Two physician leaders at Dartmouth Health's Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) have been accepted into the 2023-2024 class of fellows in the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) program and the Executive Leadership in Health Care (ELH) program at Drexel University College of Medicine. Sandra L. Wong, MD, MS, is chair of the department of surgery, and Christine T. Finn, MD, is vice chair of clinical services in the department of psychiatry.
ELAM, which prepares women for senior leadership roles in schools of medicine, dentistry, public health and pharmacy, develops the skills required to lead and manage in today's complex healthcare environment. ELH is designed for senior-level women leaders interested in advancing in hospitals and healthcare systems to C-suite positions. ELAM and ELH alumnae number more than 1,300 and serve in leadership positions at over 300 academic health centers worldwide.
In a highly competitive selection process, Wong, a surgical oncologist by training, was one of 96 fellows, and Finn, a psychiatrist, one of 45 fellows accepted into this year's ELAM and ELH classes, respectively, from the largest pool of applicants in the programs' history.
"I'm excited to participate in ELAM and join a tremendous learning community," said Wong, who is the William N. and Bessie Allyn Professor of Surgery at Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth. "A big bonus is being able to work on a capstone project which will benefit Dartmouth Health."
"I'm honored to be chosen to participate in ELH and thank Dartmouth Health's president and CEO, Joanne Conroy, MD, for her sponsorship of me for the program," said Finn, who is an associate professor of psychiatry at Geisel. "I believe the experiences this year will help me expand my foundational leadership skills, as well as provide me with peers and mentors to learn with and from. I look forward to applying my new knowledge in my leadership roles at DHMC."
Beginning this summer and continuing through the end of the program in April 2024, women selected for the ELAM and ELH programs will engage in a variety of assignments and community building activities including an action project at their home institution, developed in collaboration with the fellow's dean or other senior official.
"We are extremely excited to see the impact these women will have on their institutions as they work through the ELAM and ELH curriculum and develop their action projects," said Nancy Spector, MD, executive director of ELAM and ELH. "The projects the fellows conduct not only help them understand the challenges facing academic health centers and the skills a leader must possess to address these challenges, but also often result in concrete changes at their institutions."
About Dartmouth Health
Dartmouth Health, New Hampshire’s only academic health system and largest private employer, serves patients across New England. Dartmouth Health provides access to more than 2,300 providers in nearly every area of medicine, delivering care at its flagship hospital, Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center (DHMC) in Lebanon, NH. Its network of hospitals, outpatient centers, clinics and home care facilities, spans a broad geographical area. Year after year, DHMC is named the #1 hospital in New Hampshire by U.S. News & World Report, and is consistently recognized for high performance in numerous clinical specialties and procedures. Dartmouth Health includes Dartmouth Cancer Center, northern New England’s only National Cancer Institute-designated Comprehensive Cancer Centers and one of less than than 60 total nationally; Dartmouth Health Children’s, which includes the state’s only children’s hospital (Children’s Hospital at DHMC/CHaD) and more than 20 locations around the region; eight member hospitals in Lebanon, Keene, Claremont, Hampstead, and New London, NH, and Windsor and Bennington, VT; Dartmouth Health Home Care; Dartmouth Health Connected Care Center for Telehealth, serving patients as far away as Texas; and more than 30 primary and multi-specialty clinics across New Hampshire and Vermont. Through its partnership with Dartmouth College, Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and the White River Junction VA Medical Center, Dartmouth Health trains nearly 400 medical residents and fellows annually and performs cutting-edge research and clinical trials with international impact. Dartmouth Health and its more than 16,000 employees are committed to serving the healthcare needs of everyone in the communities it serves and to providing every patient with exceptional, state-of-the-art, personalized care. Learn more at dartmouth-health.org.