The program, which is offered through Drexel University, has the goal of increasing the number of qualified women candidates for leadership positions in the fields of academic medicine, dentistry and public health.
Dr. Fagan said the ELAM program was a tremendous experience. “The program helped me develop skills to be most effective in my current job,” she said. “ELAM also gave me areas to develop that will allow me to continue to grow and evolve as an effective leader at USA and in internal medicine.”
Participating in the program requires fellows to participate in a large individual leadership project over the course of a year in addition to working on smaller projects and collaborating with other fellows in the program. In this year’s class there were a total of 54 women from North America – U.S. and Canadian medical, dental and veterinary schools. Overall the program has graduated more than 600 fellows in its 15 year history.
“This program gave me leadership skills and a comprehensive view of the various aspects of academic medicine,” she said. “Our missions at USA -- service to the community, clinical service, education and research are complicated and difficult to execute. Leaders in academic medicine need to have an understanding and skills to meet those mission needs.”
The ELAM curriculum included an assessment of each fellow’s personal skills, education in financing, and an understanding of leadership.
“It was great to be able to find out the areas in which you need to further develop,” Dr. Fagan said. “I learned how to manage people better, communicate more effectively, and delegate and support others so they can reach their maximum potential. These are skills that I will continue to work on and improve throughout my career.”
The ELAM program has an intense curriculum on health care financing, specifically finance organization using budget development, planning for future growth and challenges. Fellows were given the task of critically assessing the finances of their own institutions as well as that of a fictitious, troubled medical school in need of a financial overhaul.
Dr. Fagan said the most enjoyable part of the program was learning how to better understand leadership. Participants were encouraged to do senior leadership interviews, and were required to meet with leaders in a variety of roles at their university.
“Meeting with the leaders at USA really gave me a broad view of not just the College of Medicine, but of USA as a whole,” she said. “It gave me a real insight into people and the culture of the university – especially how leaders at our university view the challenges ahead. Everyone that I approached to interview from President Moulton to individual faculty members and administrators were very accommodating and informative.”
The ELAM program also gave Dr. Fagan the opportunity to network with other women in academic medicine. Participants were put into groups and would work on projects together, allowing everyone to hear different perspectives on today’s health care issues.
“The program really boosted my confidence, and it gave me a chance to learn from my experiences,” Dr. Fagan said. “I spent a year practicing skills through this program, and I want to use those skills to contribute to USA. I feel like now I can offer a payback to the university by being a more effective leader and by advancing our missions.”
Dr. Fagan was the fourth person from USA to participate in the program. “The College of Medicine has three women who have previously completed the ELAM program, and all of them have made important contributions to the university,” Dr. Fagan said. “My hope is to do the same.”
-------------------
Dr. Fagan joined USA in March 2008 as both chief of the pulmonary division in internal medicine and associate professor in the Center for Lung Biology. Most of her research deals primarily with lung health, specifically pulmonary hypertension.
She received her medical degree from the University of California at San Diego School of Medicine in 1992, and completed a fellowship in pulmonary diseases and critical care at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, where she also served as a National Institutes of Health trainee.
Dr. Fagan’s research has earned her multiple awards, including the Best Abstract Award from the American Heart Association, the Giles F. Filley Memorial Award for Excellence in Respiratory Physiology and Medicine from the American Physiological Society, and the Howard Hughes Individual Investigator Award from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center.
