In this edition:
- Message from the Chair
- Early Bird Registration Closing Soon for Spring Meeting
- AAMC Files Supreme Court Amicus Briefs on FDA Regulatory Authority and Transgender Issues
- CFAS Connects: Advocacy Awareness as a CFAS Rep
- CFAS Society Profile: American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training (AADPRT)
Message from the Chair
Dear CFAS Colleagues,
We’re a little over a month from our joint meeting with the AAMC’s Group on Resident Affairs (GRA) and the Organization of Resident Representatives (ORR). You should have received an email invitation encouraging you to register for the 2024 joint meeting held April 2-4 in Arlington, VA. Early bird registration lasts through Feb. 26, and can’t be extended, so to get the best registration rate and to secure your hotel room, please register by then. Registration remains open right through the meeting, but the best deal and guaranteed housing lasts through Feb. 26.
In addition to everything you expect at a CFAS conference – joining committee meetings, reconnecting with faculty peers, learning through plenary and breakout sessions, and networking with colleagues across specialties and institutions – we also plan to collect insight from CFAS reps on what you see as the priorities for faculty in academic medicine. Why? Because CFAS leadership wants your input on the needs of faculty and the challenges we collectively face.
In June, the CFAS Administrative Board – a 15-member leadership group made up of CFAS reps nominated and selected for service in term-limited seats – will meet in person at AAMC headquarters to determine the issues we should be working on – either through our committee work, programming at future meetings and in CFAS Connects sessions, and through products such as invited commentaries, peer-reviewed publications, and white papers.
I am especially interested in your views on faculty relationships to academic health systems and governance; how research is being supported within our institutions (and where you see gaps); and how and whether people are finding the time and resources in their day-to-do work that they need for student and trainee education. I am also interested in a “magic wand” question: If you could fix one thing, what would it be? More protected time for non-clinical work? A tenure and promotion system that is transparent and inclusive? More support for research? Your ideas will allow the CFAS Ad Board members to focus in on our priorities!
You’ll have opportunities to respond to these questions in your committee work and during the CFAS Business Meeting coming up in Arlington – but if you have thoughts about it now, please email me directly: nita.ahuja@yale.edu – or email Eric Weissman at eweissman@aamc.org. We likewise will be seeking input from AAMC member societies that are engaged in CFAS, so feel free to share the perspectives of your society leadership as well.
Please know that the views you have and the reality you experience as a faculty member during these challenging times matter to us. We want to shape the future for all academic medicine faculty by understanding and learning more about your experience.
Looking forward to the journey with you.
Nita Ahuja, MD
CFAS Chair
Yale School of Medicine
Early Bird Closing Soon for Spring Meeting
Early Bird registration for the 2024 joint CFAS-GRA-ORR spring meeting in Arlington, Virgina, April 2-4, remain available through Feb. 26. Plenaries will cover topics ranging from the use of AI in medical education to workplace violence, the environment for women physicians of color, and a closing plenary on misinformation in science and medicine, featuring Science Editor-in-Chief Holden Thorpe, among others. CFAS reps and academic medicine leaders are featured throughout the program, as are leaders from the AAMC’s Group on Resident Affairs and also the Organization of Resident Representatives. In addition to the joint programming, all CFAS committees will meet in the morning of April 2 and there will also be CFAS-specific faculty leadership training and the CFAS Business Meeting, so please try to get there to take part in morning activities. Registration information and the full agenda and other details are available online.
AAMC Files Supreme Court Amicus Briefs on FDA Regulatory Authority and Transgender Issues
The AAMC filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court in the case of U.S. Food and Drug Administration v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine, a case in which the court will consider a lower court’s opinion questioning the scientific judgement of the FDA and invalidating approval of the drug mifepristone. The brief argues that the standard set by allowing the ruling to stand would be not only unprecedented, but dangerous for patients and providers. “Permitting an individual court or judge to substitute his or her opinions for the FDA’s expert judgment threatens to upset this established, and highly successful, science-driven process and undermines the very authority Congress granted to the FDA.” More information on this topic can be found online.
The AAMC also joined the American Academy of Pediatrics and more than 20 other organizations in an amicus brief filed on Jan. 24 focused on ensuring that all adolescents, including those with gender dysphoria, can receive gender transition care. The brief, filed in a Texas state appeals court, urged affirmance of several injunctions to protect health care providers from civil and criminal penalties. More information is available online.
