In this edition:
- Message from the Chair
- Recommended Learn Serve Lead Programming for CFAS Representatives
- CFAS Leadership Transition at LSL
- Call for Proposals Closing Soon 2024 CFAS, GRA, ORR Joint Spring Conference
- AAMC Leader Profile: Jonathan Jaffery, MD, MS, MMM, FACP, Chief Health Care Officer
- CFAS Connects on Leadership in Academic Medicine
- Recent AAMC News
Message from the Chair
Dear CFAS Colleagues and Friends,
In a little over a month, CFAS representatives will join the greater AAMC community at Learn Serve Lead, the 2023 AAMC Annual Meeting in Seattle, Nov. 3 - 7. This gathering is not just the pinnacle event of the AAMC year, but also a highlight of the year for CFAS, given the number of opportunities for CFAS reps, and faculty in general, to explore a variety of critical issues in concurrent sessions, networking events, and committee meetings.
In fact, one of the great successes of CFAS over the past few years has been the exposure we have had to present within the greater AAMC meeting program. In addition to CFAS-specific programming on the first day of the meeting – more on that below – there are nearly a dozen sessions on the LSL program that emanated from CFAS work.
These sessions explore topics such as how your institution values your teaching; the reach of faculty senates and councils; and the challenge of providing care and a dedicated clinical workforce for older adults. We’ll learn how we can restore joy in academic medicine; discuss the dangers of increasing violence in healthcare; and explore how we’re continuing to provide care to vulnerable transgender patients even as political forces create barriers. Whether it’s discussing the effects of AI on academic medicine, how we develop leadership programs, how we address sexual harassment in academic medicine, or how we can make biomedical research careers more attractive to our community of learners, there’s a CFAS-inspired session that will spark your interest. A full list of CFAS-recommended sessions is available online.
On the meeting’s first day, you are invited to join a CFAS committee meeting which will focus on an array of topics such as faculty and organizational wellbeing, medical and science education, and diversity and inclusion, among others. CFAS committees are available to any rep who wishes to engage. All you need to do is select the topical committee that appeals to you and show up. You don’t need an invitation or a nomination to be part of the conversation. These groups have been established to focus on pressing issues that matter most to faculty, and all perspectives from all faculty are welcome.
Later during that opening day, a highly consequential joint meeting between the AAMC’s three councils – CFAS, the Council of Deans, and the Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health systems, or COTH – is on the agenda for CFAS reps. AAMC leadership will present details on a proposed name change and refocused mission for COTH, which will trigger a bylaws change requiring a vote of the AAMC Assembly. Some CFAS society representatives are among the Assembly as voting members representing their academic societies. While the Assembly met virtually to modify the AAMC’s Board of Directors about two years ago, the last time it convened in person was more than a decade ago to create CFAS from the previous Council of Academic Societies – adding the voice of faculty from medical schools – the F in CFAS.
And of course, there are multiple networking breakfasts and receptions for us to reconnect or meet new people. For our signature CFAS Knowledge Sharing Session this year, we have invited the AAMC’s Group on Faculty Affairs to join us to share impressions of the state of academic medicine and to jointly explore issues that no doubt will make it onto a future program of a CFAS or AAMC meeting. It is through these gatherings and in all the conversations we have together where we set the course for what we do next. Your engagement is essential to that dialogue.
On a personal note, this is my final month as CFAS chair, as my term ends at the LSL meeting and my dear colleague, Nita Ahuja, MD, steps into the chair position. I have been thinking a lot about my experience as chair and what we accomplished over the past two years. I hope to share some of those thoughts at the CFAS Business Meeting in Seattle. It has been an honor and a privilege for me to serve CFAS in this role and I look forward to seeing and talking with many of you in Seattle.
Yours in good health and wellness,
Aviad “Adi” Haramati, PhD
CFAS Chair
Representing the Academic Consortium for Integrative Medicine and Health
Recommended Learn Serve Lead Programming for CFAS Representatives
Learn Serve Lead 2023: The AAMC Annual Meeting will be here before we know it, featuring a rich array of sessions and networking events throughout the schedule, often with many tough choices of which sessions to attend. Below is a list of sessions and programming opportunities with CFAS reps in mind, including our committee meetings, business meeting, and other CFAS-specific events.
