June 8, 2009

Fifty-three senior women faculty have been selected for the 2009-2010 class of fellows in the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine® (ELAM) Program for Women at Drexel University College of Medicine. ELAM® is the only national program dedicated to preparing senior women faculty for leadership at academic health centers. The new fellows represent 49 medical, dental, and public health schools. 

“We welcome our 15th class of fellows and look forward to being part of their learning and growth as leaders over the coming year,” said Diane Magrane, MD, the new director of Drexel University College of Medicine’s Center for Executive Leadership in Academics, which hosts the ELAM program. “The ELAM fellowship experience is like no other, providing opportunities for self-reflection, application of new concepts and perspectives, and entry into a network of women leaders eager to support each other’s advancement.”

The ELAM curriculum adapts lessons in executive management and institutional leadership, such as strategic finance, organizational dynamics, and personal and professional effectiveness, to the academic health center environment. These develop over the course of an intense program that incorporates three week-long in-residence sessions, application and further development of lessons at their institutions, and use of new information technologies for distance learning and community-building.

During their year with ELAM, fellows gain a broader and deeper knowledge of the challenges facing academic health centers through meetings with national leaders in the field, interactions with their peers in the program, and interviews with a wide range of senior officers at their own institutions.  Fellows also undertake a long-term project that addresses an institutional need or goal while providing an opportunity for leadership and greater visibility.

ELAM’s mission is to increase the number of women in senior leadership positions, and, in so doing, to change the culture of academic health centers to become more inclusive of different perspectives and more responsive to changing social agendas. Some 20 percent of its 569 graduates currently serve in the highest-level leadership ranks, from associate dean through university president, including:

• 5 of the 15 current women deans at U.S. medical schools
• 5 of the 13 women deans at U.S. dental schools
• 2 of 12 women deans at U.S. public health schools.
• In medical schools, 24% of women department chairs and 27% of associate and vice deans are ELAM graduates.

“ELAM’s success relies upon the powerful partnerships that have developed among the program, its strong network of alumnae, and the institutional leaders that provide continuing support,” acknowledges Magrane. “Our founding directors realized that this comprehensive approach to leadership development would have far-reaching impact.

Dr. Page Morahan believed graduates would prove their ability to manage the challenges of leadership and help their institutions to navigate the curricular, organizational and policy changes needed to improve education, research, practitioner training, and ultimately the delivery of health services to the public. This new class joins a pool of very talented leaders and furthers our progress towards achieving our goals.”

ELAM is a core program of the Institute for Women’s Health and Leadership® at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, PA. The Institute continues the legacy of advancing women in medicine that began in 1850 with the founding of the Female Medical College of Pennsylvania, the nation’s first women’s medical school and a predecessor of today’s Drexel University College of Medicine.