FAIMER News

The Boards of the Educational Commission for Foreign Medical Graduates (ECFMG^®) and its Foundation for Advancement of International Medical Education and Research (FAIMER^®) elected six new trustees at their final meeting of the year on December 5. ECFMG/FAIMER trustees serve at-large, and five of the new trustees will serve four-year terms.

As part of the election, ECFMG/FAIMER established a new trustee position reserved for a U.S. resident or fellow who is an international medical graduate (IMG). A sixth new trustee was elected to this position, which is a voting member of the Boards with a two-year term.

“We are very pleased to welcome these six accomplished individuals to our Boards,” said William W. Pinsky, M.D., President and CEO of ECFMG and Board Chair of FAIMER. Andrew T. Filak Jr., M.D., Chair of the ECFMG Board of Trustees, continued: “They all bring significant skills and experience to the stewardship of ECFMG/FAIMER as we explore new pathways to improve health care and medical education worldwide. The addition of the IMG resident/fellow perspective to our governance will be invaluable to enhancing our service to IMGs and their U.S. training programs.”

The new trustees are:

Cheryll Albold, Ph.D., MS. Ed.
Dr. Albold is an Assistant Professor of Medical Education at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science and the Designated Institutional Administrator for the Mayo Clinic School of Graduate Medical Education. In partnership with the Designated Institutional Official, she provides leadership and oversight for sponsoring institution and program accreditation activities governing over 300 residency and fellowship programs that enroll more than 1,800 trainees at campuses in Minnesota, Arizona, Florida, and the Mayo Clinic Health System. She has over 25 years of professional experience in a wide variety of education settings. Dr. Albold received both a Ph.D. degree in educational studies (higher education) and a certificate in educational research, measurement, and evaluation from the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and a master’s degree in counseling and student professional services from Fordham University.

Donald Craig Brater, M.D.
Dr. Brater is the Vice President of Programs at the Walther Cancer Foundation and President of the Regenstrief Foundation, both of which are based in Indianapolis. He served as the ninth dean of the Indiana University School of Medicine for 13 years before retiring from that position in 2013, at which time he was presented with the university’s highest honor, The University Medal, for his visionary leadership. He serves as a board member of BioCrossroads and is President of the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine. He also served on the Editorial Board for the American Journal of Medicine and served on the National Institutes of Health National Advisory Council for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Dr. Brater received a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry and a Doctor of Medicine from Duke University.

Anne Marie Irani, M.D.
Dr. Irani is Emerita Professor of Pediatrics and Internal Medicine in the Division of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology at Virginia Commonwealth University and a U.S. Medical Expert in the Department of Medical Affairs within the Research and Development Section at GlaxoSmithKline. She currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Residency Review Committee for Allergy and Immunology. She was the Co-Director of the Allergy/Immunology training program at Virginia Commonwealth University for 26 years. She has served on the Editorial Board of The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology; as an Associate Editor of the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology; and is the current secretary treasurer for the Board of Directors of the American Board of Medical Specialties. Dr. Irani graduated from the American University of Beirut in Lebanon.

Prerna Mona Khanna, M.D., M.P.H.
Dr. Khanna is a triple board-certified medical doctor, Emmy Award-winning multi-platform medical journalist, and an acclaimed humanitarian and disaster volunteer. She is the medical director of a thriving occupational medicine practice in Palm Springs, CA; a visiting clinical associate professor at her alma mater, the University of Illinois; and an affiliate of the Center for Global Health at the university. Her humanitarian work after numerous natural disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, and tsunamis has brought her overseas aid work to more than 14 countries. Dr. Khanna is a lifelong advocate of patient empowerment through consumer education, and has been recognized for dedicating thousands of hours since her student days in medical school to educating the public through speaking events, television broadcasts, and publications. Dr. Khanna earned her master’s degree in public health from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, her M.D. degree from the University of Illinois, and a Bachelor of Science in journalism from Northwestern University.

John Ogunkeye
John Ogunkeye is Chief Financial and Administrative Officer and Executive Vice President of Global Services for the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Before joining ACGME, John held senior leadership positions at Johns Hopkins Medicine, Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, and the University of Chicago Medical Center. In his role at ACGME, John is responsible for managing the organization’s administrative and financial systems as well as oversight of international consultations to governmental agencies in the evaluation and the design of medical education systems. Growing up the son of a diplomat, John lived in many countries, which drove his passion for working in the international arena. John holds Master of Science degrees in biology and health care administration.

Beatriz Wills, M.D. (IMG Resident/Fellow Trustee)
Dr. Wills is a hematology oncology fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering in New York City. Previously, she was an internal medicine resident in the Osler Internal Medicine Residency Program at Johns Hopkins Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland. A resident of Bogota, Colombia, she is studying on a J-1 visa sponsored by ECFMG. Dr. Wills completed medical school at Los Andes University in Colombia. Prior to her residency with Osler, she completed a post-doctoral research fellowship in Pulmonary and Critical Care at Johns Hopkins and has several journal publications to her credit. Her initial interest in medicine was influenced by her family, which includes several doctors. She is passionate about immunotherapy and hematologic malignancies, and aspires to become a world leader in oncology and medical education.

The December 5 meeting also was the last for Anne M. Murphy, J.D. and Daniel V. Schidlow, M.D., who are stepping down from the Boards. “I would like to thank Ms. Murphy and Dr. Schidlow for their years of dedication to ECFMG and FAIMER,” Dr. Filak said. “Their experience and expertise have helped lead us through a time of growth and change, and we are grateful for their service.”