Please use this guide as a reference only rather than a substitute for the full meeting program, which is available online. There are many more sessions on the full agenda – including all the plenary sessions and concurrent breakouts. Some of the competing breakouts may be more beneficial to you than the CFAS-recommended programming. In all cases, as a CFAS rep, you are free to attend all breakout sessions and most other events at the meeting.
Friday, Nov. 3
CFAS Committee Meetings
COHORT 1: Nov. 3, 9:30 a.m. – 10:45 a.m.
- Advocacy Committee - Hyatt Regency 307 Methow (Open to all)
- Engagement Committee – Hyatt Regency 305 Chehalis
- Faculty as Medical Educators (FAME) Committee - Hyatt Regency 302 Beckler
- Mission Alignment Committee - Hyatt Regency 301 Ashnola (Open to all)
COHORT 2: Nov. 3, 11:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
- Biomedical Research and Education Committee - JW Marriott Emory (Open to all)
- Diversity and Inclusion Committee - Hyatt Regency 305 Chehalis (Open to all)
- Faculty and Organizational Well-being Committee - Hyatt Regency 302 Beckler (Open to all)
- Program Committee - Hyatt Regency 301 Ashnola (Closed committee)
(Refreshments and light meals will be available throughout committee meetings.)
1:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. - Hyatt Regency Columbia CD
AAMC Leadership Discussion with CFAS, COD, COTH, and the Alliance – Open to all CFAS reps
3:30 p.m. – 4 p.m. - SCC Summit Elliott Bay Room
CFAS Cookies and Coffee Networking
4 p.m. – 5:15 p.m. - SCC Summit 423-425
CFAS Business Meeting -- Open to all CFAS reps
Saturday, Nov. 4
7:00 a.m. – 8:15 a.m. - SCC Summit Signature Room (Level 5)
CFAS and ORR Networking Breakfast – Open to all CFAS reps
1:15 PM – 2:30 PM - SCC Summit Terrace Suite (Level 4)
Rediscovering the Joys in American Medicine
3:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. - SCC Summit 345-346
The Increasing Influence of Faculty Organizations: Stronger Together
3:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. - SCC Summit 320-322
How Are We Doing in Teaching About the Care of Older Adults?
3:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. - Hyatt Regency Columbia A
Strategies To Confront Health and Vaccine Misinformation: Can We Teach Trust?
6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. - Sheraton Metropolitan Ballroom
GWIMS, COD, CFAS, and GFA Joint Poster Reception and Leadership Awards Presentation – Open to all CFAS reps
Sunday, Nov. 5
7:00 a.m. – 8:15 a.m. - SCC Summit 443–444
CFAS New Representative Orientation – Open to all new and new-ish CFAS reps
10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. SCC Summit 420-422
How to Create a Leadership Development Program for Learners
10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. Hyatt Regency Columbia A
Voice of The Faculty: Does My Institution Value My Teaching?
1:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. SCC Summit 335-336
Increasing Violence in Healthcare Settings: How Do We Protect Our Team from Unexpected Tragedy?
3:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. - SCC Summit 427-429
Academic Medicine’s Response to AI: Innovations in Research, Delivery and Training
3:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. - SCC Summit 343-344
Sexual Harassment in Medical Education and STEMM: Tools and Solutions for Detoxification
3:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. - SCC Summit 335-336
Preventing a Crisis: The Need to Make Academic Biomedical Research Careers More Attractive
Monday, Nov 6.
10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. SCC Summit 347-348
Learning Health Systems: Engaging all Mission Areas within Academic Medical Centers
1:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. - SCC Summit 420-422
Challenges and Rewards in Addressing Transgender Issues in Academic Medicine
4:30 p.m. – 5:45 p.m. - SCC Summit 320-322
CFAS and GFA Knowledge Sharing Session - open to all CFAS reps
CFAS Leadership Transition at LSL
At the conclusion of LSL, as Dr. Haramati mentioned above, Nita Ahuja, MD, a CFAS rep from Yale School of Medicine, will take over the reins as chair of CFAS. Dr. Haramati will become CFAS Immediate Past Chair and will conclude his service on the AAMC Board of Directors. Arthur Derse, MD, JD, a CFAS rep from the Association of Bioethics Program Directors, will become CFAS Chair-elect, and will begin his first term as an AAMC Board of Directors member.
