Every year, the Federation of Pediatric Organizations (FOPO), a consortium of seven of our leading national academic pediatric organizations, selects one individual for its highest award in pediatric leadership, the Joseph W. St. Geme, Jr., Leadership Award. This award is given to someone who is considered a role model for others as a clinician, educator, and/or an investigator. It is someone who is actively involved in at least more than one of the organizations that make up FOPO, and has a record of broad sustained contributions to pediatrics and child health.
The 2017 winner of this award is Carol Carraccio, MD, past–president of the Association of Pediatric Program Directors, past chair of the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education’s Review Committee for Pediatrics and current Vice President for Competency-based Assessment at the American Board of Pediatrics. Dr. Carraccio exemplifies what this award is all about. Her contributions as a leader in innovating pediatric medical education so that it more effectively succeeds in preparing the next generation of competency-based pediatricians are visionary and have paved the way for a new way to teach and learn, involving milestones and entrustable professional activities as the new currency of assessment. What is most notable about Dr. Carraccio is that her work as an educator is never separated from her role and the role of all of us pediatricians as clinicians, researchers, advocates as well as teachers and learners—roles that are critical in improving the health and wellbeing of children.
Dr. Carraccio shares her vision in a special article released last week (10.1542/peds.2017-3427) on how medical education must evolve if it is to continue to improve child health while fostering the care, compassion, and dedication we pride ourselves on as pediatricians. In the tradition of publishing the acceptance speech of St. Geme awardees, Dr. Carraccio’s remarks not only explain the transformation that she has helped lead in medical education, but the important connection that transformation is making in addressing the current and future needs of children. Take the lead and read her St. Geme Leadership Award address and then discuss the vision she shares with colleagues, and how we can all become a part of that vision. We congratulate Dr. Carraccio as a most well-deserving winner of the 2017 Joseph W. St. Geme, Jr., Leadership Award!