Other news from the AAMC includes articles on life-saving advances in heart health, several key questions about COVID-19 four years out from the appearance of SARS-CoV-2 in the United States, including how long immunity lasts and what the latest thinking is around long COVID, eight prominent Black leaders in medicine, and whether artificial intelligence can improve doctor-patient visits and reduce burnout.
CFAS Connects: Advocacy Awareness as a CFAS Rep
CFAS Connects presented a session on Jan. 22 moderated by CFAS Chair-elect Arthur Derse, MD, JD, on the status of the CFAS Advocacy Committee and its various activities and initiatives during his tenure as chair of the committee.
Participants heard a thorough legislative and policy update on all things affecting academic medicine from Tannaz Rasouli, Senior Director of Government Relations at the AAMC, and Erica Froyd, Senior Director of Advocacy and Engagement at the AAMC. Eric Weissman also spoke about the continuing role of CFAS in circulating AAMC advocacy sign-on letters to AAMC member societies, which enables societies to speak with a singular voice on topics of mutual interest and concern such as NIH and GME funding, workforce issues, diversity, equity, and inclusion, and other important issues that affect academic medicine.
As always, summary notes and a recording of the presentation portion of the webinar are available on the CFAS Resources page. The March CFAS Connects will be held Wednesday, March 20 from 3-4 p.m. and will feature a “Know Before You Go” conversation on getting the most out of the CFAS – GRA – ORR Spring Meeting, reviewing the agenda, and learning more about the speakers, themes, and issues that will be covered.
CFAS Society Profile: The American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training (AADPRT)
The mission of the American Association of Directors of Psychiatric Residency Training (AADPRT) is to promote excellence in the education and training of future psychiatrists and to best prepare them to meet challenges by fostering a transformative environment that embraces diversity, inclusion, equity and justice. The membership of AADPRT consists of psychiatry residency program directors, residency program administrators (coordinators), along with other psychiatrists and psychologists involved with residency training. Members come from across the U.S. and Canada to network with colleagues, learn from each other, and advance psychiatric residency training. AADPRT’s premiere event is its annual meeting, which draws 1,000+ minds together in one place.
Among the other benefits of membership in AADPRT are a subscription to Academic Psychiatry and access to AADPRT’s Virtual Training Office (VTO) – a repository of materials that aid in running a training program including model curriculum, myriad workshop presentations on all things psychiatric residency training, an annual calendar, diversity, equity, and inclusion resources, psychotherapy competency tools, resident supervision resources, and more. Members also have access to listservs to get help and ideas from colleagues across the country, comprehensive mentorship programs with short and long-term options, and regular virtual workshops addressing the issues that are most important to residency programs.
The shortage of psychiatrists is one of the biggest issues AADPRT focuses on at the national policy level. The Health Resources and Services Administration estimates that, by 2035, the nation will have less than 70% of the psychiatrists needed to meet Americans’ mental health needs. Addressing this shortage and fully anticipating the challenges it will create are of vital importance. AADPRT continually seeks means of increasing the number of psychiatry training slots and optimizing the training of residents. It works closely with the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, which is responsible for the board certification of psychiatrists, and the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education to assess and refine the training requirements for graduating psychiatrists and manage the ever-increasing workload that falls on residency training programs.
There are many areas where AADPRT and CFAS can collaborate, including competency-based training, which AADPRT has begun exploring. “The AAMC, with its work on EPAs for medical students, has been a trailblazer in this area and we would like to continue that effort into the graduate medical education world. We are also very concerned by the ubiquitous problem of burnout among residents and faculty members. We would like to explore and promote a continuum of wellness from medical school through residency training into independent practice,” said Sara Stramel-Brewer, executive director of AADPRT.
Tell Us How You’re Doing
Please keep the lines of communication open so we can provide you with the resources and information that would be most useful. It is helpful for the AAMC to understand in detail what is happening on the ground at the medical schools, teaching hospitals, and academic societies we serve. Please email Eric at eweissman@aamc.org, or call directly at 301-437-2572 with updates or feedback from your perspective. You can also reach out with questions or comments to CFAS Communications Specialist Alex Bolt.
If you are looking for information about CFAS, find what you need on our website, from the names of CFAS leaders, to updates on committee and working group initiatives, to upcoming offerings and meetings, and finally, current and previous editions of CFAS News.
Do you have an article or study coming out? A new promotion or professional accomplishment? Let us know and we'll feature it in an upcoming edition of the CFAS Rep Bulletin.