Faculty Chosen for Leadership Program

Two University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix leaders have been chosen for a prestigious program meant to prepare women candidates for executive roles in academic medicine.

Cheryl O’Malley, MD, interim vice dean of Academic Affairs, and Martha Gulati, MD, chief of the Division of Cardiology, have been accepted into the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program.

“Dr. Gulati and Dr. O’Malley have pivotal leadership roles in the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix and Banner – University Medical Center,” said Guy Reed, MD, MS, dean of the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix. “Their selection by the prestigious ELAM program shows emerging national recognition of their accomplishments and their expanded leadership potential.”

The program offers an intensive, one-year fellowship of leadership training that includes coaching, networking and mentoring opportunities meant to expand the national pool of qualified women candidates for leadership in academic medicine, dentistry, public health and pharmacy. Acceptance into ELAM is determined through a highly competitive selection process that results in approximately 54 candidates chosen each year.

Established in 1995, ELAM seeks to increase the number of women represented in high-level leadership roles at academic health centers. Candidates selected for the fellowship demonstrate the greatest potential for assuming executive leadership positions. During the fellowship, each fellow designs, implements and initiates evaluation of an Institutional Action Project, a key activity supporting leadership development and organizational innovation.

Dr. O’Malley, already a leader in undergraduate and graduate medical education, serves as interim vice dean for Academic Affairs. A graduate of the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Tucson, she completed her third- and fourth-year clerkships in Phoenix, and a combined Internal Medicine-Pediatrics Residency at the Good Samaritan/Phoenix Children’s Hospital program. Since 2008, she has been program director for the college’s Internal Medicine Residency Program.

Dr. Gulati is the first division chief of Cardiology for the UA College of Medicine – Phoenix and physician executive director for the Banner – University Medicine Cardiovascular Institute. She also serves as Editor-in-Chief of the American College of Cardiology “CardioSmart,” the patient education and empowerment initiative.

Article by: April Fischer