President's Perspective
A Great First 5 Years and the Horizon Ahead
Gary Rosenthal, MD
Since taking on the role of ACGIM President, I find myself and the organization at an interesting crossroads. Now growing into our 6th year, ACGIM has successfully established itself as an important voice in academic internal medicine. In the past 5 years, ACGIM has forged a strong synergistic strategic partnership with SGIM, focused around enhancing the viability of our GIM divisions. This partnership has provided ACGIM with a seat at the table of the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) and a growing voice at the American Board of Internal Medicine and American College of Physicians. These relationships are pivotal to leveraging our influence as generalists in the larger field of health care.Other achievements include:
- More than 100 committed GIM Chiefs nationwide
- A thriving Management Institute focusing on leadership, negotiation, finances, and research development (and that is open to all SGIM members).
- Programs for mentoring new Division Chiefs
- Annual “Book Club” Dinner
- Active Listserve providing timely feedback on key issues
These activities have created informal networks through which chiefs can enlist support and advice when tackling difficult issues back at the ranch, including
- Institutions’ subsidization of GIM residents’ clinics
- Policies surrounding part-time faculty
- Productivity models
However, the challenges to nurturing academic
GIM have become more complex, particularly as interest by trainees in
generalist careers declines. Proposed cuts in Medicare reimbursement
coupled with burgeoning practice administration requirements and the
specter of “pay for performance” place new
pressures on our outpatient
clinics. Recently proposed cuts in HRSA funding for general internal
medicine
training programs and flat or declining research budgets at
the NIH, AHRQ, and VA threaten our missions in education and
research. It is in this backdrop that the ACGIM Executive Committee
hopes to strengthen ACGIM and increase the organization’s value to
members.
First (and foremost), we want to involve all
members in vital and formative roles within the organization
and
involve more Chiefs in this year’s activities, such as developing an
on-line “Chiefs Curriculum” and planning for future Management
Institutes.
Second, we hope to expand use of the ACGIM listserve to provide timely feedback on high priority issues and will be launching new web survey software to collect and report data. We are very interested in learning about key issues that would be ripe for future chiefs’ surveys.
Third, we will actively reach out to new members. While ACGIM has been quite successful in attracting members in academic medical centers, we will be placing special emphasis on recruiting chiefs in larger community-based teaching hospitals and VA hospitals over the coming year. Increasing our representation within GIM will be particularly important in expanding our spheres of influence within other organizations, such as the AAIM and ACP. We will be contacting many of you to help in recruiting chiefs of divisions in your neighborhood who have not yet found ACGIM.
Fourth, we look to further build on our partnering with SGIM—improving our effectiveness in advocating for GIM. In particular, we look forward to working closely with SGIM on new in clinical practice redesign and quality improvement (under the direction of Greg Rouan, SGIM Clinical Practice Task Force).
Collectively, these efforts have tremendous implications for our GIM divisions. Please let us know how ACGIM can better meet your needs. The more involved you become, the more effective we will become as a group.