Harrington Named to Lead Spot at VTC

Daniel Harrington (right) has been named senior dean for academic affairs at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine.

Two other faculty members have been appointed to key positions, as well. As assistant dean for clinical sciences for the preclinical years, Dr. Tarin Schmidt-Dalton will lead in the continued development and execution of the clinical sciences and skills portion of the curriculum. As assistant dean for clinical sciences for the clinical years, Dr. Aubrey Knight will coordinate the development and implementation of clerkship rotations through the various medical specialties.

Harrington, who oversaw the design of the third- and fourth-year clinical clerkships as the school’s senior associate dean, will now oversee the entire four-year curriculum. The position not only mirrors his current position as vice president for academic affairs at Carilion Clinic, but it also reflects his early role in shaping the school’s program.

“Dan has been in the trenches as an integral part of the leadership team that built this school from scratch,” said Dr. Cynda Ann Johnson, founding dean of the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine, in appointing Harrington. “His expertise in designing and delivering top-rate medical education has been a tremendous asset, even more so now in his new expanded role.”

Harrington served on the school’s original curriculum planning committee. To determine the best learning model, he visited medical schools with a range of successful approaches to education. Based on that research, committee members chose to devise a new, innovative approach: a problem-based, team-based learning model that incorporates a research-project requirement.

“I’m excited to deepen my responsibilities at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine,” said Harrington. “I have a wonderful, hard-working, and growing leadership team to help orchestrate the vision for an innovative medical education curriculum.”

Harrington will continue to serve as vice president for academic affairs at Carilion Clinic, where he oversees graduate medical education programs. He earned his bachelor’s and medical degrees from West Virginia University, and he completed a combined internal medicine and psychiatry residency at the University of Virginia.