Member Engagement

Alliance Ambassador Program

Alliance Ambassador Program

Alliance Ambassadors serve as a friendly face and voice to help highlight the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) membership, events, and activities at their institutions.

With the help of AAIM staff and other members in their department, Ambassadors will:

  • serve as a champion for AAIM within their institutions,
  • be provided with resources that will help to ensure updates are made to their institution’s membership roster and help welcome new members from their institutions,
  • be equipped with tools that will help them reach out to their colleagues, get them engaged, and keep them informed.

Program Criteria

If you are energetic and have a combined passion for academic internal medicine and AAIM, then volunteer to be an Alliance Ambassador.

To serve as an Alliance Ambassador, you must meet the following requirements:

  • Be a current member of AIM, APDIM, APM, ASP, CDIM, or MPPDA
  • Serve a two-year term from time of enrollment (consecutive terms permitted)
  • Attend virtual orientation training/view online orientation training
  • Dedicate at least one hour a month to review your institution’s membership roster and email roster updates to ambassador@im.org
  • Distribute monthly News & Updates email to current members
  • Familiarize yourself with AAIM’s events, activities, and offerings and share with current members
  • Participate in an annual survey

Ambassador Recognition

As an Alliance Ambassador, you will be recognized for your commitment as an AAIM champion for your institution. Ambassadors will be:

  • highlighted on the Alliance website,
  • recognized at conferences and meetings with a special ribbon,
  • presented with a special gift at Academic Internal Medicine Week,
  • provided access to a dedicated online community to connect with other ambassadors to share tips and best practices.

Your department leader will also be made aware of your volunteer participation as an Alliance Ambassador, which helps keep useful resources at the fingertips of your department’s faculty and staff.

Volunteer Today!

To volunteer to be an Alliance Ambassador, please complete the online registration form below.

If you have questions about the Alliance Ambassador Program, please email AAIM Member Services at ambassador@im.org or call (703) 341-4540.

Being an AAIM Ambassador

Richard M. Wardrop, III, MD, PhD, FAAP, FACP, FHM

Richard M. Wardrop III, MD, PhD, FAAP, FACP, FHM

Program Director, Cleveland Clinic Foundation
 
Throughout my entire career as a clinician-educator I have been blessed through membership and engagement within the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine.
 
As a member of the Alliance for over 15 years, I remember vividly my first interactions within this wonderfully diverse community. As a rising chief resident attending my first ever AAIM meeting in 2006, I was absolutely amazed by the fellowship, support, and the experience on full display the at the AAIM meeting. Since that time, my immersion in the AAIM member organizations has been sustaining, invigorating, and illuminating.
 
Now as a more seasoned leader and Program Director for a large Internal Medicine residency, I have the privilege of having served as an Alliance Ambassador since the inception of this program, now across four institutions. The Ambassador program offers a tremendous opportunity to connect members from across the educational continuum at my own institution to vital and diverse programs and services from across the Alliance.
 
As many physicians struggle to find meaningful engagement and a professional home, I fully endorse involvement with the communities across AAIM as being part of my own professional identity. As an Ambassador, I am treated to the joyful opportunity to help foster connection in others.

