In her nearly three decades as a leader and educator in interdisciplinary health care and academic medicine, Karen Horneffer-Ginter, PhD, has committed herself to being a lifelong learner and expanding her leadership and strategic planning skills.
It is a career path that has served her well and, most recently, led to her being accepted into the prestigious Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine庐 (ELAM) fellowship program.
The ELAM庐 program, which was established in 1995 at Drexel University College of Medicine, offers an intensive one-year fellowship of leadership training with extensive coaching, networking and mentoring opportunities aimed at expanding the national pool of qualified women candidates for leadership in academic medicine, dentistry, public health and pharmacy, according to the Drexel University College of Medicine website.
Dr. Horneffer-Ginter, who serves as the medical school鈥檚 associate dean for Culture and Chief Wellness Officer, was one of 98 women selected this year for the fellowship鈥檚 30th class and she is the second WMed faculty member to be accepted into the ELAM program. In 2022, Maria Sheakley, PhD, associate dean for Student Affairs, was accepted into 鈥 and successfully completed 鈥 the fellowship.
鈥淚 truly am honored,鈥 Dr. Horneffer-Ginter said. 鈥淚t means a lot to me that our focus on institutional culture and wellness at WMed is such a central part of our strategic priorities, and to be acknowledged for that work and to be able to grow in my leadership role feels like a tremendous opportunity.鈥
Dr. Horneffer-Ginter came to the medical school in 2018 as the assistant dean for Wellness and her role and responsibilities grew in 2020 when she became the assistant dean for Culture and Wellness. Later, in 2021, she was appointed associate dean for Culture and Wellness.
In her role, she regularly partners with faculty, staff, residents, fellows, students, and other leaders to advance organizational and individual well-being within the WMed community through the implementation of programs that improve culture and wellness while championing a healthy environment for all at the medical school.
鈥淢y role in forwarding our initiatives around well-being and culture is highly collaborative and quite interdisciplinary,鈥 Dr. Horneffer-Ginter said. 鈥淢y work over the next year as an ELAM fellow will be extremely useful as it will allow me to gain more insights about all aspects of academic medicine and the clinical enterprise, and to learn from leaders from different organizations from across the country that are tackling the same challenges right now in academic medicine and healthcare.鈥
Dr. Horneffer-Ginter learned in April that she had been accepted into the one-year fellowship. That news was the result of a process that she began in September 2023 with support from former WMed Dean Dr. Paula M. Termuhlen, an alumna of the ELAM program who completed her fellowship in 2009 while a member of the faculty at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine.
鈥淚鈥檓 so appreciative of this opportunity to learn from 鈥 and with 鈥 such exceptional women leaders from across the country and I鈥檓 grateful to Dr. Termuhlen for her nomination and to WMed Dean Robert G. Sawyer, 六合彩开奖直播, Mike Busha, 六合彩开奖直播, associate dean for Educational Affairs, and Keith Kenter, 六合彩开奖直播, chair of the Department of Surgical Services, for their support,鈥 Dr. Horneffer-Ginter said.
Dr. Horneffer-Ginter鈥檚 ELAM fellowship officially kicked off at the beginning of June and will conclude in May 2025. During that time, she will work on an institutional action project examining how best to maximize the impact of ongoing culture and well-being efforts at WMed. Her project will also examine ways to ensure that WMed has a sustainable infrastructure as the institution defines and shapes programmatic activities and looks for innovative ways to create accessible resources.
She will also get the chance to meet virtually with her eight-fellow learning community throughout the year and in-person with her full cohort of ELAM fellows during one-week gatherings at Drexel University in September, January, and April.
鈥淚鈥檓 really looking forward to growing my leadership skills in ways that will allow me to be more effective in my role at WMed and to bring in more examples and insights that come from the national community of medical schools,鈥 Dr. Horneffer-Ginter said. 鈥淚t will improve our work here and allow us to share with other schools the innovative programming we鈥檝e been doing at our medical school. That collaborative learning model is what鈥檚 most exciting to me, in addition to being with other highly committed leaders from across the country.鈥
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