This past month offered an opportunity to meet with members and specifically engage in conversations with preventive medicine residents from Mt. Sinai and Emory while on business trips. During these visits and meetings, I learned more about the paths current residents have taken to become trainees in preventive medicine and the diverse career pathways they are interested in pursuing once their training ends.
These residents shared the work they are currently doing in their rotations which is quite timely and exciting. For example, they are doing surveillance of monkeypox, working on quality improvement in cervical cancer screening using artificial intelligence and clinical informatics, assessing the social determinants of health (SDOH) related to alcohol abuse among patients at a safety net hospital, assessing ventilator-associated events during COVID-19, and conducting mental health screening to triage patients with depression or anxiety disorders versus those with more severe conditions.
Additionally, they shared their career interests in working at local and state health departments or federal public health agencies, or specifically engaging in work that addresses health disparities, health equity and immigrant health conditions and barriers to well-being. Others were passionate about chronic disease prevention—specifically cancer prevention—and focusing on the SDOH. One of the residents even secured a one-year post-residency training fellowship in pain management at the Johns Hopkins University, so he will be visiting with us in our DC office soon enough!
They also indicated a desire to connect with possible mentors or senior fellows of the College to learn more about various roles they are interested in pursuing and ways to position themselves for these opportunities. I am pleased to share that several of these future leaders have already connected with senior leaders of the College to engage in direct conversations and to secure additional insights and advice. It is my hope that more of these engagements can continue, so please be sure to register to attend the annual conference and engage in person with residents in New Orleans this coming March.
Please know, our office is always open to ACPM members who may visit or have business in Washington, DC. We recently had a visit from Dr. Jacob Adams who enjoyed lunch with the staff and seeing the new offices and his name on our Gratitude Wall for his very generous donations and recent endowment for resident scholarships to attend our annual conference.
So, I hope to see you in New Orleans and to smile with glee once again watching the magic of networking and connections among our membership. New Orleans will be great fun and if you enjoyed the opening reception last year, you are in for a real treat reconnecting with colleagues this year with views of the French Quarter, the river and the delicious flavors of the Crescent City filling the room.
With the spirit of networking in mind,
Donna
Donna Grande, MGA
ACPM CEO