Kate Carlson, MD, MMHC, associate professor of Clinical Pediatrics in the Vanderbilt Department of Pediatrics, has been selected to participate in the highly competitive 2024-2025 Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program for Women, joining the Executive Leadership in Health Care (ELH) track.
The ELH program, a yearlong, part-time fellowship based at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia, is targeted to rising women at the equivalent of the associate or full professor level who are established experts in their domain. Participants have a track record of achievement in clinical program development and aspire to lead at the executive level.
Carlson joins a long list of established women faculty representing Vanderbilt University Medical Center, and the selection places her among the very best and brightest women leaders in medicine across the country.
“I am grateful to Dr. Maureen Gannon, Dr. Bill Cooper and Dr. Balser in their support for my application to the ELH this year,” Carlson said. “Having started our summer virtual sessions this past week, I can already see that I will learn a tremendous amount both from the curriculum and the relationships with other strong women leaders across the country. I look forward to bringing what I learn to my roles at VUMC to support the fantastic work by our network of pediatric primary care providers.”
Carlson is medical director of the Pediatric Primary Care Clinic at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt and assistant chief medical officer for Children’s Services. The primary clinic at Monroe Carell serves as the medical home for 21,500 patients, with 51,000 visits annually, and as the primary care learning hub for 82 pediatric residents each year. The pediatric primary care group locations that Carlson supports in her two roles, seven total sites, are on track to see 100,000 patient visits in the next fiscal year.
Her primary career focus is to increase capacity for quality pediatric care for immigrants and underserved children. She achieves this through primary clinical work as a Spanish-speaking pediatrician and through education as a leader in the Spanish Language Clinic. Her scholarly work uses quality improvement methodology to standardize approaches within the clinic to improve the health of all patients, as well as to improve the experience of patients and providers alike through efficiency initiatives most recently related to documentation timeliness and clinic throughout.
“I am excited for Dr. Carlson to participate in the ELAM/ELH program this year. I know that not only will she grow in her leadership skills through this curriculum, but that this year’s ELH fellows will also benefit from having someone with Dr. Carlson’s expertise and leadership perspective in their class,” said Maureen Gannon, PhD, associate dean for Faculty Development and professor of Medicine. “VUMC has a strong history of promoting women in institutional leadership through ELAM, and our ELUMs continue to be thought and change leaders in the roles that they take on after completing the program and through their Institutional Action Projects developed during the fellowship year.”
The ELAM program is the only in-depth national program dedicated to preparing women faculty at schools of medicine, dentistry and public health to effect sustained positive change as institutional leaders. VUMC has 27 current School of Medicine faculty who have participated in ELAM in the past, including the most recent class of graduates who were celebrated in April.
The 2023-2024 class of graduates were: Anna Hemnes, MD, professor of Medicine in the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary, and Critical Care Medicine, who graduated from the ELAM program; and Arna Banerjee, MD, MMHC, professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine, Surgery, and Medical Education & Administration; Lucy Spalluto, MD, MPH, professor of Radiology and Radiological Sciences, ; and Eunice Huang, MD, MS, professor of Pediatric Surgery, all of whom graduated from the ELH track.
