Division Directors in General Pediatric

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APA National Leadership Conference in Academic General Pediatrics 2/28/07 - 3/2/07
2007 National Leadership Conference: the official webpage

We had over 35 attendees at the meeting in Toronto. Tina Cheng led off the meeting with a discussion of the 2007 Leadership in Academic General Pediatrics conference. The conference was held on February 28-March 2 in Atlanta with collaboration of the department chairs (AMSPDC). Division directors and future leaders were nominated by pediatric department chairs to attend and the conference has exceeded capacity. Almost 150 academic generalists attended. The meeting was noted to be very successful by the attendees and the follow up data is being tabulated. The 2008 conference is being planned. Suggestions were solicited.

Tina Cheng announced that the Division Director’s SIG will have an APA maintained listserv. To be on the listserv APA membership is required. Attendees were encouraged to become members of the APA. Tina Cheng brought up for discussion the name of the APA. There has been a committee appointed to review and possibly suggest a new name for the APA. A report is due to the board in November 2007. Tina Cheng handed out and reviewed the APA strategic plan.

Tina Cheng presented the update of the AGP fellowship program under discussion by the APA. Via a grant from HRSA a group from the APA with the goal of determining the need and value of an accreditation process reviewed several fellowships. There was discussion of both the need for well-trained AGP and the possible market demands. There was also discussion of accreditation vs a consultation process.

Susan Bostwick then led a discussion on what defines a division of AGP, is it changing and how does it effect our future. There was a lively discussion, which pointed out the many similarities and differences among AGP divisions. Most agreed that AGP divisions should include the tripartite mission of clinical, education and research excellence. It was noted that the lack of focus of AGP is both a strength and a weakness. It is a strength in that we meet multiple competing demands and have the flexibility to change and bring in new areas, i.e. Quality Improvement, Health Services Research, Palliative Care, etc. It is a weakness in that often other areas within our own departments and hospitals can’t define us and don’t regard us as “academic”. Others noted that their divisions are based on some areas being grouped together based on administrative needs within their departments or lack of academic homes for small programs, e.g. Child Protection, Special Care, Environmental, etc.

Following there was a reunion open to those who had participated in the leadership retreat in Atlanta. Gary Freed, President of SPR, gave a brief and very well received talk on leadership, mentorship and role modeling.

2007 NATIONAL LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE IN ACADEMIC GENERAL PEDIATRICS
Tina L. Cheng, MD, MPH

“I thought this was one of the best conferences I have been to!”

“I feel renewed and re-invigorated with ideas about how to be a better leader and mentor.”

“The conference was insightful and inspiring, uplifting my spirits and desire to better serve my patients and division.”

Engagement, Energy and Enthusiasm were three words used to describe the Ambulatory Pediatric Association’s First National Leadership Conference in Academic General Pediatrics held in Atlanta on February 28 - March 2. The conference brought together almost 150 division directors, current and future leaders in Academic General Pediatrics representing over 100 programs. Attendees were nominated by Pediatric Department Chairs. Leaders from the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs participated including Drs. Bruder Stapleton, Marianne Felice, Aaron Friedman and Lewis First. Seven past APA presidents also were in attendance. The planning committee for the conference included: Tina Lee Cheng, Constance Baldwin, Susan Bostwick, Denice Cora-Bramble, Benard P. Dreyer, Thomas G. deWitt, David M. Keller, Kenneth Roberts, Peter G. Szilagyi, Ruth E.K. Stein. We also want to pass on a special thanks to Claibourne I Dungy, Shari Barkin, Paul Darden and Janet Serwint for their presentations during workshops and/or the roundtable lunch.

The focus of the conference was on developing leadership skills, networking, and developing action plans regarding strategic planning for divisions. Please see the website http://www.academicpeds.org/site/leadership07/index.htm for the full program, keynote addresses, and workshop materials. Highlights included an opening speech by Lewis First on Leadership. The musical introduction by Ken Roberts and anecdotes and insights of Dr. First kept the audience laughing and inspired. A keynote speech by Stephen Ludwig on the Future of Academic General Pediatrics centered on the Hebrew word “tzedakah” meaning “justice,” an important goal of our work. Many appreciated the panel of four pediatric department chairs discussing how to best work on mutual goals. Roundtable discussions were held on the needs of Academic General Pediatrics Divisions and the Future of Academic General Pediatrics. Six workshops on Strategic Planning/Negotiation, Leading Others/Mentoring/Teamwork, Managing Conflict, Career Paths Toward Leadership for Future Division Directors, Educational Scholarship and Innovations, Developing Research Capacity and Financing Our Mission taught specific leadership skills and were highly rated by participants. Final words on next steps were given by Robert Haggerty, Ruth Stein, Stephen Ludwig, Tina Cheng, and Ivor Horn.

The idea of the conference came from the Division Director Special Interest Group previously surveyed division directors in academic general pediatrics. The survey was recently published in January’s Pediatrics (Cheng TL, Markakis D, DeWitt TG. The Status of Academic General Pediatrics: No longer endangered?” Pediatrics 2007;119:e46-52). The survey demonstrated the large role that divisions play at their institutions in clinical care, education, research and advocacy. It also pointed out the high turnover rate of division directors and the need for leadership training and succession planning. That led to the conference. An article on “Leadership in Academic General Pediatrics” will soon appear in Journal of Pediatrics authored by Tina Cheng and Peter Szilagyi about the need for leadership development and next steps. The planning committee has been evaluating the impact of the conference and outcome of participant action plans.

There has been much interest in continuing leadership development activities and other organizations have contacted us about joint leadership activities. APA plans to continue efforts in leadership development to strengthen the missions of clinical care, education, research and advocacy in our divisions and departments. Another conference is in the works. Please send any ideas/suggestions and stay tuned.

Updated: 12/20/07