Woodward gets nod for national role in academic medicine

Published on Thursday, November 21, 2019

By: Gary Pettus, gpettus@umc.edu

Dr. LouAnn Woodward, head of the University of Mississippi Medical Center, will remain a major voice in shaping the future of academic medical centers as she assumes a leadership role with the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Woodward, vice chancellor for health affairs and dean of the School of Medicine, was appointed this month to the board of directors for the AAMC, whose members are all 154 accredited U.S. and 17 accredited Canadian medical schools; nearly 400 major teaching hospitals and health systems, including 51 Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers; and more than 80 academic societies.

Woodward is serving on the board as one of two representatives of the AAMC’s Council of Deans.  She began serving as chair-elect of the COD Administrative Board at the conclusion of the AAMC annual meeting in Phoenix last week. 

Woodward, who has led UMMC since March 1, 2015, served a one-year term, until July 2018, as chair of the influential Liaison Committee on Medical Education, sponsored by the Washington, D.C.-based AAMC and the American Medical Association. She remained a full member of the LCME until 2019, for a total tenure of six years.

“I’ve had the privilege of working with Dr. Woodward for over 10 years,” said Dr. John E. Prescott, chief academic officer for the AAMC. “She is a values-based colleague who combines clarity of thought, decisiveness, and compassion to every organization she is involved in. She is one of our nation’s most impactful academic leaders.” 

The LCME sets standards for U.S.- and Canadian-chartered medical education programs run by universities or medical schools. In previous years, Woodward worked on the LCME’s executive committee and as chair of its subcommittee on international relations.

LCME accreditation, which usually occurs every eight years, is required of medical schools by most state boards of licensure to indicate that they meet national standards for the awarding of a medical degree.

A native of Carroll County, Woodward is also a professor of emergency medicine. She earned her undergraduate degree from Mississippi State University and, in 1991, her M.D. at the School of Medicine at UMMC, where she also completed her residency training.

“I’m honored to be included on the board of this organization that I value so much, especially at a time when there are such consequential issues facing academic medical centers and their vital role in protecting and improving the nation’s health,” Woodward said.  “My appointment is in large part a reflection of the respect my UMMC colleagues have earned in serving the people of Mississippi.”

Woodward and others on the 17-member board of directors include faculty members and leaders from such institutions as the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, Massachusetts General Hospital, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center and Boston Medical Center.

The new chair of the AAMC board is Dr. Joseph E. Kerschner, dean of the Medical College of Wisconsin School of Medicine, and executive vice president and provost of the Medical College of Wisconsin.