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Tiffany A. Moore Simas, MD, MPH, MEd, has been named a fellow of the Hedwig van Ameringen Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM) Program for Women at Drexel University College of Medicine in Philadelphia.
“I have been mentored by and admire many of the UMMS women leaders who are alumni of this program,” said Dr. Moore Simas, professor of obstetrics & gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry and population & quantitative health sciences, and vice chair of obstetrics & gynecology. “I am grateful for the opportunity and institutional support that will allow me to further my leadership potential while focusing on a project of institutional impact.”
A graduate of the School of Medicine Class of 2000 and the obstetrics & gynecology residency at UMass Memorial Medical Center, Moore Simas has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the Food and Drug Administration and the Perigee Foundation for her research on reproductive health issues, notably perinatal mental health. She is co-founder and medical director of Lifeline4Moms and engagement director of MCPAP for Moms.
For the ELAM requirement to conduct and design an institutional action project, Moore Simas will develop a UMass Memorial Health Care system-wide strategic plan for inpatient maternity care including UMass Memorial Medical Center and Health Alliance-Leominster.
“Our health care system has two maternity centers that have functioned mostly independent of one another,” she said. “There is a significant opportunity to improve patient and provider care, experience and satisfaction by coalescing these two systems and learning from each other with the goal of optimizing both.”
As the Joy McCann Professor for Women from 2014 to 2017, Moore Simas created the Empowering Professional Women for Executive Roles (EMPOWER) program as a leadership development program for mid-career women faculty.
“When creating the EMPOWER Summit, now heading into its fourth year, we modeled parts of it after ELAM,” said Moore Simas. “We have had ELAM alumnae as critical members of the advisory board/planning committee and have had several featured speakers from the ELAM program.”
Moore Simas joins 13 UMass Medical School faculty who are among more than 1,000 ELAM alumnae holding leadership positions in institutions around the world. Dedicated to developing the professional and personal skills required to lead in a complex health care environment with special attention to the challenges facing women in leadership, the ELAM program was developed for senior women faculty at the associate or full professor level who demonstrate the greatest potential for assuming executive leadership positions at academic health centers within the next five years.
ELAM fellowships are awarded following an in-depth application process and are highly competitive. Each fellow must be nominated and supported by the dean of her institution. The curriculum features small group workshops that build camaraderie and support among participants as it focuses on the skills, perspective and knowledge required to lead and manage effectively in today’s complex academic health center environment.
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Lifeline4Moms helps obstetricians support women with perinatal depression
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Leadership development conference prepares women faculty leaders for executive roles
