A Message from APGO President Arthur T. Ollendorff, MD

Many of us have an “APGO Story.” It may have been the first time you attended an APGO meeting and were excited to find others who shared your passion for education. Perhaps it was a time when you needed a teaching resource and you found it (and a whole lot more) on the APGO website. In the 20+ years I have been active in APGO, I have heard and seen how our members’ professional lives have been impacted by APGO. Last month’s CREOG & APGO Annual Meeting reminded me that being together in the same place, rather than through the virtual boxes on a screen, has meaning and value. I saw old friends re-connecting and people meeting each other for the first time. There were smiles. There were people collaborating and sharing. There were so many hugs.

How do we move forward? People have asked me what my “presidential initiatives” will be. Luckily, that has been answered by the APGO Board of Directors when they approved the new strategic plan. Over the next thirty-six months APGO will address three broad objectives:

• Ensure and elevate APGO’s relevance moving forward
• Increase membership engagement and inclusivity
• Create, organize, and optimize resources
  

Each of these objectives has a series of specific deliverables that will be prioritized and operationalized by APGO staff, leaders, and members. My goal is to include as many people in this process as is feasible. My leadership journey has shown me that it is usually better to ask questions than to provide answers. As a quality improvement and implementation scientist I have learned that the answers are best answered by those who are closest to the situation. Help APGO and become involved however you are able.

I want to conclude by thanking Nadine T. Katz, MD, our Immediate Past President, for shepherding APGO through the twin pandemics of Covid and systemic racism. The leadership she provided to promote innovation for APGO members to collaborate in a safer and more inclusive environment will not soon be forgotten. As past-president she will join Carol Major, MD, our Secretary-Treasurer, and John Dalrymple, MD, the President-Elect, on the APGO Executive Committee where we will continue to learn from her example.