Q and A with 2026 ACGME Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Awardee Amber Whited-Watson, DO, the program director for family medicine at The MetroHealth System in Cleveland, Ohio.

This week's e-Communication includes the deadline extension for the Barbara Ross-Lee, DO Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award, requirements available for Review and Comment, public member openings on Review Committees and more. 

The AOA and ACGME are providing this statement of joint principles to help clarify for residents/fellows and programs the issues related to board certification that have arisen through the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This award recognizes residents and fellows who have fostered innovation and improvement in their residency programs, advanced humanism in medicine, and increased efficiency and emphasis on educational outcomes.

In an effort to emphasize the Engaging Each Other portion of the conference theme, the Educational Activities team, responsible for putting the conference together under the leadership of Timothy P. Brigham, MDiv, PhD, has added a few exciting new items to this year’s event.

2021 Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Awardee Joanne Valeriano-Marcet, MD is the rheumatology program director at University of South Florida Morsani College of Medicine.

2020 ACGME David C. Leach Awardee Mariam Molani, MD, MBA is a PGY-3 resident in pathology at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Dr. Chinelo Okigbo is a PGY-3 Internal Medicine Chief Resident at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center in New Jersey. She attended the 2019 ACGME Annual Educational Conference as part of the Back to Bedside initiative. As a resident and first-time Annual Educational Conference attendee, we asked her to share her impressions based on her experience.

Stephen W. Trzeciak, MD, MPH delivered the inaugural Thomas J. Nasca Lecture with his talk, The Science of Compassion, which served as the final plenary of the 2025 Annual Educational Conference.