Stories of Involvement
Sometimes it feels difficult to “break in” to leadership in an organization. Each path is different; there is no set road that would lead one to hold the office of president of a society. Below, some of our leaders share their stories of involvement. This collection represents a diverse group of members willing to share their leadership stories. While their career paths differ widely, they share several common characteristics:
- a genuine interest in contributing
- a desire to see CHEST continuously improve;
- a willingness to tap into other leaders for advice
- an ability to follow through on projects
While these may be important characteristics, what may be the most important theme in these stories is the level of professional satisfaction achieved through service to our society. As CHEST members, we encourage your engagement and leadership. We are confident you, too, can enjoy the full value of active involvement in an outstanding professional society.
Jack Buckley, MD, FCCP
Professor of Medicine
Vice Chair for Education, Department of Medicine
Indiana University School of Medicine
Year 0-2: Graduated from P/CCM fellowship. Spent my first 2 years getting settled in my new job and studying for Boards.
Year 2-3 post-fellowship: Encouraged by a senior colleague at my institution to apply for a 1-day Leadership Development (LD) course at a CHEST meeting; got accepted and met some CHEST big shots (ie, Dr. Kay Guntupalli).
Year 3-4: Invited to attend Scientific Program Committee, went to Chicago, couldn't contribute much, and wondered what the NetWorks were as they seemed to have a lot of control.....tuned out of CHEST for awhile, unsure of what I wanted and thought it was a "good old boys" group, some self-pity.
Year 4-5: Became more engaged in my Program Director role, inspired from some of our trainees.
Year 5-8: Invited (I think) to serve on the CHEST Scientific Abstract Committee, followed a move by a local colleague (Kevin Chan: 2-years ahead of me). This was a lot of fun and a great way to network with peers.
Year 5-9: Invited to attend subsequent CHEST LD courses to "share my story," which was fun and made me feel as if I had something to contribute.
Year 5-6: Convinced my institution to sponsor a 1-month sabbatical for training as a facilitator of a faculty development program: extremely fulfilling.
Year 6-7: Brought faculty development components to APCCMPD (program director's society)..fun!! This seemed to get me better recognized in CHEST.
Year 6-9: My senior colleague became CHEST President, and he asked my interest in getting more involved. I said yes and joined Membership and Bylaws Committees.
Year 8-10: Muscled my way onto a multisociety task force defining competencies: busted my butt and was offered lead author of the manuscript by task force chair. Received great mentoring by that chair, and boosted my presence/reputation in CHEST.
Year 9-13: Joined Affiliate's NetWork, expressed interest in chairing that NetWork, and presided over the evolution into Training and Transitions Committee while moving from Detroit to Indianapolis.
Recent: Was asked to serve as Program Chair for CHEST 2013 and serve on the Global Education Committee and Leadership Development teams. Currently a bit overstretched and ready to turn over more responsibilities to those a few years younger than me... but loving every minute.
Michael Ezzie, MD, FCCP
Vice President Medical Affairs
OhioHealth Grant Medical Center
My involvement in CHEST began by joining as an Affiliate member when I began my fellowship. I presented a case report during a CHEST annual meeting at the beginning of my second year of fellowship and attended the Affiliate Luncheon, where there was discussion of ways to get involved. Faculty members at my institution were active and notified me of the call for nominations for the Affiliate NetWork Steering Committee. I self-nominated for a steering committee position and was accepted. I became involved in CHEST Challenge and case report grading as a member of the Affiliate NetWork Steering Committee and worked on committee projects, such as CHEST sessions and surveys of affiliate members. I became involved in the CHEST meeting as a moderator of case report sessions and poster abstracts and judge for CHEST Challenge. I also linked to the Airways NetWork to keep up on happenings in my clinical area. I became a Fellow in 2010. Since then, I volunteered when opportunities such as the CHEST/ATS measure gap task force became available. The Affiliate Steering Committee transitioned to a full committee recently, and I continued on as a member of the committee while also being appointed to the Marketing Committee. These appointments allowed me to attend the Spring Board Meeting and Leadership Development Course and become a member of the Leadership Development Task Force. Along the way, I have found mentorship in professional areas and had fun working with many new colleagues while developing friendships.
Kalpalatha K. Guntupalli, MD, FCCP
Professor of Medicine
Baylor College of Medicine
I have been a CHEST member since 1980 and actively involved for over 3 decades. I will try to put them in 5 to 10 year segments.
1980: Became member after passing my pulmonary boards and completing my critical care fellowship at University of Pittsburgh.
