AAIM


Membership: Overview of APM's Activities, Programs, and Initiatives

Overview of APM's Activities, Programs, and Initiatives

APM is the organization of departments of internal medicine represented by chairs and appointed leaders at medical schools and affiliated teaching hospitals in the United States and Canada. The organization focuses specifically on providing services and educational opportunities for and advocating on behalf of leaders in departments of internal medicine. This focus has allowed APM to take tremendous strides in promoting internal medicine, serving the needs of department chairs, and creating innovative activities, programs, and initiatives.

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ADMINISTRATION
  • New Chairs Program: At the start of each winter meeting, APM holds the APM New Chairs Program to provide new chairs of departments of internal medicine the opportunity to learn from experienced department leaders about competencies necessary for success as a department chair.

  • Executive Leadership: Academic medicine’s changing environment requires physicians to have an array of management and leadership skills. Through the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) Executive Leadership Program, departmental leaders are given the opportunity to strengthen existing management and leadership skills. This professional development program offers departmental faculty and staff opportunities to learn about financial management (financial statement analysis, budgeting, and productivity assessment), strategy formulation and programming (strategic planning, marketing, and mission-based management), and organizational management (negotiation, mentoring, and career development). Program information and applications are available at www.im.org/aaim/meetings.

  • Administrative Resources: Aside from these training opportunities, the association offers members resources to assist in accomplishing administrative responsibilities. The primary offering is the annual APM-Administrators of Internal Medicine (AIM) Statistical Survey, which reports institution-identified data on several key performance indicators including payer mix, faculty salary funding, research productivity, and clinical collections.

MEETINGS
  • Winter Meeting: Held in a retreat-like setting, the annual APM Winter Meeting provides association members an opportunity to learn about challenges facing departments of internal medicine and to discuss the future of academic internal medicine. In no other setting can chairs of departments of internal medicine come together to network, build on each other’s experiences, and find a sense of solidarity. Highlights of each winter meeting include the presentation of the Robert H. Williams, MD, Distinguished Chair of Medicine Award and a forum for chairs to meet together during special interest group sessions. The meeting also encompasses an expansive guest program. APM will hold its 2008 Winter Meeting February 27-March 1, 2008, at the Four Seasons Miami in Miami, FL.

  • Fall Symposium: Unlike APM Winter Meetings, which tend to address a spectrum of topics, the biennial APM Fall Symposia focus on specific issues. Past meeting topics include “Leading in Challenging Times: Helping Chairs Create the Future,” “Balancing Centers, Institutes, and Departmental Integrity,” and “Educating Ourselves as well as Our Students, Residents, and Fellows.” APM will hold the next fall symposium October 30-November2, 2008, at the Walt Disney World Dolphin Hotel in Lake Buena Vista, FL. This meeting will be held in conjunction with Academic Internal Medicine Week 2008.


PUBLIC POLICY, EDUCATIONAL, AND RESEARCH PROGRAMS
  • Public Policy: The association represents academic internal medicine before the executive and legislative branches of the US government. Through its committees and advocacy advisory board, APM generates policy, tracks legislative and regulatory developments, and advocates for issues of importance to departments of internal medicine. Association activities focus primarily on agencies within the Department of Health and Human Services (Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, National Institutes of Health, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, and the Health Resources and Services Administration) and the Department of Veterans Affairs (research and medical care programs).

  • Educational Programs: The APM Education Committee oversees the association’s activities pertaining to the curricular, teaching, financial, and workforce aspects of medical education. In the past year, the association has continued its work to improve the standards for and processes of residency and fellowship accreditation, discussed ways to improve the fellowship recruitment process, and led efforts to develop responses to the mandate for outcomes-based evaluation of training programs. The association also continues its partnership with the American College of Physicians (ACP) and APDIM to provide departments with the Internal Medicine In-Training Examination.

  • Research Programs: The association, through the APM Research Committee, represents departments of internal medicine in policy discussions concerning the future of basic, clinical, translational, and health services research and provides members information on how to address emerging issues in research.

  • Programs Related to Patient Care: The APM Patient Care Committee works to help departments of internal medicine provide high-quality care. This includes understanding, building relationships with, and collaborating with quality-related organizations and supporting efforts that ensure all Americans have access to the health care system.

E-SERVICES AND PUBLICATIONS
  • AAIM Connection: Serving as the weekly voice of the alliance, AAIM Connection highlights current activities and initiatives. AAIM Connection updates APM members on how events “inside the Beltway” affect academic internal medicine, and provides other policy, meetings, and member services updates, as well as links members to new features on the alliance website.

  • Communication Efforts: As part of its relationship with The American Journal of Medicine (AJM), APM publishes articles throughout the year discussing important issues for departments of internal medicine. APM distributes AJM to all association members as well as members of the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine (CDIM) and Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM). Additionally, the association provides members information on important issues in academic medicine through Academic Internal Medicine Insight, the association’s quarterly newsletter. APM also maintains a website (www.im.org/apm) and listserver to notify department chairs about issues important to departments of internal medicine.

  • Academic Internal Medicine Job Bank: Located on the association’s website, the AAIM Job Bank lists faculty, staff, and physicians-in-training positions in departments of internal medicine. A competitive solution to costly recruiting options, the job bank directly targets the academic internal medicine community. Instructions for posting and viewing announcements are available online at www.im.org.


ROLE IN ACADEMIC MEDICAL AND INTERNAL MEDICINE COMMUNITIES

  • Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM): APM continues to strengthen academic internal medicine by participating in AAIM. The members of this organization are the five academically focused internal medicine organizations: APM, APDIM, the Association of Subspecialty Professors (ASP), CDIM, and AIM. AAIM is dedicated to addressing issues faced by the internal medicine community and is actively developing numerous programs, including the AAIM Executive Leadership Program and Academic Internal Medicine Week.

  • Council of Academic Societies (CAS): Along with APDIM and CDIM, APM participates in CAS. CAS is one of three governing councils of the AAMC. Its mission is to help faculty of medical schools and teaching hospitals pursue their primary responsibilities of research, education, and patient care, with an ultimate goal of improving the health care of all Americans.