Alliance Ambassadors

Abington Memorial Hospital: Rachel Ramirez, MD, FACP, Associate Program Director
Adventhealth-Orlando: Tennille Doyle, BS, Fellowship Program Coordinator, Gastroenterology & Hospice and Palliative Medicine
Advocate Health Care (Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center): Angeline Grace Echeverria, Program Coordinator
Ascension St. John Hospital: Simon Alrihani, GME Specialist
Atlantic Health (Morristown): Rebecca A. Griffith, MD, Medical Student Clerkship Director
AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center: Dominick Zampino, DO, Program Director
Baylor College of Medicine: Linda R. Johnston, Academic Administrator
Baylor University Medical Center: Suzanne Watts, Residency Coordinator
Boston University School of Medicine: Laurie Dubois, C-TAGME, Section Administrator for Medical Residency
Brody School of Medicine at East Carolina University: Sowmya Nagaraj, MD, Clinical Assistant Professor, Assistant Program Director
BronxCare Health System: Suresh Kumar Nayudu, MD, Associate Program Director
Broward Health (Deerfield Beach): Nemer Dabage-Forzoli, MD, FACP, Program Director
Carolinas Medical Center: Kristi Moore, MD, Assistant Professor of Medicine
Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine: Ronda Mourad, MD, Associate Program Director
Charleston Area Medical Center/West Virginia University (Charleston Division): Shawn A. Chillag, MD, Chair, Department of Internal Medicine
Cleveland Clinic (Florida): Safiya Deen, Internal Medicine Program Administrator
Cleveland Clinic Foundation: Richard M. Wardrop, III, MD, PHD, FAAP, FACP, Program Director - Internal Medicine Program
Drexel University College of Medicine: Janet H. Fitzpatrick, MD, Clerkship Director
Duke University School of Medicine: Daniella Zipkin, MD, Associate Program Director
East Tennessee State University: James H. Quillen, College of Medicine Heather Grove Residency Administrator
Eastern Virginia Medical School: Catherine Derber, MD, Associate Professor & Clerkship Director
Florida Atlantic University Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine: Jennifer G. Foster, MD, MBA FACP, Medicine Clerkship Director
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth: Darci Blanchard, Program Coordinator
George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences: Deborah Corvalan, MBA, Education Programs Manager
Hackensack Meridian Health Mountainside Medical Center: Jeanette Richardson, Lead Residency Coordinator and Program Administrator
Harvard Medical School Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center: Judi Hansjon, C-TAGME, Fellowship Program Coordinator; Daniel Ricotta, MD, Associate Program Director
Harvard Medical School Brigham and Women's Hospital: Maria C. DeOliveira, MEd, Director, Education Administration
Harvard Medical School Massachusetts General Hospital: Sandra Patricia Ordonez, C-TAGME, Program Manager
HCA Healthcare Sunrise Health Graduate Medical Education: Ali R. Rahimi, MD, MPH, FACC, Professor of Medicine
HCA Healthcare: East Florida Division GME: Aftab Ahmad, MD, MBA, CPE, FACP, FACHE, Residency Program Director
Hennepin Healthcare: Nina Louise Setala, Internal Medicine Residency Program Coordinator
Howard University College of Medicine: Daniel Larbi, MD, Program Director
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai: Harish Jasti, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine and Co-Director for Ambulat
Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University at Buffalo: Regina Makdissi, MD, Faculty
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine: Toni Cheeks-Shaw, Senior Administrative Coordinator
Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California: Nancy G. Shepherd, MSEd, Director Educational Affairs
Magnolia Regional Health Center: Gena A. Lindsey, Designated Institutional Official
Maimonides Medical Center: Edward K. Chapnick, MD, Professor of Medicine; Associate Residency Program Director
Marshfield Clinic: Ateeq U. Rehman, MD, FACP, Internal Medicine Program Director
Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital: Binay Eapen, MD, FACP, Internal Medicine residency Program Director
McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston: Renee J. Flores, MD, Associate Professor and Associate Program Director; Santhosshi Narayanan, MD, FACP, Associate Program Director
Medical College of Wisconsin: Robin Karst, C-TAGME, Program Manager; Tracy M. Stasinopoulos, C-TAGME, Program Manager
Michigan State University College of Human Medicine: Supratik Rayamajhi, MD, FACP, Interim Chair
Morehouse School of Medicine: Claudia Fotzeu, MD, Associate Professor
Oakland University William Beaumont School of Medicine: Bhavin Dalal, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine; Pradeep Kaminoulu, MD, Hospitalist
Ohio State University College of Medicine: Kim Tartaglia, MD FACP, FAAP, SFHM, Clinical Professor
Pennsylvania Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Health System: Joy Robinson, Program Administrator
Quinnipiac University Frank H. Netter MD School of Medicine/St Vincent's Medical Center: Judy Aquino, C-TAGME, GME Manager
Ramon Betances Hospital-Mayaguez Medical Center/Ponce School of Medicine Consortium: Vanessa Michelle Ruiz, C-TAGME, Program Administrator
Renaissance School of Medicine at Stony Brook University: Susan Lane, MD, FACP, Program Director and Vice Chair for Education
Riverside Community Hospital/University of California Riverside School of Medicine: Alina Stanca Popa, MD, FACP, FHM, Program Director