1980-1985: Faculty at University of Pittsburgh. Attended CHEST annual meetings. Got my FCCP. Organized and attended many CME meetings in India as a founding member of a nonprofit hospital.
1985-1988: Faculty at Emory University – Spoke at CME meetings in USA and overseas. Organized many CME meetings both in USA and India.
1988-1998: Joined faculty at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Met Dr. Donald Greenberg, a well-known pulmonary pathologist and active member of CHEST, who encouraged me to get more involve. He nominated me to some committees and introduced me to Mr. Al Lever, then CEO. Mr. Lever was extremely warm, friendly easy to talk to, more interested in knowing what I had to say than what he had to tell me. He was a nurturing influence in the early days when I did not know many physician leaders.
I was appointed to a workforce committee and Government Relations Committee. I was already very active in organizing conferences in the international medical community when an opportunity to chair the Asia Pacific Conference on Diseases of Chest came about. That was a biannual conference to benefit the physician community in the Asia-Pacific region. At that time, I met many CHEST leaders and got to know them well, as we travelled to India together for the conference and preconference tours. Dr. Sidney Braman, Dr. Deborah Shure (then President), and Al Lever attended, along with many others. Drs. Braman and Shure were very helpful in helping me to understand CHEST better.
1998-2008: Because of my involvement in many outreach programs internationally, I was asked to serve as a CHEST Foundation trustee when it first started. I was challenged to develop antitobacco programs both for the United States and India. I was encouraged to fund raise and develop antitobacco materials and programs in seven languages and cartoon programs for children which have had a lot of outreach in the United States and many other countries.
Partipated as a member of the annual scientific program committee and as a speaker at CHEST; conducted difficult airway postgraduate course for over 8 years; spoke at many international conferences and did many pro bono (Turkey, China, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Peru, Australia, India, Vienna, Berlin, Holland).
I was appointed as the first Chair of the newly formed “Diversity NetWork” by Dr. Susan Pingleton and as the Chair of the newly formed “Women’s NetwWork” by Dr. Robbie Johnson. I also served as the Chair of the “Critical Care Institute.”
Subsequently, I was elected to the Board of Regents. Being on the board gave me an opportunity to understand the workings of the organization even more.
In 2008, I got the nomination as President-Designate—this was one of the happiest days of my professional life.
2009-2010: As President of CHEST, I most thoroughly enjoyed being an integral part of developing the strategic vision, championing the transition of the CEO, and spearheading the next major phase of the organization under the organizational leadership of the current EVP/CEO, Mr. Paul Markowski. I realized that being President is a link in the chain of events and programs developed by the many before and laying the foundation for the growth of the organization for those who will follow. It is a team work of the physician leaders and staff.
It was a year of labor of love; I will always cherish the kindness, friendship, camaraderie, and the well wishes of the CHEST global family.
I have been in fairly high leadership positions of many organizations. The strengths of CHEST are the friendly, outstanding staff who work to bring out the best in anyone who wants to contribute, seeing results in a relatively short period of time (less red tape). They have respect for value that a member brings, and they nuture contributions from members.
I found that if you have a novel and viable idea, you get the encouragement and the resources to complete it to a degree not seen in many other organizations.
My advice is to become a member, get involved in the organization, get engaged in the activities, bring new ideas to the table. and always complete a task in a timely manner. Above all, do not hesitate to ask for what you want of the physician and staff leadership!
Stephanie Levine, MD, FCCP
Professor of Medicine
Division of Pulmonary Diseases and Critical Care Medicine
University of Texas Health Science Center- San Antonio
I have been actively involved with CHEST for more than 20 years and have tried to chronologize some of the milestones below.
Year 0: Moved from NYC to San Antonio, Texas, directly out of fellowship since I was getting married and my husband was in the military and stationed in San Antonio. I became involved with the relatively new field of lung transplantation.
Years 0-3: Junior faculty at the University of Texas Health Science Center-San Antonio and introduced to CHEST by my division chief, Dr. Steve Jenkinson, who was already very involved through his former mentor and past President – Dr. Ronald B. George and close friend and Past President, Dr. Roger Bone.
Years 3-5: Continued CHEST involvement-involved in the Membership Committee.
Years 6-8: Asked by then President, Dr. Robbie Johnson, to be the first chair of the newly formed Transplant NetWork.
Years 8-10: Nominated to be Chair of NetWorks. About this time, I was invited by Dr. Richard Irwin via a referral from Dr. John Heffner (also a friend of Steve Jenkinson’s via a contact though his co-fellow, Richard Light [all of these being CHEST-involved]) to join the SEEK Editorial Board.
