Tia Drake, our Designated Institutional Official and Executive Director of GME, has made the difficult decision to step down from her role to take on the role of Executive Director of the Association for Hospital Medical Education (AHME). Tia has been deeply involved in AHME for many years, is passionate about the work they do, and is really excited to have the opportunity to work directly for them while making more time for her family.
While I am very excited for Tia and her new role, this is very sad news for us here at Washington University. Tia has worked for WashU for more than 35 years, the majority of it in GME. She is a gifted leader, a brilliant problem solver, and as I have said many times, the most knowledgeable person I have ever met about GME. I have loved working with her during these last 5 plus years, have learned so much from her, and feel blessed to call her friend. Since taking on the DIO role, she has helped lead a move toward unprecedented program director engagement, enhanced collaboration across the consortium membership, and initiated new programs to support program directors and coordinators, all while helping programs and leadership manage the challenges brought by the early and later phases of the COVID pandemic. She is the vision behind a new data dashboard to help us identify challenges programs are facing, thematic areas of need, and early intervention opportunities. She has helped many programs deal with challenges both related to initial and ongoing accreditation and the management of trainees in difficulty. Simply put, she is a deeply trusted and valued member of this community, and we will miss her dearly.
Tia has agreed to stay in her Executive Director role until the end of March and will continue to consult with us as needed in the months afterward. Dr. Dominique Cosco, Program Director in Internal Medicine, has agreed to step in immediately as Interim DIO. Dominique is immensely qualified, having worked in GME throughout her career. She has been a member of multiple leadership committees on the GME team and is a lead instructor in the Program Director Boot Camp. She has held multiple national leadership roles related to GME and the Association for Program Directors in Internal Medicine. She will continue her role as Program Director in Internal Medicine during this interim appointment.
We will plan a farewell celebration in March for Tia, although we will never be able to adequately thank her for her contributions to WashU and GME. More information will be forthcoming.