On March 2, the Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs (AMSPCD) inaugurated Dr. Leslie R. Walker, Professor and Ford/Morgan Endowed Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at UW Medicine, as president. In this two-year position, she will lead the activities that provide training environments to ensure the next generation of pediatric primary care and pediatric specialists provide compassionate, knowledgeable, and cost-effective care.
“It is a privilege to work alongside Dr. Walker,” said AMSPCD Nominations Committee Chair and Chair of the Department of Pediatrics at Duke University School of Medicine, Dr. Ann Reed. “She is a visionary leader whose dedication and unrelenting commitment to progress will lead AMSPDC through our ever-changing time. Under her guidance, we can expect an inspiring agenda that will shape the future of the AMSPDC community and aligned Departments of Pediatrics.”
Dr. Walker has been dedicated to the health and wellbeing of children and adolescents for over 25 years, particularly in the areas of prevention of adolescent substance use and promotion of healthy adolescent development. Prior to her current role, Dr. Walker served as the Chair of Pediatrics and Medical Director at Penn State Children’s Hospital and has served on numerous national boards and community projects.
We had a chance to talk with Dr. Walker about her vision for AMSPCD during her presidency:
First off, congratulations on this honor to serve as president of AMSPCD! For those who aren’t familiar with AMSPCD, could you briefly describe their work and the impact it creates?
AMSPDC stands for Association of Medical School Pediatric Department Chairs. It is an organization made up of chairs of pediatric departments in schools of medicine and is focused on the future of academic medicine and its missions: education, clinical care, research, and, ultimately, child and adolescent well-being for all children.
There are 153 departments from Canada, the US and osteopathic schools with pediatric training that are members. We work with other national pediatric organizations on areas of common concern and purpose: helping to best implement changes in training, diversifying the pediatric workforce and leadership, addressing clinical models of care at academic institutions, and advocacy.
We also run the Physician Leadership Development Program for those aspiring to be chairs of pediatric departments, and we run the very effective Pediatric Science Development Program, supporting fellows aspiring to be scientists financially and with training and mentorship.
What are your priorities for AMSPDC during this important time in our nation?
We commissioned a National Academies of Science Engineering and Medicine study and report on the pediatric workforce (read more here) – a critical paper on the workforce crisis in pediatric subspecialty care. The report recommended many actions, most of which sit with AMSPDC to help coordinate and implement. For instance, working across organizations to offer two- and three-year fellowship options, increasing interest in pediatrics as a field, and improving reimbursement of care.
How long have you been involved with AMSPCD and what excites you most about the work?
I have been an AMSPDC member for more than seven years, starting from my first chair position at Penn State. We are a small but influential organization that is also nimble. The energy the chairs have to fight for what works and embrace change and advocacy where it’s needed is inspiring. This is a critical time of change with potential for both proactive and reactive responses to the times. Having an activated organization is exciting.
What does the future of the pediatric workforce look like?
If all was static, which it is not, we will rapidly approach a world where pediatricians will act more like consultants and cover a much wider catchment area due to lack of local specialists and scientists in many needed areas.
AMPSDC, working with other key organizations nationally, will look carefully at the multifactorial reasons for the decreased entry into the pediatric field and better advocate and respond to the interests and needs of the prospective workforce, beginning with childhood interest to becoming a specialist.
What will your position mean for the Department of Pediatrics?
It helps to foster collaborations across the country and with other pediatric organizations nationally. I will be very aware of how other academic centers are addressing many common challenges that we do not yet have answers for. This will help inform us of possible best practices we can employ as well.
If you would like to learn more about AMSPDC, please visit https://amspdc.org.