadership when they take office next fall.”
Asked what classes he has taught before, he replied, “I have taught health economics, health policy, I’ve certainly taught clinical students in surgery.”
He said these classes really complement what students are learning in their clinical education, given that medicine is becoming complex. Helping students understand that on a deeper level will help make them more successful moving forward.
Krouse said his most memorable accomplishment was to see the first class of the UTRGV School of Medicine graduate in May 2020.
Guy Bailey, president of UTRGV, said he was surprised by the news.
“He would have been the medical school dean for four years and the average tenure for a medical school dean is about three years,” Bailey said. “So, he’s done a good job, been here a long time, compared to other medical school deans around the country.”
He said Krouse’s contributions have been enormous because when he arrived the school of medicine was in disarray and he has gotten the school back on track to accreditation.
“We’re already accredited but we’re in a preliminary stage, so we want to get past that and that’s the biggest challenge he has,” Bailey said. “We have some new degree programs in Health Affairs that he continues to work on and working on getting those implemented and then continuing to build relationships with our partner hospital.”
In the email sent to the UTRGV community last Tuesday, it said the search for the new successor will begin in the coming months.
President Bailey said he will appoint a committee sometime in mid-October.
“We’re looking for someone who has a lot of experience,” he said. “Who has a broad understanding of both medical education and clinical operation. Those are the main things.”
Bailey plans to hire somebody by the summer so they could have a couple of months overlap with Krouse.
