School of Medicine's Michelle Whitehurst-Cook chosen for national leadership program

By Michael Ford
University News Services

A Virginia Commonwealth University physician in the School of Medicine has been selected as a Fellow in the national Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership In Academic Medicine Program for Women. Michelle Y. Whitehurst-Cook, M.D., associate professor, family practice, is the seventh faculty member sponsored by the VCU School of Medicine in eight years for the national leadership program generally referred to as ELAM.

ELAM was established in 1995 as part of the Institute for Women's Health and Leadership at Drexel University College of Medicine. ELAM is the only in-depth national program that focuses on preparing women faculty at medical and dental schools in the United States and Canada for senior institutional leadership positions at academic health centers.

"This is a very competitive program," said Carol L. Hampton, associate dean, Faculty and Instructional Development in the VCU School of Medicine. "We are delighted that Dr. Whitehurst-Cook's name has been added to the list of outstanding women faculty leaders at VCU who have been accepted for the ELAM fellowship in the past eight years."

A member of the faculty since July 1993, Whitehurst-Cook is coordinator of the pre-doctoral programs for the Department of Family Practice. Whitehurst-Cook is chair of the School of Medicine Admissions Committee, and co-coordinator for the Foundations of Clinical Medicine course for second year medical students. She also directs the Inner City/Rural Preceptorship Program, which provides continuity educational experiences for medical students interested in providing care to the underserved.

Whitehurst-Cook earned her medical degree from the VCU School of Medicine and earned her undergraduate degree from the College of William and Mary. She completed her residency training at VCU Riverside Family Practice Residency Program in Newport News and practiced rural medicine for 11years in nearby Providence Forge.

The ELAM program encompasses three weeklong educational sessions, set for September, November and April. Fellows will have a variety of readings and other assignments to complete before those sessions, and they are expected to participate in on-line learning work and an institutional action project between the sessions. Organizers estimate that these assignments will take approximately 100 hours to complete.

Past ELAM fellows sponsored by VCU SOM:

• 2003-2004: Dr. Betty Ann Johnson, professor, internal medicine and interim division chair, Division of General Internal Medicine and Primary Care; director, internal medicine residency training program; Director, VCU Student Health
  
• 2002-2003: Dr. Bela Sood, associate professor and chair, Division of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Psychiatry; medical director, Virginia Treatment Center for Children
  
• 2001-2002: Dr. Karen Sanders, professor, internal medicine, Division of Rheumatology, Allergy & Immunology; associate chief of staff for Education at the McGuire VAMC; director, Resident Supervision, Office of Academic Affiliations, Veterans Health Administration, Washington, D.C.
  
• 2000-2001: Dr. Mary Nettleman, former VCU professor, internal medicine; chair, Division of General Medicine and Primary Care; associate dean for primary care; currently professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at Michigan State University
  
• 1999-2000: Dr. Lisa Kaplowitz, currently deputy commissioner, Emergency Preparedness & Response Programs, Virginia Department of Health; former associate professor, internal medicine, Division of Quality Health Care; director, VCU HIV/AIDS Center, medical director for Ambulatory Care Services and Telemedicine
  
• 1997-1998: Dr. Roberta Sonnino, currently professor of surgery and pediatrics, chair, Division of Pediatric Surgery at Mercer University School of Medicine, Macon, Ga.

Approximately half of ELAM's 300 alumnae now hold senior leadership positions, such as dean or chief academic officer; senior or associate dean; vice chair or deputy chair and vice president. The ELAM community continues beyond the fellowship year through SELAM International, the Society for Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine. ELAM continues Drexel University College of Medicine's institutional legacy that began with the Medical College of Pennsylvania's roots as the nation's first woman's medical school.

For more information on ELAM, visit www.drexel.edu/elam.