Riverside Methodist Hospitals (Ohio Health): Sanjay A Patel, MD, FACP, FHM, Associate Program Director
Rush Medical College of Rush University Medical Center: Viju John, MD, Assistant Director of the Core Clerkship
Rutgers Health/Jersey City Medical Center: Louis Alerte, Instructor
Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School: David A. Cohen, MD, FACE, ECNU, Faculty - Vice Chair, Education
San Antonio Uniformed Services Health Education Consortium: Jeffrey A. Colburn, MD, Staff Endocrinologist, SAMMC and Program Director, Endocrinology
St. Agnes HealthCare: Inas Abuali, MD, IM Core Faculty
St. Barnabas Hospital: Victoria Bengualid, MD, Program Director
St. Joseph Mercy Ann Arbor: Raj Jagarlamudi, MD, Program Director
St. Mary's Hospital (Waterbury): Shawnette Alston, MD, Residency Program Director
St. Vincent Hospital and Health Care Center: Laurel B. Fick, MD, FACP Program Director
State University of New York Downstate Medical Center College of Medicine: Gwendolyn McMichael, Administrator
The Robert Larner, M.D. College of Medicine at the University of Vermont: Allen Mead, Director, Medicine Health Care Service; Mark E. Pasanen, MD, Program Director
Tulane University School of Medicine: Deepa Bhatnagar, MD, Program Director
UAB Huntsville Regional Medical Campus: Lisa M. Williams, MA, Education Administrator
United Health Services Hospitals: Thomas O. Genese, MD, FACP, Program Director
University of Alabama School of Medicine: Starr Steinhilber, MD, MPH, Assistant Professor of Medicine; Martha Veazey, Fellowship Program Coordinator
University of Alabama School of Medicine Winter: Williams, MD, FACP, Co-Director; Associate Professor
University of Arizona College of Medicine Phoenix: Debra McIntosh, Program Administrator
University of California, Davis School of Medicine: Catherine Theresa Cuellar, Fellowship Coordinator
University of California, Irvine School of Medicine: Alpesh N. Amin, MD, MBA, MACP, SFHM, FACC, Chair
University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine: Laurae Pearson, Director of Administration
University of Central Florida College of Medicine: Olga Karasik, MD, Associate Program Director
University of Cincinnati College of Medicine: Elizabeth Bauke, MHA, Program Manager
University of Colorado School of Medicine: Benjamin S. Vipler, MD, MEd, FACP, Hospitalist
University of Connecticut School of Medicine: Robert J. Nardino, MD, MACP, Program Director
University of Florida College of Medicine: Chris Pintado, MPH, Division Administrator
University of Florida College of Medicine-Jacksonville: Lorna Matos, C-TAGME, Program Administrator; Elisa M. Sottile, MD, Associate Program Director & Clerkship Director
University of Iowa Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine: Joseph F. Szot, MD, Faculty
University of Kansas (Wichita): Tiffany Elisse Schwasinger-Schmidt, MD, PhD, Neuro Clerkship Director
University of Kansas School of Medicine: Abby Hyde, C-TAGME, Senior Residency Coordinator
University of Louisville School of Medicine: Tyler Sharpe, MD, Associate Program Director; Laura Chady Workman, MD, Medicine-Pediatrics Program Director
University of Massachusetts Medical School-Baystate: Raquel Belforti, MD, Faculty
University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine: Stefanie R. Brown, MD, FACP, FAAP, Program Director
University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine: Emily Haury, MD, MHPE, FAAP, FACP, Internal Medicine Clerkship Director and Associate Program Director Med-Peds Residency
University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences: Dinesh Bande, MD, FACP, Chair
University of South Carolina School of Medicine, Columbia: Rachel W. Jones, MBA, C-TAGME, Program Coordinator
University of South Florida Health Morsani College of Medicine: Mycesha M. Romeo, Human Resources and Payroll Administrator
University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio Joe R. and Teresa Lozano Long School of Medicine: Ambili Ramachandran, MD MSc, FACP, Assistant Professor of Medicine and Interim Division Chief
University of Texas Southwestern Medical School: Toby Murzone, Sr. Division Operations Administrator
University of Virginia School of Medicine: Franco Musio, MD, Associate Professor of Medicine
University of Washington School of Medicine: Monica Fawthrop, Division Administrator
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health: Laura J. Zakowski, MD, Vice Chair of Education
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine: Katherine Walsh, MD, Associate Professor
Wake Forest School of Medicine of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center: Alycia S. Smith, Manager MEO
Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University: Alisha Maureen Crowley, MD, Clinician Educator
Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine: Bethany Millar, C-TAGME, Senior Residency Coordinator; Katie Sidler, C-TAGME, Senior Residency Coordinator/Primary Care Track Administrator
WellStar Kennestone Regional Medical Center: Jennifer Headrick, MD, Associate Program Director, Ambulatory Medicine
York Hospital Robert I. Pargament MD Program Director
Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell at Lenox Hill Hospital: Ethan D. Fried, MD, MACP, Residency Program Director; Associate Chair for Education
Zucker School of Medicine at Hofstra/Northwell at Mather Hospital: Alan T. Kaell, MD, Clinical Professor of Medicine; Marilyn Temkin, MD, Core Faculty

Volunteer to Be an Alliance Ambassador!