2024 Annual Report

 

In 2024, ACPM continued to build on the solid foundation of the organization while strengthening the pipeline and amplifying ACPM and preventive medicine physicians as leaders in medicine and public health. The College maintained this focus and built initiatives around key opportunities — opportunities prioritized by ACPM members in the previous year’s member assessment:

  • Promotion of preventive medicine
  • Opportunities to network
  • Advocacy for preventive medicine priorities
  • Engagement in federal advocacy initiatives
  • Support for the development of preventive medicine interest groups

From partnerships and new resources to assist with chronic disease (diabetes, hypertension, HIV, brain health), to new programming to enhance resident training curriculum and board exam preparation, to creating connections through events and a new online community, to three new interest groups, to ongoing advocacy that resulted in the largest ever Hill Day for the organization, the College — volunteer leadership, members and staff — continued to demonstrate commitment to advance the ACPM mission of creating healthier communities and transforming our healthcare system.

 

Visibility

Showcasing Member Expertise and the Importance of Preventive Medicine

ACPM’s robust outreach initiatives, including the Ambassador Program and the This is Preventive Medicine awareness campaign, continued to leverage preventive medicine expertise to reach healthcare thought leaders, policymakers and the public — earning more than 4,000 media placements and 1.37 billion impressions to date. ACPM helped educate the nation on the nature and importance of preventive medicine through various outlets, including presentations and social media. Members also served as experts in prominent media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, CNN, Fox News Digital, Scripps News, WebMD, Chief Healthcare Executive, NPR, Verywell Health, and more.

Efforts to expand the College's visibility led to an 8% growth in followers across ACPM social media channels and a 24% increase in engagement from 2023. In addition, after much backend work, the College rose to the top as the number one search result on Google when searching “preventive medicine.”

Preventive Medicine Joins the National Resident Matching Program

In conjunction with Public Health and General Preventive Medicine (PH/GPM) Residency programs across the nation, ACPM helped usher in the historic step of joining the National Residency Matching Program (NRMP) for the 2024/2025 application cycle. With 40 PH/GPM programs nationwide, the specialty of preventive medicine and the future of the public health workforce will benefit from joining the NRMP by featuring preventive medicine as an option to more than 50,000 physician applicants.

Participation in the NRMP matching process is expected to increase the number, quality and diversity of applicants to the specialty of preventive medicine and significantly improve visibility of the specialty to medical students and young physicians.

Driving Medicine and Public Health Forward

Supporting the Nation's Veterans with the Veterans Administration

In an ongoing partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs Health Outcomes Military Exposures (HOME)/War Related Illness and Injury Study Center (WRIISC), ACPM continued to prioritize the care of the Veteran population through the Military Environmental Exposures Certifications Levels 1 and 2.

These certification programs provide health care professionals with the vital military environmental exposure training needed to independently assess, treat and inform Veterans who have exposure-related health concerns. In 2024, ACPM and HOME/WRIISSC passed a significant milestone with more than 1,000 health care professionals taking the Level 1 certification. Additionally, more than 400 health care providers are Level 2 certified. ACPM looks forward to continuing its partnership with HOME/WRIISSC and working to provide Veterans with the health care they deserve.

Advancing Evidence-Informed Preventive Care with the CDC

ACPM has a long-standing partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to advance evidence-informed preventive care, and in 2024, continued to implement two multi-year cooperative agreements. The first, sponsored by multiple CDC divisions under an umbrella cooperative agreement with the CDC’s Public Health Infrastructure Center (PHIC) — formerly, the Center for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support (CSTLTS) — focuses on building capacity for physicians to address chronic disease and infectious disease prevention as well as brain health. The second cooperative agreement, funded by the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD and Tuberculosis Prevention, is focused on activating physicians to decrease new HIV infections among minoritized populations. In 2024, ACPM completed five of the eight projects funded under the CSTLTS/PHIC award:

