Elections: CDIM

Candidates

President-Elect

Sherine Salib, MD, MRCP, FACP

It is with deep enthusiasm that I submit my candidacy for President-Elect of the Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine (CDIM). My journey as an educator, clinician, and leader has been shaped by a steadfast commitment to advancing medical education, fostering innovation, as well as championing cross-silo collaboration.

Throughout my career, I have embraced opportunities to lead at local, regional, and national levels. I am honored to have led initiatives spanning the entire medical education continuum, with a particular emphasis on undergraduate medical education. My prior, longstanding role as Clerkship Director has allowed me to shape and advance educational excellence. At present, as Associate Dean for Curriculum and Distinguished Teaching Professor at Dell Medical School, University of Texas at Austin, I oversee the design, implementation, and continuous improvement of the four-year undergraduate medical curriculum for the whole medical school. My leadership extends to chairing the Undergraduate Medical Education Curriculum Committee, spearheading curricular innovations that prioritize educational excellence, while also being mindful of learner well-being. I have also previously served as Associate Chair for Faculty Affairs and Faculty Development, and bring deep expertise in creating faculty development programs and coaching individual faculty members, work which ultimately goes back to serve our learners and our patients.

My approach to leadership is fundamentally relational and service-based. I believe that effective teams are built on respect, inclusivity, and empowerment. This philosophy has guided my work in co-designing curricula with faculty and learners, ensuring that all voices—across the undergraduate, graduate, and continuing medical education spaces—are heard and valued. As a practicing physician embedded in both inpatient and outpatient settings, I remain closely attuned to the evolving needs of our learners and the communities we serve.

Innovation has been a hallmark of my career. I have played a pivotal role in building new curricula at the departmental, school-wide, and national levels. My work has focused on the development of programs that bridge traditional educational silos, as well as a focus on faculty engagement and faculty development in implementing these curricula. Nationally, I have contributed to the Alliance of Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) as a Program Planning Committee member and subsequently Council member of AAIM-CDIM, as well as working group chair, collaborating with colleagues to advance our shared mission.

Recognition by peers and learners has been deeply meaningful. I am honored to have received the Alpha Omega Alpha Robert J. Glaser Distinguished Teacher Award, the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, and multiple Clinical Learning Environment Awards, among others. These honors reflect not only personal achievement but also the collective spirit of the teams and communities with whom I have worked.

Looking ahead, my vision for CDIM is one of collaboration, innovation, and advocacy. I am committed to amplifying the voices of all members, advancing curricular excellence, and ensuring that our Alliance remains a leader in forward-thinking medical education. I would be honored to serve as your President-Elect and to partner with you in shaping the future of internal medicine education.

President-Elect

Lonika Sood, MBBS, MHPE, FACP

I am honored to stand as a candidate for CDIM President-Elect and grateful for the opportunity to share why my values, experiences, and leadership approach align with this position. I am an Associate Professor, hospitalist physician and Vice Chair for Internal Medicine at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine at Washington State University. AAIM and CDIM have played a formative role in my professional journey, and over the past several years I have been privileged to serve on the CDIM Program Planning Committee, CDIM Council, and multiple task forces and working groups. Through these roles, I have learned alongside many of you, and the collective wisdom, generosity, and tenacity of this community have profoundly shaped my professional identity.

At my home institution, I serve as Clerkship Director for and have held a range of senior educational leadership roles, including interim Associate Dean for Graduate Medical Education, interim Vice Dean for Educational Affairs, and now Vice Chair for Internal Medicine. My engagement in governance at local, regional, and national levels has deepened my understanding of organizational structure and function. This includes chairing institutional committees such as the Curriculum Committee, Graduate Medical Education Committee, and Learning Environment Committee, as well as serving on executive committees for the Washington Chapter of the American College of Physicians, the Alliance for Clinical Education, and the Western Group on Educational Affairs (AAMC).

A central tenet of my leadership philosophy is lifting others as we advance together. Sponsorship, mentorship, and allyship are not abstract concepts to me, but practical and intentional strategies for building inclusive and effective organizations. As an immigrant, international medical graduate, woman in medicine, educator at a community-based medical school, and community-based hospitalist, I am acutely aware of both the privilege of being on this ballot and the barriers that can limit access to such spaces—experiences I know many of you share.