Year 10-12: Became Texas CHEST Governor. Through this position, I became increasingly interested in The CHEST Foundation, because as part of my Governor responsibilities, I reviewed the Humanitarian Award submissions from Texas. About this time, I was invited to join the Board Review Course faculty.
Years 12-15: Asked by then President, Dr. Paul Kvale, to co-chair CHEST 2005 in Montreal with Dr. Darcy Marciniuk. During this time, was asked to become chair of the Pulmonary Board Review Course. Also served on the Education Committee as Chair.
Years 15-20: Became increasingly involved in The CHEST Foundation while continuing active involvement in CHEST and education. Nominated to the Board of Trustees of The CHEST Foundation. Became President of The CHEST Foundation, the office I currently hold.
I have continued to try to promote CHEST by encouraging involvement of my senior fellows and junior faculty. Annually, I nominate fellows and junior faculty for leadership and committee positions for which they are appropriate, so they can continue to contribute. I owe my entire professional life to what CHEST has provided.
Alexander Niven, MD, FCCP
Senior Associate Consultant
Mayo Clinic
Fellowship: Attended several fellows courses and CHEST annual meetings thanks to the support of several of my faculty members and mentors who were actively involved in CHEST. Presented several abstracts in the Affiliate competition and poster program.
Years 0-2: Graduated from P/CCM fellowship. Applied for and was selected for FCCP. Signed up for the Critical Care NetWork as part of the fellowship process, and attended the NetWork meeting. Excited about the opportunity to get involved in the organization through the NetWorks, which didn’t seem to be as readily available in the other pulmonary and critical care organizations to which I belonged.
Years 3-4 Post-fellowship: Encouraged by a senior mentor to apply for a position on the Critical Care NetWork Steering Committee, and was selected. She also nominated me for a 1-day Leadership Development (LD) course, where I learned more about the organization and met a number of leaders. Was impressed with the clear interest that they demonstrated in listening to junior members and getting them more involved.
Years 5-6: Volunteered in response to a request to serve as the Web Director for the Critical Care NetWork web page. As the junior member of the steering committee, felt that this was an area to which I could make a unique contribution. Developed membership content and improved the design and format of our site, which was well received. Selected to chair an e-Advisory Network Subcommittee on NetWork Web development to standardize web page content throughout the NetWorks. Also volunteered in response to a request for individuals with experience in simulation-based education, which I had been doing in my institution for 3 years. Was placed on the Continuing Education Committee Simulation Task Force, developed curriculum for a simulation-based airway management training program, and recruited faculty to provide a program at the CHEST annual meeting. Improved my personal airway management skills, learned a lot about educational design, and met a tremendously talented group of people from across the United States who have become close friends and colleagues. Ran for the vice-chair position of the Critical Care NetWork, and because of my activities above (I think!), I was elected.
Years 7-8: Served as Vice-Chair of the Critical Care NetWork Steering Committee. Led the development of a subcommittee structure within the steering committee, and chaired the Simulation and Membership/Communication subcommittees. Worked hard to improve communication between the steering committee and members within the NetWork, as I appreciated the unique opportunities that the NetWork structure had provided me and wanted to strengthen this pathway for others. As my understanding of the submission process for the CHEST annual meeting improved, I was able to develop and participate in successful sessions. Continued to develop the CHEST Airway Management Training Program, selecting a program co-chair and expanding its educational offerings to include courses at both the CHEST annual meeting and throughout the year.
Year 9-10: Served as Co-Chair of the Critical Care Institute after this group and the Critical Care NetWork Steering Committee were combined, and was suddenly thrust into a much more visible role within the organization. Due to this position, I served on the Council of NetWorks, CHEST Scientific Program Committee, and was an ex officio member of the Board of Regents. In these roles, I met and worked with a great number of leaders in the field of pulmonary and critical care medicine and many affiliated with CHEST, and I was fortunate to benefit from their mentorship. I continued to serve on the Subcommittee on Simulation Education because of my ongoing simulation education activities. Asked to participate as faculty in the Educator’s Course to share what I had learned through my curriculum development efforts for the Airway Management Training Program.
Recent: Selected to serve as Chair of the Simulation Subcommittee, with an ex-officio role on the Education Committee. Continue to serve on the CHEST Scientific Program Committee, working to coordinate and expand simulation education offerings at the annual meeting. Selected to serve on the SEEK Critical Care Editorial Board, an incredible opportunity to both challenge my own knowledge and practice of critical care medicine and to work with true thought leaders in the field.