Advancing Evidence-Informed Preventive Care Image

Innovative Strategies Toolkit

Brain Health Toolkit

  • Integrating Population Health into a Changing Health System — a 10-course population health curriculum.
  • Updates to CDC’s Well-Integrated Screening and Evaluation for Women Across the Nation (WISEWOMAN) Program, including four modules dedicated to improving cardiovascular disease outcomes among women aged 35-64 — including topics addressing lifestyle modifications, best practices and implementation in diverse populations.
  • Multiple deliverables under a Building Physician Capacity to Address Diabetes Prevention grant focused on enhancing screening, testing and referrals of disproportionately affected populations with prediabetes:
  • Under CDC’s Alzheimer’s Disease and Healthy Aging Program, Improving Brain Health Knowledge Among Preventive Medicine Physicians, which aims to assess, diagnose and refer patients with brain health issues to care focused on addressing lifestyle factors for Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Dementias (ADRD), ACPM member faculty revised existing coursework and developed a new course designed to improve provider awareness of brain health by managing modifiable risk factors. In addition, the Community-Clinical Linkages to Promote Brain Health Toolkit is a provider blueprint for a deeper understanding of brain health and dementia risk factors.

ACPM members dedicated tremendous expertise, numerous hours and thought leadership to develop and support these initiatives.

As a next step in driving prevention and public health forward, ACPM was awarded a new 5-year cooperative agreement from the CDC’s PHIC to continue building physician capacity to enhance public health infrastructure. Under this award, the College is focused on four initiatives:

  • Developing an equity-informed certification in population health leadership.
  • Developing coursework focused on the unique health needs of rural populations.
  • Building upon the CDC’s resources to prevent falls in older adults.
  • Building on ACPM’s previous work addressing hypertension among priority populations, with an expanded focus on Native American populations through a subaward agreement with the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials (ASTHO).

Advocating for Public Health

Group of people standing in front of the US Capitol

ACPM continued to advocate for preventive medicine and public health, specifically to keep training for the specialty funded. ACPM’s advocacy efforts flourished with the largest Hill Day in the College’s history, with more than 60 members meeting with legislators to advocate for preventive medicine residency funding. ACPM also leveraged a new grassroots advocacy tool to make it easy for members to write to their respective congressional offices. Without the continued work of members sharing their personal stories on prevention and public health (through writing to, speaking with or meeting with legislators), federal funding for preventive medicine residency programs will continues to be at risk.

In addition to grassroots work focused on funding, the College also developed policy statements and supported initiatives that lie at the heart of ACPM’s mission — to represent and support preventive medicine specialists in their role as public health and health systems leaders to promote the importance of preventive medicine. Developed by volunteer leaders on the Advocacy Committee, the College published new and updated policy statements on firearm violence prevention, maternal health, reproductive rights, and Farm Bill reauthorization.

Additionally, ACPM joined partner organizations to advocate for priorities in public health funding, tobacco use prevention, and other aspects of the legislative agenda, which is used to guide the advocacy and policy work for the College. ACPM signed on to several Amicus Briefs: Danco Laboratories, LLC v. Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine et al. in the Supreme Court, Zurawski v. Texas in the Texas Supreme Court, Garland v. VanDerStok in the Supreme Court, and Tennessee et al. v. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Earlier in the year, ACPM joined the American Indian Medical Education Strategies (AIMES) Alliance to advance American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) access to care, reduce physician shortages, and expand opportunities for training physicians to benefit communities by collaboratively advancing federal and tribal solutions that expand graduate medical education in tribal communities.

Looking ahead, ACPM is finalizing documentation to address public health implications, prevention of chronic disease, and supporting recommendations for the incoming Trump-Vance Administration and the 119th Congress.

 
 

Building the Future

Serving as a Professional Home

ACPM members are the lifeblood of the organization and truly represent the diversity inherent of the specialty — professionally, geographically, ethnically, culturally and more. One constant is the need to tap into this diverse community and establish connections with peers around the globe. While serving as the professional home for nearly 2,000 public health and preventive medicine physicians, ACPM also serves as the hub to foster those peer connections. Throughout 2024, new programming and systems focused on supporting this need. This includes the launch of three Special Interest Groups (SIGs):

  • Artificial Intelligence and Digital Health
  • Global Health
  • Pharmaceutical Medicine

ACPM's SIGs provide members with spaces to come together around a common purpose while advising, networking and mentoring colleagues to increase opportunities for engagement and advancement in their respective fields. Bringing together thought leaders from across the membership, SIGs foster diverse voices to explore and advance important topics within preventive medicine.