Gabriela Popescu, PhD, a CFAS rep from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo, will conclude her service as CFAS immediate past chair, and will rotate off the CFAS Administrative Board. Kimberly Lumpkins, MD, a CFAS rep from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, will officially begin her first term on the CFAS Administrative Board.
During the CFAS Business Meeting at LSL, we will announce the process for nominating for a seat on the next iteration of the CFAS Administrative Board. Due to the term structure on the current administrative board, there will be at least three seats available for new members. If you are interested in serving in a leadership role in CFAS, please consider a self-nomination when the process opens in November.
Call for Proposals Closing Soon for 2024 CFAS, GRA, ORR Joint Spring Conference
Proposals are being accepted through Sunday, Oct. 1, for the 2024 Council of Faculty and Academic Societies, the Group on Resident Affairs, and Organization of Resident Representatives Joint Spring Conference, which will take place April 2-4, 2024, in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, DC.
The joint Program Planning Committee is accepting proposals for small group concurrent sessions and encourages topics related to:
- Professional Transitions
- Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- Clinical Learning Environment
- Teaching and Research
- Administration and Accreditation
- Advocacy and Policy
The deadline for submissions is Sunday, October 1, 2023, at 11:59 pm PT. A separate call for Poster Submissions will be launched in January 2024, along with a call for Ignite-style sessions. Learn more about the Call for Proposals and check out the instruction guide (PDF).
AAMC Leader Profile: Jonathan Jaffery, MD, MS, MMM, FACP, Chief Health Care Officer
Dr. Jaffery has been serving as the AAMC’s Chief Health Care Officer since 2022, succeeding previous AAMC Chief Health Care Officer Janis Orlowski, MD. Many of you met Dr. Jaffery when he was a closing plenary speaker at the 2023 CFAS Spring Meeting in Salt Lake City. For those of you attending LSL in Seattle this November, you will learn details about AAMC plans, under Dr. Jaffery’s leadership, to modify how we interact with our teaching hospital and health system members.
CFAS: Please tell us about your role at the AAMC.
Dr. Jaffery: My role has four components: First, I’m a part of the AAMC Leadership Team, which makes strategic and operational decisions about how to manage the association. Second, I lead the AAMC’s Health Care Affairs (HCA) cluster, which is focused on academic medicine’s clinical care mission and how we can deliver access to high quality, affordable, and equitable care. Third, I work closely with the senior executives of our academic health system members to ensure we deliver on that clinical care mission and bring back their perspectives and expertise to inform our work, including our advocacy. Finally, I serve the AAMC as a national thought leader on health care delivery, innovation, and payment models, among other topics.
A major project I’m working on right now is updating the AAMC’s Council of Teaching Hospitals and Health Systems (COTH) to address the fact that hospitals are no longer organized around residency programs in the way that they used to be. So we are going to create a new council called the Council of Academic Health System Executives to better reflect that these are big systems with a lot of components, and we are focused on the people, not the buildings. This change will require a change in the bylaws, so it’s a big lift.
CFAS: Please describe your background.
Dr. Jaffery: I’m a nephrologist by training and was on the faculty at University of Wisconsin-Madison for 20 years after I completed my fellowship there. I then became the Chief Medical Officer for the Wisconsin State Medicaid program and then spent a year as a Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellow, during which I worked for the US Senate Committee on Finance. I returned to UW in late 2011 to become their Chief Population Health Officer and President of the UW Health ACO, create the UW Health Office of Population Health, and manage their risk-based portfolio. Finally, since 2018 I’ve served as a commissioner for the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC).
CFAS: What are your thoughts on the future of population health and value-based care?
