WashU had a strong and joyful presence at AIMW 2026 in Seattle, WA this year. Not just as participants – as leaders in the national medical education community.
A special congratulations Drs. Dennis Chang, Tony Dao, Carol Faulk, Abby Spencer, and Lisa Zickuhr for representing WashU on the national stage through workshops, posters, pre-course, moderated sessions, and committee work. Their contributions highlight just how visible and influential our educator community is! Across attendees, one theme recurred: connection.
Quotes from faculty and our rising chief residents:
“I’m leaving AIMW feeling more connected, to my WashU colleagues, colleagues across the country, and for the shared passion for medical education. We shared challenges, like AI integration and financial pressures, and it was reassuring to see WashU’s approaches are in line with other leading programs.”
“I’m coming home with practical ideas, like gamified learning and better advising structures.”
“Attending AIMW as a rising chief resident was an invaluable opportunity to connect with peers and educators nationwide and learn how program approach education, mentorship, and wellness. I am bringing back practical resources and new ideas to make resident report more engaging. The experience reinforced how much strong residency leadership depends on shared learning!”
“Our UME and GME educators all showed up as a visible, connected, and energized team!”
“I’m excited how our work here directly strengthens our residents and students.”
“I found the sessions on education scholarship extremely useful for my own scholarly work and for my mentees. Key takeaways include using Letters to the Editor as “microscholarship,” the importance of rigorous background literature review, and the role of power analysis to ensure feasibility. I also saw how powerful AI can be!”
We are also excited to welcome Dr. Jackie Birnbaum, who connected with WashU colleagues during the conference and will be joining our division this year. Her early impressions reflect the same sense of community that defines our presence nationally:
“I was especially struck by how thoughtful and collaborative the educator community is and am looking forward to being part of it.”
Finally, we want to congratulate Dr. Spencer who was elected to the AAIM Board of Directors for FY 2027, and Dr. Dao for representing WashU on the APDIM Program Planning Committee. In a moment when institutions are navigating uncertainty, our faculty continue to show up, collaborating and implementing new strategies and ideas alongside peers nationwide.
Congratulations to our WashU UME and GME educators!
- Dr. Jackie Birnbaum presented a workshop titled “Burnout to Breakthrough: Using Needs Assessment to Build Inter-Visit Care Curricula that Support Skills and Well-Being.”
- Dr. Dennis Chang presented a workshop titled “Training Tomorrow’s Hospitalists: A Curriculum Expansion Toolkit for IM Leaders.”
- Dr. Tony Dao was the pre-course co-director titled “Taking Your Program Leadership from Good to Great,” gave a lecture titled “Managing Yourself,” and moderated the closing APDIM-CDIM Plenary titled “Transparency in the Interview Process”
- Dr. Carol Faulk presented a poster titled “Discussing Substance Use Disorders in Physicians with Residents”
- Dr. Lisa Zickuhr presented a workshop titled “Getting Your Residents the Fellowship They Want: Fellowship Recruitment Preparation from a Specialist Perspective”
- Dr. Abby Spencer moderated a panel discussion titled “Holding Grief and Gratitude at the Same Time.”
At the conference, we had program and associate program directors Drs. Steven Cheng, Peter McDonnell, Patricia Kao, and Tony Dao; clerkship and associate directors Drs. Lisa Zickuhr, Carol Faulk, and Marty Kerrigan; Vice Chair of Education Abby Spencer; rising chief residents Drs. Daniel Arroyo Ariza, Bhavna Guduguntla, Rosemary Quinn, Nina Manian, Greta Tamkus, Emily Tranchina, and Amy Zhao.