ACGME President and CEO Dr. Nasca kicked off his Saturday morning session at the Annual Educational Conference with some “non-rhetorical” questions: Can anyone predict what the health care system will look like in 2035? Can anyone predict how long your residents will practice? 40 years?

After stumping the room, he went on to explain that it is our job is to prepare residents to practice in the future—not to arm them with practices, skills, and knowledge of the present. We want our residents to be prepared not just for 2018 but for 2035—and beyond.

Jamie Dow, EdM, is assistant director for resident education and training at the University of Florida. Her poster, Mindfulness in Neurosurgery: Improving Neurosurgeon Wellness in Training and Beyond (with co-authors W. Christopher Fox, MD, Associate Program Director, University of Florida, and Gregory Murad, MD, Program Director, University of Florida), looked at wellness in neurosurgery, which Dow says “has traditionally been considered an oxymoron.” However, as priorities among neurological surgery residents evolve and the effects of physician burnout are increasingly recognized across specialties, life balance and overall well-being have become areas of emphasis and an opportunity for program improvement.

Andrea Rio’s name – or maybe her e-mail address – is probably very familiar to anyone who’s ever attended any ACGME educational program. Her integral role in the Annual Educational Conference, however, is much more than processing registrations and payments and making sure badges print correctly! As a key member of the ACGME’s Educational Activities team, she is central to the growth and success of the conference. We asked her to share a bit more about what she does and what the conference experience is like for her behind the scenes.

For the first time since 2012, the ACGME today presented the John C. Gienapp Distinguished Service Award to Timothy C. Flynn, MD, FACS. The award is named for Dr. John Gienapp, who was the ACGME’s Executive Director for 19 years. Dr. Gienapp made several important contributions to GME and ACGME accreditation, and when he retired this award was established in his honor to recognize those who, like himself, dedicated themselves to a career in graduate medical education and made outstanding contributions to residency education and ACGME activities in a variety of ways.

This week's e-Communication includes information on the ACGME's position on personal protective equipment during the pandemic, the 2021 ACGME Award recipients, the opening of registration for the ACGME Annual Educational Conference, Review Committee information from multiple specialties, and more.

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.

Associate Program Director Kimberly Collins, MD of Johns Hopkins All Children's Hospital in Saint Petersburg, Florida set out to see how simulating conversations about social determinants of health (as opposed to in-class learning or immersion-based training) affected a resident’s or fellow’s ability to broach and explore these complex, often sensitive, subjects with patients and their parents. Her results are recorded in her poster: Improving Resident Comfort with Discussing Social Determinants of Health through Simulation.

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.