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Retaining the Value of Former Department Chairs: The Association of Pathology Chairs Experience
Fred Sanfilippo1, Priscilla Markwood2, David N Bailey3
1Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA.
Insights
The Association of Pathology Chairs established a Senior Fellows Group to mentor new chairs. This group provides valuable advice on leadership, administration, and faculty management, benefiting academic health centers.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Academic Leadership
- Pathology Department Management
Background:
- Clinical department chair positions in academic health centers are increasingly complex.
- The Association of Pathology Chairs (APC) recognized the need for structured support for its members.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe the establishment and function of the APC's Senior Fellows Group.
- To highlight the group's role in providing mentorship and advice to current and aspiring pathology chairs.
Main Methods:
- Formation of an ad hoc committee of former chairs, evolving into a permanent Senior Fellows Group.
- Leveraging the expertise of over 50 experienced former chairs with diverse leadership backgrounds.
- Offering personalized advice and consultation to APC members, particularly new chairs and faculty.
Main Results:
- The Senior Fellows Group provides comprehensive guidance on onboarding, strategy, administration, and faculty management.
- Mentorship covers critical areas such as financial operations, institutional reviews, leadership interactions, fundraising, and personal well-being.
- The group actively participates in APC programs, committees, and projects, demonstrating significant value.
Conclusions:
- The Senior Fellows Group offers substantial value to APC members and participating former chairs.
- This model of experienced mentorship can be adopted by other academic organizations facing similar leadership challenges.
Abstract:
Serving as a clinical department chair in an academic health center is an increasingly complex and difficult position. In 2014, the Association of Pathology Chairs engaged former chairs to assist its members by establishing an ad hoc committee of "Senior Fellows," which then became a permanent Senior Fellows Group. The Senior Fellows Group currently includes more than 50 former chairs, many of whom subsequently served as deans, medical center executives, and in other leadership roles. The primary mission of the Senior Fellows Group has been to provide advice, consultation, and mentoring to members of the Association of Pathology Chairs, especially new chairs and faculty interested in leadership roles. All new chairs are asked if they wish to select or be assigned a Senior Fellow advisor. Each Senior Fellow is listed on the Association of Pathology Chairs website with the areas of advice they are willing to provide, which include: "on-boarding" issues and opportunities facing a new chair; strategy (eg, departmental priorities, mission balance); administration (eg, financial, operational); institutional reviews of chairs/departments; interaction with institutional leaders (eg, other chairs, deans, hospital leadership); fundraising; faculty management (eg, recruitment, retention, annual evaluations, productivity, dismissal); and personal issues (eg, work-life balance, stepping down, retirement). The Senior Fellows Group also has participated actively in essentially all Association of Pathology Chairs programs, committees, fundraising, and projects. The organized structure and function of the Senior Fellows Group has been of significant value to the membership of the Association of Pathology Chairs, as well as to the participating former chairs, and may provide a model for other academic organizations to utilize this important resource.
