Thomson-Smith named VUSN assistant dean for Faculty Practice
Clare Thomson-Smith, M.S.N., R.N., J.D., has been named assistant dean for Faculty Practice at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing.
Thomson-Smith currently heads up the Center for Advanced Practice and Allied Health and will continue in that role, working closely with VUSN on behalf of all advanced practice nurse faculty who practice at the Medical Center.
Clare Thomson-Smith, M.S.N., R.N.
“Clare is a wonderful mix of problem-solver, experienced practitioner and business person,” said Bonnie Pilon, D.S.N., R.N., senior associate dean for VUSN’s Faculty Practice. “She has been on faculty for nearly five years and we look forward to her making her imprint on our thriving faculty practice area at the Medical Center.”
Thomson-Smith’s role will be to work, as she does now, with VUSN faculty who are practicing on campus and in Williamson County under the Vanderbilt Medical Group. She is already instrumental in moving them through the privileging and credentialing processes; in this new role, she will oversee human resource components on behalf of these faculty, under the direction and guidance of the senior associate dean for Faculty Practice.
The faculty who practice off campus in community agencies and those who are assigned to West End Women’s Health Center will continue to report directly to Pilon.
Thomson-Smith was recently selected as a 2010 Fellow of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, chairs the Tennessee Nurses Association Government Affairs committee, and serves on the Tennessee Coalition on Health Care Reform and the board of University Community Health Services.
Thomson-Smith was originally educated as a registered nurse in Australia and has clinical experience as a trauma and critical care nurse and a certified nurse midwife. She completed studies as a Family Nurse Practitioner, Health Systems Management and earned a law degree from Vanderbilt University School of Law, practicing as a medical malpractice defense attorney before joining the VUSN faculty in 2005.