Our prestigious Fellows program, the foundation on which the Academy was built in 1847, includes over 2,000 individuals elected by their peers from across the health professions. The Fellows program brings together these thought leaders at the Academy—from across institutions and across disciplines—to seek solutions to the current health and health care challenges of the day, and to take leadership on policies and practices to benefit patients and the public. Fellows participate in 20 discipline-specific and interdisciplinary Sections, Special Interest Groups, and Working Groups. The Fellows Office hosts more than 40 events per year and awards more than $350,000 in endowed grants and fellowships to medical students and seasoned investigators.In 2014, the Fellows Office focused on increasing and diversifying membership, increasing programming, increasing alignment with the broader work of the Academy, and continuing to venture out into new areas.
Increasing and Diversifying Membership
Increasing and Diversifying Membership
The Academy’s Fellowship continues to grow both in number and in diversity. The 128 inductees in 2014 represent a greater than 15% increase over the number of new Fellows and Members inducted last year. In addition, over 50% of the Fellows inducted in 2014 are female, in contrast to 20% of the Academy’s Fellows overall. Likewise, although the majority of the current Fellows are physicians, more than half of the new Fellows this year represent fields such as nursing, social work, dentistry, public health, and health care administration, which all have a critical impact on improving the health of people in our communities. The Committee on Admission and Membership continues to pilot new outreach methods to recruit candidates for Fellowship from a range of disciplines and organizations.
Increasing Programming
Increasing Programming
Section activities increased significantly in 2014, with 43 section-related events, a 40% increase over last year, with well over 2,500 total attendees. These events ranged from focusing on trainee research to highlighting the most pertinent clinical practice and health care policy issues of the day.
Increasing Alignment with the Academy’s Work
Increasing Alignment with the Academy’s Work
Over the past year, the Academy staff’s has engaged more than ever in section activities, particularly the work of the Health Care Delivery Section as well as the Working Group on Primary Care and Population Health. The latter held a successful daylong conference in October on payment and financing options for bridging the gap between clinical care and population health, co-sponsored with the New York State Health Foundation and the NYU Department of Population Health. The conference drew more than 250 attendees, including the New York State Acting Health Commissioner Dr. Zucker and high-level representation from the Governor’s office, and resulted in a paper released by the Academy.
New Focus Area: Long-Term Care
New Focus Area: Long-Term Care
The Fellows continue to tackle the toughest issues of the day. This year, a new Fellows Working Group on Long-Term Care was formed. This group is chaired by Joan Leiman, PhD a long-time Academy Fellow and distinguished health care executive. The group is working on assessing the gap between the supply and quality of long-term care in New York State and the demand for services that will increase exponentially in the very near future, and identifying high-priority action areas to put a high-performing long-term care system in place.
167th Anniversary Discourse and Annual Meeting of the Voting Fellows
167th Anniversary Discourse and Annual Meeting of the Voting Fellows
The tradition of an annual discourse goes back to the Academy’s founding year, 1847, when Dr. John W. Francis delivered an oration to an audience of 2,500 people at the Broadway Tabernacle. At the Anniversary Discourse & Awards each fall, the Academy also recognizes five distinguished individuals for their leadership and contributions in their field. Following the Annual Meeting of the Voting Fellows on November 6, the 167th Anniversary Discourse was delivered by Claire Pomeroy, MD, MBA, President of the Albert and Mary Lasker Foundation, on “How Research Does and Should Inform Clinical Practice.” The Academy then honored the 2014 Academy Distinguished Award winners, who are esteemed leaders in academia, science, medicine, health policy, and public health.
2014 Awards, Lectureships, Fellowships and Student Grants
2014 Awards, Lectureships, Fellowships and Student Grants
The New York Academy of Medicine has a long tradition of recognizing excellence in achievements in medicine and public health with distinguished awards and funding of new research, fellowships, and lectureships through the generosity of donors who established endowed funds. In 2014, the Academy distributed more than $350,000 in research fellowships and student grants. We are honored to acknowledge the Academy’s 2014 award, grant, fellowship, and lectureship recipients.