Elsevier

The Journal of Pediatrics

Volume 155, Issue 6, December 2009, Pages 767-768
The Journal of Pediatrics

Notes from the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs, Inc.
Report on AMSPDC Activities and Initiatives: 2007 to 2009

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2009.08.007Get rights and content

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Strategic Planning Process

Several academic pediatric organizations have completed strategic planning initiatives in the past couple of years, and AMSPDC has joined those ranks. For AMSPDC, the decision to develop a strategic plan was spurred by the realization that it has never developed mission, vision, or values statements since its founding in 1964, when such statements were not the norm of the day. The strategic planning process began in March 2007, with a day-long facilitated retreat. Past and current officers

Restructuring of AMSPDC

Initiating the strategic planning process was an excellent opportunity to examine the structure of AMSPDC and ask whether the structure that has sustained the organization for >40 years should be changed. In addition, AMSPDC has been the beneficiary of the generosity of the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP), which has supplied AMSPDC with an administrative “home” and staff support for 16 years. Jean Bartholomew, an employee of the ABP, has been the heart and soul and memory of AMSPDC since

Leadership Development

Because the major purpose of AMSPDC is to assist its members in developing successful academic departments, it is looking at creative ways to do this better. AMSPDC is particularly concerned about new chairs, because the mean tenure of pediatric chairs in recent years is only 5.6 years for men and 3.4 years for women, resulting in an annual turnover rate of 17%.2 AMSPDC conducts a “New Chair Course” at its annual meeting every 3 years, but it felt this might not be sufficient. A task force led

Membership Criteria

On occasion, chairs of pediatric departments that are not the primary pediatric department of a medical school ask whether they may attend AMSPDC meetings or become members. With the current by-laws, that is not possible. With the leadership of H. Dele Davies (Michigan State University), a committee is looking at this issue and preparing a recommendation for the executive committee's consideration.

Fourth Year Curriculum

The Residency Review and Redesign Project (R3P) asked AMSPDC to provide its opinion on the content of the fourth year medical school curriculum. With the leadership of Robert Kliegman (Medical College of Wisconsin) and Lewis First (University of Vermont) and input from colleagues in COMSEP, AMSPDC submitted our recommendations to the R3P Committee.

Daycare

AMSPDC is 1 of the 7 members of the Federation of Pediatric Organizations (FOPO). The FOPO Task Force on Women, led by Bonita Stanton (Wayne State University), asked AMSPDC members to be strong advocates for on-site daycare facilities in their respective institutions. With the leadership of Chet Johnson (University of Kansas), a committee is considering ways that chairs can be stronger daycare advocates while respecting the complex issues at individual institutions.

Relationships With Pharmaceutical Companies

Most of AMSPDC's academic institutions have specific policies for interactions with pharmaceutical companies, including support for educational programs. Specialty societies and organizations are also grappling with these issues. AMSPDC has benefited greatly from such relationships in the past, but times have changed. With the leadership of Mark Batshaw (George Washington University) and Alan Schwartz (Washington University), AMSPDC is exploring the ramifications of this issue with the intent

Institute of Medicine Duty Hours Proposal

Like other groups, AMSPDC has debated the issues surrounding the newest recommendations on housestaff duty hours. With the leadership of William Kanto (Medical College of Georgia), AMSPDC submitted its recommendations to the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. We emphasized the need to distinguish between duties as clinical service and education or training. AMSPDC also recommended that the effectiveness of current rules be evaluated before new ones are made.

Summary

These 8 items encapsulate the major activities of AMSPDC in the past 2 years. The organization has taken a major step in crystallizing its mission, vision, and values. It has begun an exciting new initiative to strengthen pediatric departments during times of leadership turnover, and it has charted a course of action that should propel the organization in playing a more visible leadership role in advocating for the health care needs of children from the broad outlook of academic pediatrics. The

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