EB: Looking back on your year as SGIM’s President, what achievements are most important to you? 
LH: When we compiled the annual summary of SGIM’s notable achievements,¹ I was amazed at what the organization was able to accomplish thanks to the extraordinary efforts of our membership and staff. I am particularly proud of the work done by Council and our committees and commissions to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive professional home for our members. A few examples of that work include: revisions of our career development programs to address diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and anti-racism topics; creation of a new program funded by the Harrington Trust to support the career development of academic primary care leaders from racial and ethnic backgrounds underrepresented in medicine (UIM); expansion of ACLGIM’s United Leadership Training in Diversity (UNLTD) Program for UIM racial and ethnic groups; election of DEI chairs to lead DEI efforts in our regional activities; nomination and election of a diverse slate of new Council members, and development of better processes for collecting, analyzing, and sharing data on the gender, race, ethnicity, and other characteristics of our members, leaders, and awardees.
I also appreciated the commitment our Council and Program Committee (PC) demonstrated in taking seriously the concerns expressed by SGIM members about the national meeting. The PC addressed concerns about the environmental impact of the meeting by incorporating suggestions from our Environmental Health Interest Group and increasing PC membership to include a liaison with the interest group. Council addressed concerns about how we selected meeting sites by working diligently to develop a more clearly defined process for selecting future meeting sites.²

EB: What stands out to you about the work of SGIM’s committees in the last year? 
LH: I am very proud of the tremendous scope of work done by our committees, commissions, and interest groups at a time when all members are feeling enormous stress from changes induced by the pandemic. For example, the Health Policy Committee was extremely active in preparing or signing on to more than 80 letters or statements on federal legislative issues of importance to members, including women’s health, discrimination, gun violence, telehealth, and primary care. The Clinical Practice Committee hosted three webinars, continued to publish Bottom Line Summaries in JGIM, and collaborated with the Education Committee and Health Policy Committee to prepare a position statement on telehealth policy, practice, and education recommendations. The Education Committee published papers on telehealth competencies in medical education,³ and changing the assessment paradigm,⁴ in addition to submitting comments on major education-related policies such as proposed standards for improving the transition from undergraduate medical education to gradual medical education. The Research Committee continued its development of a novel certificate program on partnered research and conducted a national survey on the needs of GIM research fellows that resulted in specific recommendations for Council to act on identified problems. The Ethics Committee published an article in the SGIM Forum on caring for an incarcerated patient and hosted a webinar on how physicians should respond to colleagues who disseminate misinformation.⁵ The Membership Committee launched a successful new committee and commission competition for membership renewal and began efforts to expand membership from underrepresented institutions, including historically black colleges and universities. The Finance and Philanthropy Committees worked synergistically to help SGIM weather the financial stress imposed by loss of in person meetings during the pandemic. 

EB: What stands out about the work done by SGIM’s commissions during the last year?
LH: SGIM’s commissions have an important role in fostering collaboration with core committees, interest groups, and other organizations on topics relevant to multiple aspects of our mission. The Academic Hospitalist Commission worked with the Society of Hospital Medicine to hold a successful in person meeting of the Academic Hospitalist Academy Level 1 in Denver and prepared a proposal for an innovative virtual approach to next year’s version of the Academic Hospitalist Academy Level 2. The Geriatrics Commission collaborated with the American Geriatrics Society on telehealth advocacy and prepared sessions on geriatric care topics for the national meeting. The Health Equity Commission collaborated with other committees in producing four webinars on advocating for equity, and developed new programming on equity for the Student, Resident, and Fellow Track at the Annual Meeting. The Women and Medicine Commission collaborated with the Sex-and Gender-Based Women’s Health Education Interest Group to complete a very timely and comprehensive position paper on “Sex and Gender Based Women’s Health Core Competencies” that was approved by Council and submitted for publication.

I hope members will take time to read the posted summary that provides more details about the achievements of each committee and commission.¹ I also want to thank the leaders and members of the committees and commissions for their outstanding work that advances our mission of cultivating innovative educators, researchers, and clinicians in academic general internal medicine, leading the way to better health for everyone.