Dr. Jaffery: The adoption of value-based care has been slow going, but I don’t think anyone is walking away from it. There’s a huge risk to academic medicine if we don’t keep making progress with value-based care. Despite some of the traditional thinking, academic health systems actually do very well in value-based population health, having some of the lowest cost of care and the best outcomes. We’re believed to be very expensive and that may be true in a fee-for-service world, but payers who focus on that miss the point of population health, which is about the total cost of care. Academic health centers perform very well on that front because they are inherently integrated, and all the components of academic health systems work together to deliver evidence-based medicine that overall results in lowers total cost of care.
In the near future, we will see more episodic and bundled payments ramping up at the national level and these payments will be integrated with population health models. There will also be a push toward mandatory bundles.
Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) continue to expand, and the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) is moving towards a smaller set of population based ACO models that can be tailored to different organizations depending on their particular characteristics. There is also movement toward more consolidated and concise outcomes measures.
One of the biggest challenges with ACOs is identifying a long-term solution to what can be a fatal flaw of the programs: changing benchmark rates. For example, if a program is successful in reducing costs, the benchmark rate can change to the point where the program is essentially penalized for their own success. There is some movement to address this issue, but we need to see more.
At some point, there will need to be efforts toward setting national benchmarks, as it’s hard to justify health care costs being twice in one area of the country compared to another. The current methodology for setting benchmarks in ACO programs doesn’t get us away from that.
CFAS: What are some issues that keep you up at night?
Dr. Jaffery: I worry that health system leadership will not understand or embrace value-based care and will instead hunker down toward what is familiar in fee-for-service due to the challenging financial times we are in. There is a lot of external pressure on our health systems between downward revenue pressure, increasing costs from supply chain issues, and a labor market that never fully recovered after the pandemic. But embracing value-based care provides our members with an opportunity to diversify revenue streams in ways that have not been available before, even if they are difficult.
CFAS: What do you like to do in your free time?
Dr. Jaffery: I like to travel and listen to live music. I just got back from the final tour of the Grateful Dead in San Francisco, and then went hiking in Yosemite with my family, so I got to experience two of my favorite things together: live music and then being outdoors with my family in one of the country’s great national parks.
Recent CFAS Connects on Leadership in Academic Medicine
CFAS Connects returned on Thursday, Sept. 21, with a presentation on leadership in academic medicine from Robert Simari, MD, executive vice chancellor for KU Medical Center. Dr. Simari previously served as executive dean for the KU School of Medicine from March 2014 through August 2019. Over the course of the pandemic, Dr. Simari interviewed three dozen physician leaders and leaders who work with physicians to write the book, A Prescription to Lead: How Medical Training Prepares America’s Physician Leaders. The preface of the book is written by AAMC President and CEO David J. Skorton, MD.
The session, which was co-moderated by CFAS Chair-elect Nita Ahuja, MD, and CFAS KUMC School Rep Brad Barth, MD, explored Dr. Simar’s paradigms for leadership, including that one must be able to perceive a future outcome or state and then lead a group of people to achieve that future outcome or state. Even though many physicians may not take formal leadership training, the process of becoming a physician imparts aspects for what one would consider a paradigm for leadership.
For example, physicians get trained to gain knowledge to be able to perceive issues with patients as well as perceive a future state of health and guide the patient toward that. Leaders of organizations have the same capacity: they try to envision a future state for their organizations and then try to achieve that future state. Throughout each person’s medical career, there are situations that arise when they must lead. Some embrace these opportunities, some fear them, but medical training uniquely prepares one for leadership. This can be also generalized to PhD colleagues.
Medical and scientific education specifically prepares students for leadership in the following ways:
- The candidates for this training are already achievers and some of the brightest in our society.
- The pillars of medical/scientific education include a focus on written and verbal communication, students gain institutional knowledge because they rotate throughout their entire organizations, they experience gradually increased responsibility throughout their education, and they have to undergo continuous assessment. These all can provide valuable leadership preparation.
- Medical/scientific training requires students to work within teams and also to lead them.
- Medical education cultivates a culture of service.
- Medical education provides a mindset and the tools to solve problems.
- Medical education provides an externally focused work ethic.
- Many students are surrounded by a culture of support and have access to mentors.