ACPM Pulse

Creating Year-Round Connections

Quarterly virtual networking events, “Sipping Sessions,” provided an intimate, social setting for members to meet and talk through issues identified by the group – from current challenges to career guidance to research insight to the latest headlines and more. Coupled with the “Virtual Speed Mentoring Sessions,” physicians at all levels tapped into the ACPM network to engage with members across the country — with a few sessions including members across the globe.

To ensure year-round opportunities for accessing the ACPM network and peer collaboration, the College launched ACPM Pulse — an online community platform designed to make it easier for members to communicate, collaborate and connect. ACPM Pulse allows members to access their peers on demand whether it’s to collaborate on emergent topics in preventive medicine or just to connect.

Fostering the Pipeline

AAMC Virtual Forum

Raising awareness of the PH/GPM specialty among medical students is a key priority for the College. For the third year, ACPM participated in the American Association of Medical Colleges (AAMC) Virtual Specialty Forum — a venue to connect medical students as they explore specialties. ACPM member residents, early career and senior physicians from industry, governmental public health and academia interacted with medical students and represented PH/GPM. More than 550 medical students participated in the virtual specialty forum and chatted with ACPM members. ACPM also raised the profile of preventive medicine by participating in the in-person inaugural Residency and Specialty Fair hosted by the American Medical Student Association. An ACPM medical student from George Washington University participated in the Ameri Health Caritas Health Policy Fellowship. During this eight-week program, the medical student engaged with senior physicians in the field to develop a CME webinar on integrating trauma-informed approaches to prevention and care in population and health settings and collaborated with residents to develop an evidenced-based doorknob tool to increase awareness of the importance of colorectal cancer screening. ACPM also hosted its annual graduation ceremony celebrating more than 85 residents completing their residencies from PH/GPM and OEM Programs.

As programs worked to train future physicians in PM/GPM, ACPM served as an ongoing resource for both programs and residents. In 2024, ACPM revived residency rotations offered to PH/GPM residents at the APCM office in Washington, D.C. A resident from the University of Maryland PM/GPM program completed a two-month rotation focused on advocacy and policy, which included the development of a policy statement on data modernization and identification of priorities for the Section Council on Preventive Medicine to present to the American Medical Association’s House of Delegates.

In 2024, ACPM worked with senior leaders in the field and program directors to identify ways to supplement existing preventive medicine residency program curricula. The first wave of adding to the curricula resulted in a 12-webinar series, which augments milestones-based knowledge and skills for PH/GPM, OEM and AM residents in public health emergency preparedness and response. The webinars are available for CME and cover a range of critical topics including Incident Command System, Disaster Cycle, Surveillance System, Risk Communications, Natural Disasters, Exposures and more.

Given the nontraditional career pathways many preventive medicine physicians pursue, the College started offering a series of "Career Conversations," webinars that feature individual members, highlight their career journey and provide the opportunity for residents and young physicians to ask questions. This past year, these conversations highlighted careers in biotechnology and pharmaceutical medicine, governmental public health, resume and interview tips, leadership at all levels (national, state and local), careers in the public health sector and the role of preventive medicine in cancer care.

AMSA Fair

Meetings and Events

ACPM PM24

Preventive Medicine 2024

Preventive Medicine 2024, held in Washington, D.C., April 18-21, brought together more than 600 attendees – the largest attendance in the post-pandemic years. While visiting the nation’s capital for the conference, ACPM members met with their legislators on Capitol Hill to discuss the need for investment in PM residency programs and the public health workforce. ACPM also partnered with the H3 Project, Unity Healthcare and the Medical Society of D.C. to host a community event at Union Station, where volunteer members provided education, preventive health screenings and more to people experiencing homelessness.

PMR Directors participated in their annual workshop to share residency initiatives and other discussions crucial to the specialty, and the College hosted three other workshops aligned with its grant portfolio on hypertension, diabetes and Military Environmental Exposures. With more than 100 sessions, PM2024 explored key issues including advances in clinical preventive medicine, global health and community and population health. During the conference, medical students and residents had several opportunities to meet with senior leaders in a speed mentoring session and a special medical student-focused session on the specialty. At PM2024, ACPM again offered five scholarships to medical students through the Future Leaders in Preventive Medicine program, fully supported by the generous donations of members. In addition, a resident scholarship was provided through the Jacob and Heather Adams Scholarship fund, a legacy program launched by ACPM member Michael “Jacob” Adams, MD, MPH, FACPM.

