This interview is one in a series of interviews with recipients of the 2022 ACGME Awards. The awardees join an outstanding group of previous honorees whose work and contributions to graduate medical education (GME) represent the best in the field. They will be honored at the ACGME Annual Educational Conference, taking place virtually March 30-April 1, 2022.
2022 John C. Gienapp Awardee Kenneth M. Ludmerer, MD, MACP is Mabel Dorn Reeder Distinguished Professor of Medicine and the History of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine. He is an internist.
ACGME: You have had many accomplishments throughout your career. How do you feel about receiving the Gienapp Award?
Ludmerer: The Gienapp Award is especially meaningful for me because it acknowledges that my work has had a direct impact on how GME in this country is understood and conducted. Thus, this award is for helping in my own small way to make GME better, and not merely an acknowledgement of the scholarly value of my research.
ACGME: What do you think is one of your greatest contributions to GME?
Ludmerer: Writing my account of the American residency system, Let Me Heal. This book provided the basis of my work to improve GME that was identified in the award citation: shaping the foundation of the ACGME Common Program Requirements and energizing the clinician well-being movement.
ACGME: What roles have you had with the ACGME? What drove you to collaborate with our organization?
Ludmerer: I started my collaboration with the organization while doing research for Let Me Heal. I spent several months in the ACGME archives, which provided the opportunity while there to engage in extensive and stimulating discussions with [ACGME President and Chief Executive Officer Dr.] Tom Nasca, [ACGME Chief of Staff and Chief Education Officer Dr.] Tim Brigham, [ACGME Senior Scholar-in-Residence Dr.] Bud Baldwin, and others. Later, I was invited to join the Board of Directors of the ACGME as an at-large member; I served on the Board from 2012 to 2017. While on the Board, I chaired the Journal Oversight Committee (for the Journal of Graduate Medical Education). I also served on the Task Force that put forth the 2017 revision of the Common Program Requirements and helped write the report.
ACGME: One area in which you have done a lot of writing is the creation and evolution of America’s graduate medical education system. Can you tell us more about your work and passion in this area?
Ludmerer: Understanding American medical education in all its dimensions has been the focus of my professional work. I could not have written Let Me Heal without the experience of having written two earlier books on American medical education, Learning to Heal and Time to Heal. Let Me Heal stands on the shoulders of these books. My passion for this work derives from my deep desire to see American medical education be the best it can be. I was deeply concerned about GME during the early period of the work hours debate because of the inflexible, rigid, bureaucratic approach of the initial rules and regulations. It seemed to me that GME would be stronger and allow greater instillation of professional values among learners if it were more flexible, allowing house officers to focus on their patients and not the clock. Accordingly, the book, and the philosophy of GME embodied in the new Common Program Requirements, emphasized that what matters most in residency and fellowship education and training are the conditions, not the hours, of work, and that our goal as educators should be to create an environment in which residents derive joy and meaning from their work.
ACGME: How many times have you attended the ACGME Annual Educational Conference, and what has been the most meaningful part for you?
Ludmerer: I have not traveled since the COVID-19 pandemic began. However, I attended—and enjoyed—most of the conferences during the period I was on the Board. To me, the most meaningful part of these were the informal conversations I had with people.
ACGME: Is there anything else you would like to add for our readers?
Ludmerer: I believe the greatest challenge in GME today comes from the forces that would have GME devolve from university-level professional education into vocational education. There are overt tones of anti-intellectualism in many current conversations and writings about GME. Thus, I believe our greatest responsibility as educators is to ensure that GME not only becomes more humane than in the past but also promotes the highest academic standards. We should inspire our learners not only to provide excellent care but also to help make medicine in the future better.
Learn more about the ACGME’s John C. Gienapp Award and nominate a deserving individual for the 2023 Award – nominations are due by April 6, 2022.