The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has selected the Wayne State University School of Medicine's Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education Tsveti Markova, M.D., F.A.A.F.P., to receive the Parker J. Palmer Courage to Lead Award at the ACGME's annual Educational Conference next March in Orlando, Fla.
The award honors designated institutional officials who demonstrate excellence in improving performance and innovation; supporting program directors and residents; showing strong leadership, values and principles; and are dedicated to the education improvement process. As the DIO, Dr. Markova provides oversight of the residency programs for compliance with institutional and ACGME standards, and establishes and implements policies for improving quality of education and work environments. In this process, she actively engages hospital partners in reaching the highest standards of medical education. Under her leadership, the School of Medicine's GME successfully achieved the maximum accreditation status for institutional accreditation from the ACGME, with no citations and a commendation.
In addition to her role as the school's DIO, Dr. Markova also is professor and chair of the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences. She received the ACGME's Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award in 2011, making her one of only two awardees to have been presented with both honors.
The School of Medicine sponsors 10 residency programs that include 151 residents, including 52 first-year residents who joined the GME programs this year.
"It speaks to WSU's national recognition and commitment to excellence. It is such an honor to be in the lines of other GME leaders whom I admire and learn from," Dr. Markova said. "I would like to share this award with the WSU School of Medicine leadership, the GME office, program directors and coordinators. Their unwavering commitment to the success of our programs is a source of inspiration and determination."
The nomination was supported by statements from Graduate Medical Education Committee members, who recognized Dr. Markova for a variety of efforts, including the centralization and sharing of educational resources by designing curricula across all programs. She was a champion for designing and implementing an innovative quality improvement institution-wide initiative honored with the 2013 Alliance Innovation Award by the Alliance of Independent Academic Medical Centers. She also led the creation of a robust system of programs and institutional continuous improvement and established a GME Seed Grant program that funds resident research and quality improvement projects. One committee member noted that Dr. Markova sees the greater need of residents developing their own skill set as leaders, never losing sight of "the greater impact on one's career to be involved in hospital, GME or state committees, or the value in presenting at regional, state or national conferences. She has consistently demonstrated 'courage to lead' in our complex health care and academic environment."
The WSU Office of Graduate Medical Education's mission is to lead and oversee innovative GME programs in which physicians in training develop personal, clinical and professional competence to provide exceptional patient care.