- Medical education cultivates humility.
In addition to featuring Dr. Simari’s insights into how medical education can prepare physicians and scientists for leadership, the session also featured an engaging Q&A segment with Dr. Simari on the unique leadership development challenges that physicians and biomedical scientists face and how we can more effectively equip physicians and scientists to succeed in leadership roles. Some of these unique leadership challenges are well known to CFAS reps:
- Many physician leaders work deep within the organizations they lead, similar to the TV show “Undercover Boss.”
- Physician leaders have unique organizational structures where lower level “employees” can have access to leaders (deans, higher level executives, etc.) Everyone in the organization seems to be one step away from the organization’s leaders.
- Physician leaders deal with high levels of burnout associated with the profession.
Potential solutions for identifying good physician/scientist leaders and providing them with better support included refocusing more on sponsorship rather than mentorship, especially for underrepresented minorities in medicine; trying harder to diversify physician leadership throughout the country; succession planning so that when a leader leaves, they don’t set the organization back by taking all their institutional knowledge with them; intentionally watching out for candidates that demonstrate curiosity, empathy, humility, and self-awareness; and identifying physician/scientist leaders who are innovative, since innovation is often an overlooked skill when recruiting for these leaders.
Summary notes and a recording of the session are available on the CFAS Resources webpage.
Recent AAMC News
The following AAMC news may be of interest to CFAS reps.
AAMC honors health care champions with inaugural ACE awards
The AAMC has honored five champions of academic medicine with the inaugural AAMC ACE Award for Advocacy, Collaboration and Education. The five awardees collaborate with the nation’s medical schools, teaching hospitals, and academic health systems to improve the health of patients, families, and communities everywhere. “The AAMC is proud to recognize these five awardees and the truly outstanding work they have done to address long-standing, harmful health inequities by diversifying and strengthening the health care workforce,” said Danielle Turnipseed, JD, MHSA, MPP, AAMC chief public policy officer.
Read More
Nominations are open for the 2024 AAMC Awards
The call for nominations is now open for the 2024 AAMC Awards. Members of the academic medicine community are encouraged to nominate colleagues and institutions whose work is significantly advancing academic medicine in the areas of medical education, research, clinical care, community engagement, and advancing the academic health care workforce to reflect the patients and communities served. There are several awards opportunities, and the deadlines are in January, March, and April 2024. Learn more about the awards criteria and how to submit a nomination.
Read More
New AAMC resource examines how academic medicine serves rural communities
The AAMC has published a new resource that highlights how AAMC-member teaching hospitals and medical schools are serving patients in rural communities across the nation. The brochure features the innovative work of six member institutions and shares the challenges and successes unique to these communities.
Read More
Register for AAMC virtual learning series on improving maternal mental health outcomes
A new AAMC virtual learning series, Improving Maternal Mental Health Outcomes: Varied Approaches to Closing the Gap of Care, highlights initiatives of academic medical centers and nonprofit organizations who are addressing the maternal mental health crisis. The next webinar, “Successes and Challenges of State-Funded Perinatal Psychiatry Access Programs,” will be held on Oct. 12 at 4 p.m. ET. Leaders of three perinatal psychiatric access programs will provide background on their programs and share the successes, challenges, and opportunities they have faced. Individuals interested in learning about effective programs for addressing the inadequate and often fatal outcomes of maternal mental health care are invited to register.
Register Now
Call for proposals for AAMC GDI Professional Development Conference
The AAMC Group on Diversity and Inclusion (GDI) is accepting proposals for breakout sessions, posters, and table topics for the GDI Professional Development Conference scheduled for March 25-27, 2024, in Philadelphia. This annual professional development conference offers leaders and emerging voices in diversity, equity, and inclusion a forum to strengthen their network, share success stories, and explore new strategies on topics including addressing culture and climate, serving graduate learners, supporting faculty, and advancing community engagement. Interactive panel presentations, small-group discussion formats, and submissions that incorporate collaboration are highly encouraged. The deadline for proposals is Oct. 31 by 11:59 p.m. PT, and acceptance notifications will be sent in December 2023.
Read More
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.