Nick Yaghmour is the Associate Director for Well-Being and Milestones Research at the ACGME. We asked him about his experience with the conference, his role, and what else he's working on.

In the poster, Addressing Physician Shortage in Medically Underserved Areas through a Rural Residency Program Collaboration, Dr. Douglas Nolan explored how osteopathic physician residents may be able to bridge that gap in care as they complete their education.

Debra L. Dooley came to the ACGME 22 years ago, initially in an administrative role with the Review Committee for Internal Medicine. She retires today, after 10.5 years as the Director of Educational Activities, where she leads the team responsible for producing the ACGME’s educational programming, and most notably the Annual Educational Conference. We spent some time with her before she left, discussing her career, her mentors, her legacy, and the renaming of the Debra L. Dooley Program Coordinator Excellence Award.

With overdose as the leading cause of death for Americans under 50, it is imperative that the nation—including the entire medical community—take responsibility for its role in creating this epidemic and identify and enact strategies that can address it. This is Dr. Leana Wen’s position. The former Baltimore Health Commissioner and current president of Planned Parenthood spoke about the steps she and the City of Baltimore took to address opioid addiction in the community, and what role she sees physicians playing in solving this problem that is devastating the nation.

Jamie Arsenyevictz, MPH, led a team at Geisinger Health System to develop a GME analysis tool, leading to the development of shared language and knowledge surrounding GME finance and value between the GME Office and Geisinger leadership.

John V. Pamula, MD, FACP, led a quality improvement project focused on reducing burnout and increasing well-being among its residents. His poster, Multipronged Strategies to Improve Wellbeing and Work-Life Balance of Residents, was presented at the 2019 Annual Educational Conference, Engaging Each Other: Rediscovering Meaning in Medicine.

The 2019 ACGME Annual Educational Conference offers so many great educational opportunities that it can be hard to know which sessions to choose. One “must-attend” plenary session focuses on the critically important topic of physician well-being.