Abraham Flexner Award for Distinguished Service to Medical Education

David C. Leach, M.D.
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education

The Abraham Flexner Award for Distinguished Service to Medical Education was established by the AAMC in 1958 to recognize extraordinary individual contributions to medical schools and to the medical education community as a whole.

Is it any wonder David Leach, M.D., is fascinated by the study of "chaordic" organizations, where chaos and order harmoniously coexist? As executive director and chief executive officer of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), Dr. Leach instituted groundbreaking change, while at the same time balancing it against his unwavering belief that the professional development of physicians and the provision of exemplary patient care are inextricably linked.

Dr. Leach's "enormous contributions," says Stephen H. Miller, M.D., M.P.H., president and chief executive officer of the American Board of Medical Specialties, "have been seminal in moving graduate medical education to a new level of excellence." Among those contributions are the increased focus now placed on the role of institutional environment in shaping residency education; the implementation of duty hour limits; and the movement towards a new, outcomes-based accreditation model.

His great success as change agent, say colleagues, is due to his remarkable ability to bring key stakeholders together. For example, by working in collaboration with specialty board leaders, Dr. Leach spearheaded development and introduction of the six core competencies for residency education that have increased emphasis on educational outcomes in the accreditation of residency education programs (patient care, medical knowledge, interpersonal and communications skills, professionalism, practice-based learning and improvement, and systems-based practice). And by actively involving residents in all aspects of the ACGME's work, he ensured their voice was heard.

Dr. Leach's tremendous regard for residents as learners is also evidenced by his development of an electronic learning portfolio to help them chronicle their experiences and track progress against defined learning objectives. Additionally, Dr. Leach instituted several awards programs to honor and celebrate medical residency program directors, designated institutional officials, and other outstanding medical educators; namely, the Parker Palmer Courage to Teach and Courage to Lead Award given annually to exemplary medical residency programs in the United States, and the John C. Gienapp Awards, recognizing individuals for outstanding contributions to graduate medical education and named after ACGME's first executive director, John C. Gienapp, Ph.D.

This "can do" attitude, and predilection for change, were perhaps shaped by his own experience as a resident, and later, director of medical education at Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. As both learner, and then leader at Henry Ford during a period of great change, Dr. Leach saw firsthand how the hospital system expanded to more closely align with patient demographics.

Dr. Leach's 27 years at Henry Ford also included serving as program director of the transition residency program, and working as senior staff physician in the division of endocrinology and metabolism, and the department of pediatrics. Additionally, he served as assistant dean at the University of Michigan Medical School.

A native of Elmira, N.Y., Dr. Leach earned his B.A. from St. Michael's College, University of Toronto, and received his M.D. from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. After completing his internship and residency in internal medicine at Henry Ford Hospital (where he also served as chief resident), Dr. Leach completed two fellowships in endocrinology: one at Henry Ford, and the other, in pediatric endocrinology, at Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh.

The recipient of several honorary doctorates, Dr. Leach was awarded the Good Samaritan Award by former Michigan Governor John Engler in 1993 for 20 years of volunteer service at Detroit's Cabrini Clinic (the oldest free clinic in the United States). In 2004, Dr. Leach was inducted into the Gold Humanism Honor Society.

In addition to being a prolific writer, Dr. Leach was instrumental to the publication of Journey to Authenticity: Voices of Chief Residents, a book that colleagues say "captures the reasons residents and Dr. Leach went into medicine."

Find out more about the Abraham Flexner Award for Distinguished Service to Medical Education, nominate a deserving individual, and view a list of previous award recipients.