Milagros Rosal, PhD, and Mary Ahn, MD, completed the 2024 Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine fellowship at Drexel University College of Medicine.
A trio of UMass Chan Medical School senior leaders have taken a major step forward in advancing their careers after completing a prestigious leadership in academic health care program for women.
Mary Ahn, MD, vice provost for faculty affairs and professor of psychiatry; and Milagros Rosal, PhD, vice provost for health equity, the Imoigele P. Aisiku, MD’97 Chair in Health Equity and Diversity and professor of population & quantitative health sciences; completed the 2024 Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) fellowship at Drexel University College of Medicine.
Additionally, Kavita Babu, MD, professor of emergency medicine, and medical director of community benefits at UMass Memorial Medical Center, completed the 2024 Executive Leadership in Health Care (ELH) program, also sponsored by Drexel University College of Medicine. Dr. Babu is the first ELH fellow from UMass Chan and was co-sponsored by UMass Memorial Health.
Dr. Rosal said, “The ELAM program was on my list of things that I wanted to accomplish, and I was grateful to have the opportunity to participate and join two other colleagues from UMass Chan. It really was amazing to have so many women that were so accomplished in the same room.”
All three UMass Chan representatives were required to conduct an institutional action project to address an institutional or departmental need or priority.
Babu said, “The program requires fairly intensive work and introspection around leadership, personal strengths and vulnerabilities, and advancing the careers and the cause of women who work in health systems,”
Babu’s ELH project was a pilot medical respite bed program, which has since been launched by UMass Memorial Health, offering transitional support for people no longer needing hospital care but needing further assistance in their recovery.
Kavita Babu, MD, with Nancy Spector, MD ’90, executive director of the ELAM program (left) and Sara Jo Grethlein, MD, MBA, associate director of the ELH program (right).
From the work completed on her institutional action project in the ELAM program, Dr. Ahn is launching a new leadership development program called the Vice Chair Incubators Program, or VIP, in January 2025.
“Leadership and professional development are areas that are very important to me. This program fits into the context of what we have to offer here at UMass Chan for our faculty and is going to be our most senior level program,” Ahn said. “We’re looking forward to completing the professional life cycle for faculty here at UMass Chan.”
The ELAM fellowship aims to expand the number of qualified women candidates for leadership positions at the academic level in medicine, dentistry, public health and pharmacy. The ELH program is designed for senior-level women leaders interested in advancing in hospitals and health care systems to executive positions.
Tara Marie Catanzano, MD, professor of radiology at UMass Chan-Bay State, is enrolled in the 2024-2025 ELAM program; and Stacy Potts, MD, professor of family medicine & community health, and senior associate dean of graduate medical education and clinical affairs, is among the 2024-2025 ELH class.
