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From the President
Dear Colleagues,
Starting today, AAAAI Fellows and full members can shape the future of the AAAAI by casting their vote in our annual Board of Directors election. Three new At-Large Directors will be selected in addition to the next AAAAI Secretary-Treasurer, a position that ascends to the presidency.
If you are a Fellow or full member, take a few minutes to read about the candidates and make your voice heard before the election closes January 9 at 5:00 pm Central time. Click here
With the Board of Directors election underway, this is an appropriate time to revisit some of the strategic ways the AAAAI is working to develop leaders for the benefit of our organization and the specialty as a whole. Our emphasis on leadership development ties back to the notion of Planning for Our Future, which has been the focus of my set of presidential initiatives. I am reminded yet again of the words of Abraham Lincoln: “The best way to predict your future is to create it.”
The first piece I want to mention is the AAAAI Leadership Institute, which has evolved since its inception and continues to do so under the guidance of Steering Committee Chair James T. Li, MD, PhD, FAAAAI. Its focus is on: engaging, recruiting and inspiring future member leaders; informing, guiding and equipping current member leaders; and developing a pipeline for senior leadership.
The signature element of the Leadership Institute is the full-day course that takes place at the AAAAI Annual Meeting. The upcoming course in Atlanta is being planned by Sharon B. Markovics, MD, FAAAAI, and Carla M. Davis, MD, FAAAAI. However to create a more ongoing experience, the Leadership Institute has added a mentorship program that debuted earlier in 2016 and is led by Giselle Mosnaim, MD, MS, FAAAAI. The mentor and mentee pairs have been working together to further refine and operationalize their projects that were submitted to the Steering Committee. An example of a finished project is the recent AAAAI webinar on strategies and opportunities to maximize RVU capture in academic and employed medicine. If you missed it, the recording is available here
In addition to the mentorship program, Thanai Pongdee, MD, FAAAAI, is leading the charge to enhance the Leadership Institute’s presence on the AAAAI website. The Leadership Institute is looking at ways to improve the online experience for former, current and future participants, as well as evaluate the need for a resource book which would contain all the necessary materials to make committee chairs, vice chairs and members successful in their volunteer positions.
Another piece of our leadership development strategy took place at the November Board meeting. To ensure we have a highly functioning Board to steer the organization, we employed a consultant to take the Board through a self-assessment which culminated in a special session at the November Board meeting. This was an excellent exercise to participate in and provided ideas on how to enhance the Board’s current performance. For example, one suggestion from the consultant was to focus on defining ‘success’ for each of our strategic objectives.
The last piece I would like to mention here is the work of the Division Directors Task Force, which is chaired by Aidan A. Long, MD, FAAAAI. I invited him to provide an update and he shared the following:
“The critical question being investigated by the Division Directors Task Force is: how can the AAAAI better support new A/I division directors? Developing a mentoring system will assist new directors in the many aspects of their new position and in doing so tap into the vast experience and knowledge among fellow division directors.
To provide focus for the mentoring, we first identified eight scope of task areas crucial in the role of division director: clinical care, teaching, research, financial management, operations management, human resources management, marketing, and role as ambassador. The relationship will be fostered in a variety of formats as determined by the mentor and mentee and may include teleconference, video conference and onsite visits. We increased inclusiveness by creating a database of division directors and surveyed them to determine which of the eight areas they felt they had expertise in and would be willing to mentor. Now that we have identified the scope of task areas and identified individuals with knowledge in those areas, we are working to operationalize and bring the mentorship program to fruition. We are also creating a resource package that will include a bibliography of publications related to leadership to assist division directors as well as a listing of relevant available healthcare leadership courses.”
Thank you to everyone involved in these efforts to support the development of leaders both within the AAAAI and beyond. Through all of this our goal is to provide the tools that will help individuals grow into effective leaders for the benefit of AAAAI and the specialty, as well as to equip us to successfully plan for the future.
Sincerely,
Thomas A. Fleisher, MD, FAAAAI
AAAAI President