Dr. Daniel S. Blumenthal Award and Lecture

In upholding its commitment to promoting health equity and honoring a leader in the field, ACPM hosted the fourth annual Dr. Daniel S. Blumenthal health equity seminar on October 9, 2024 in Washington, D.C. ACPM honored four organizations in recognition of their efforts to promote representation of minority groups in medicine: National Medical Association (NMA), National Hispanic Medical Association (NHMA), National Council of Asian Pacific Islander Physicians (NCAPIP) and American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI).

Representatives from the awardee organizations included: Lucille Perez, MD, Past President of the NMA; Gilbert Burgos, MD, MPH, Interim President and Chairman of NHMA Board of Directors; Winston F. Wong, MD, MS, FAAFP, Chair and Acting CEO of the NCAPIP; and Satheesh Kathula, MD, FACP, DipABLM, President of AAPI. The event featured a panel discussion on equity in medicine and highlighted the efforts and challenges faced by minority physicians in medicine from each of the awardees.

Supporting Practice

Continuing Medical Education

Professional development and education are key offerings for ACPM members. This starts with early career training and premier resources, such as the ACPM Board Review Course. To remain the primary resource for preventive medicine practitioners preparing for the American Board of Preventive Medicine (ABPM) board certification exam, ACPM curated new content included on the ABPM’s 2024 outline to align with the recently released milestones.

ACPM also offered several high-value bundles that connect courses in relevant subject areas such as health equity to improve the educational experience and focus on content areas. In addition to CME offered at the Preventive Medicine conference, ACPM’s Online offerings include training on population health, lifestyle medicine, health equity, emergency preparedness, trauma-informed care and more.

Research and Publication

The American Journal of Preventive Medicine (AJPM) and AJPM Focus (an online, open-access publication launched in 2022) have long been the scientific journals of both ACPM and the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR). Both journals serve as a valuable resource to ACPM members through publishing peer-reviewed articles in the areas of prevention research, teaching, practice and policy to advance the science of prevention and preventive medicine.

In early 2024, the AJPM Board of Governors reached an agreement with long-term publisher Elsevier to acquire the assets and support these publications into the future, working with the editors and editorial boards. The relationship between the professional societies and these publications will remain as they continue to serve as the official journals and publications of the two entities. ACPM and APTR will each continue to offer the journals as a member benefit and to publish position statements, policy positions and additional materials.

In 2024, under the guidance of the Science and Translation Committee, the College published the ACPM Position Statement on Air Pollution and Environmental Justice, providing insight on the population health impacts of industrial air pollution across communities and recommendations at all stakeholder levels to address these issues. In addition to the scientific contributions published in the journals, ACPM will continue to publish its Member Spotlight series, the incoming Presidential address, stories on new Fellows and other items amplifying the work of ACPM members.

Looking Ahead

While 2024 amplified ACPM’s collective voice, provided enhanced programming and opportunities to connect for members, focused on partnerships with medical student organizations and boosted training for residents — to reflect on a few initiatives — the year positioned ACPM to grow and continue to serve as a leader in preventive medicine and public health.

As the College transitions into 2025 with new leadership, renewed strategic focus and more cross-collaboration with like-minded and partner organizations, opportunities will emerge to advance the practice of preventive medicine through creating innovative new resources for physicians. Work is underway on emergent topics like artificial intelligence in medicine and on initiatives to address lifestyle medicine and a whole health approach in the prevention of chronic diseases. Members will convene on “Moving the Needle for Preventive Medicine and Public Health” and explore advances in the specialty, address environmental and global health and share innovative activities in clinical practice and community and population medicine.

Thank you to our members and partners who have traveled on this journey with the College — and will continue to walk abreast with ACPM as we work to advance the field of preventive medicine, promote healthy lifestyles, address the nation’s biggest health care challenges, and ultimately, improve the health and well-being of all!

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