Dr. James McDeavitt, a recognized leader in educational, research and clinical programs, was named chair of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R) at Baylor College of Medicine effective January 1, 2014.
Dr. McDeavitt came to Baylor from the Carolinas HealthCare System, one of the largest and most comprehensive systems in the country, where he served as chief academic officer and senior vice president for education and research. During his nine years in that position, he led a substantial expansion of the academic mission of that organization. His responsibilities included all aspects of the academic enterprise: undergraduate and graduate medical education, continuing medical education, research from bench to clinical implementation and allied health education. McDeavitt also served as the founding associate dean for the Charlotte Campus of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill School of Medicine.
In addition to his academic responsibilities, he served as the executive leader for a variety of operational initiatives across a two-state, 40-hospital care delivery system. Among his accomplishments were development of a tertiary/quaternary referral system; implementation of a system-wide critical care service line; and design of a comprehensive approach to large scale physician leadership development.
In addition, while in the Carolinas he founded a new division of International Medical Outreach. This group works to build health care deliver capacity for the people of Central America, through infrastructure development, provision of equipment and training of health care professionals. The group has current projects in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, and Belize.
McDeavitt received his medical degree from the Bowman Gray School of Medicine of Wake Forest University and, following a year of medical missionary work in rural Guatemala, completed his residency training in physical medicine and rehabilitation at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia, where he served as chief resident.
Prior to his current role at the Carolinas HealthCare System, McDeavitt was the founding chair the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the Carolinas Medical Center. As chair, he worked with a team that built nationally recognized education and research programs, while simultaneously expanding inpatient and outpatient programs regionally.
