Julie M. Chen, MD, FACP
Program Director, Internal Medicine
Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States
Internal Medicine Residency Program
How long have you been a member of AAIM?
I have been a member of AAIM for eight years.
Describe your typical day.
As the program director for a new internal medicine residency program which I helped establish, my typical day consists of meetings with both institutional leaders who are committed and excited to support the internal medicine program, my incredible residency steering team, as well as the core faculty and preceptors who will directly educate our trainees in the distinctive model of care we provide, placing major emphasis on highly integrated, high value care. I have the pleasure of working with talented colleagues on designing the curriculum and adopting best practices from AAIM’s community of educators. Since achieving accreditation, my focus has been on curriculum design with the aim of innovation to provide effective experiences in transitions of care, chronic pain management, obesity medicine, quality improvement and patient safety, as well as physician well-being, in addition to the core rotations. I am so excited to have the opportunity to work on this!
What is your favorite part of the job?
My favorite part of this job has always been working directly with residents. It is a privilege and reward to see residents grow and be part of that process as each resident forms his or her professional identity. I have been honored to have this privilege for the past 18 years in my different roles as a leader in medical education. Currently I am also thrilled by the opportunity to design a program for our incoming residents to develop them into well-rounded, highly competent internists.
How has the AAIM membership been of value to you and your career?
I feel very privileged to be a part of this strong community of educators. At every APDIM and AAIM meeting, I have inevitably met someone who has similar goals and challenges for educating and preparing our next generation of physicians to my own. I have had several mentors, both formal and informal, from these meetings and each one has helped me along this journey in a significant way. I have also had the privilege to mentor others and to bring faculty into AAIM so that they may benefit from and contribute to the organization. It has been a true academic home for me.
What’s your favorite moment of your career so far?
I have two favorite moments of my career to share; the first was receiving the Innovative Curriculum Award at the National Capital Consortium at Walter Reed Bethesda for my work in establishing a program for quality improvement in residents’ panels and population health. It was rewarding for me to see the residents make a real impact on the health of their patients through a curriculum I had implemented with much support from my excellent colleagues.
Another favorite moment of my career was being given the extraordinary opportunity as Program Director to create a new residency program for Kaiser Permanente Mid-Atlantic States, then receiving accreditation for a program we designed, to enable our institution to embark on a mission to train internists of the future in our high value, equitable and compassionate healthcare model.
What was your childhood dream job?
As a young child I always wanted to be a teacher and work in the medical field; though I had never envisioned being able to do both, I am fortunate that that medical education has made this a reality.
How do you spend your free time?
I highly value spending my free time with my family. We love downhill skiing, traveling to different areas of the world and exploring different cultures, hiking and playing family games. I also enjoy hosting book clubs with good friends.
What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
Very early in my career I had the opportunity to work in Asia with the local population of Hong Kong in a system of medicine that provides care for everyone whether rich or poor. I was surprised recently to discover that Bloomberg rates Hong Kong and Singapore number one and two in the world in health system efficiency, meaning less cost for treatment with similar life expectancy (in comparison, the US rates 50th). We have a tremendous amount to learn from such areas of the world in terms of providing high value, high quality, equitable care--something I plan to keep at the forefront as we train our future physicians.
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