I am eager to support the continued evolution of AAIM, and to serve as a conduit between governance and our diverse interest holders. I am deeply committed to CDIM’s mission to advance the professional development of those preparing the next generation of internists and leaders through education, research, engagement, and collaboration. I bring with me a unique perspective of community-based clerkship education and the many opportunities that it offers for academic medicine. I am particularly interested in expanding mentorship and leadership development opportunities; strengthening partnerships with aligned academic organizations; and helping our community thoughtfully navigate emerging trends in medical education and healthcare, while preserving educational quality and rigor. I would be honored to hear more about how you foresee us moving academic Internal Medicine forward.

Thank you for this opportunity and for your consideration. It would be a privilege to serve.

Councilor

Christopher J. King, MD

My name is Chris King, a hospitalist clinician-educator and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. I am the Sub-Internship Director for our Hospital Medicine Acting Internship (creator/director since 2014) and a COMPASS Guide, providing longitudinal coaching and advocacy for medical students across all four years. I previously served as Internal Medicine Clerkship Director for nine years, including leadership through the COVID-19 disruption, an LCME review, and major curriculum reform.

CDIM has been my professional home because it is where clerkship leaders translate national change into local, workable practice. I have invested in that mission through sustained national service and a commitment to respectful, evidence-informed dialogue: CDIM National Program Planning Committee (2021–2024), moderating CDIM’s “Grade Debate” session on clerkship grading in 2022, and moderating the 2024 plenary on AI in medicine. I am also a contributing author for the CDIM Core Curriculum and have served on the NBME Internal Medicine Subject Exam Task Force since 2017 (Chair since 2025).

If elected to CDIM Council, I will focus on helping members navigate two rapidly evolving areas while protecting rigor, equity, and learner trust. First, I will help translate changes in the IM Subject Exam and the broader assessment ecosystem into practical guidance for all of our members. Second, I will help CDIM define and lead in the use of artificial intelligence in internal medicine student education, including its implications for evaluations, letters of recommendation, student learning, and clinical documentation by supporting consensus principles, sharing member-ready best practices, and promoting scholarship that distinguishes helpful innovation from unintended inequities.

As a first-generation college and medical school graduate, I bring a deep commitment to transparency and mentorship, and an appreciation for how opaque standards can disadvantage learners without insider knowledge. I will represent the broad CDIM membership with a collaborative approach: listening first, building alignment across perspectives, and delivering practical tools that reduce burdens, address burnout driven by limited protected time, and strengthen the UME-to-GME transition.

Councilor

Nancy Skehan, MD

From the time I started as a Clerkship Director in 2021, CDIM has been an essential professional resource to me for learning and support. The CDIM community is always the first place I go to explore the answers to any question I have about teaching in the clinical environment, because I find a tremendous amount of wisdom in our dynamic, engaged membership. As a CDIM councilor, I hope to further the Alliance’s goals of being the “go-to” resource for Internal Medicine Educators across the spectrum of clinical UME teaching; specifically, as a relatively new clerkship director, I hope to continue to provide a voice for the faculty development needs of newer members.

I believe I can support this CDIM mission well as I have already engaged in this work with CDIM through my three years of volunteer service on the CDIM Program Planning Committee, where I most recently served as a course director for the 2025 New Course Directors Pre-course. I also authored a CDIM faculty development newsletter on teaching in the ambulatory setting. In both projects, Council members were collaborative and leant support when needed, and I envision serving in this position in a similar fashion. I also have represented CDIM in the Alliance for Clinical Education (ACE) since 2023 to provide the IM perspective on clinical education across specialties and hope to continue to extend CDIM’s impact beyond the AAIM.

I am a general internist practicing primary care and hospital medicine and currently teach in a public, University-based medical school that serves the second largest urban population in New England. This work has instilled in me the power of deep listening and advocacy to advance the health of my patients. As in my clinical practice, if elected councilor I plan to reflect with care on the educational needs of all members of CDIM, and to meet those needs in a way that ensures we are speaking for everyone when we make important decisions that impact our teachers and our learners.

Together, we can ensure that the Alliance continues to thrive as a hub for collaboration, innovation, and inclusivity. Thank you for considering my candidacy.

• President-Elect (Salib)
• President-Elect (Sood)
• Councilor (King)
• Councilor (Skehan