The New York Academy of Medicine Awards 2019-21 Jeremiah A. Barondess Fellowship in the Clinical Transaction

Chelsea Hook Chang, MD, of the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine Receives Barondess Fellowship 

New York (March 8, 2019) – The New York Academy of Medicine, in collaboration with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME), has announced that the 2019-21 Jeremiah A. Barondess Fellowship in the Clinical Transaction is awarded to Chelsea Hook Chang, MD, Assistant Professor and Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency UTRGV/Doctors Hospital Renaissance at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine.

The Barondess Fellowship is unique in its goal to enhance the ability of young physicians to conduct the essential elements of the clinical transaction—capabilities that are important for effective clinical care but have significantly declined among graduate trainees in recent decades. The unique program invites junior faculty in internal medicine to develop innovative programs that enhance these capabilities through educational innovation.

“The Academy is pleased to continue our partnership with the ACGME on this important initiative to improve clinical care by supporting advancements in training focused on the physician-patient relationship, a critical part of graduate medical education,” said Academy President Judith A. Salerno, MD, MS.

Dr. Chang will receive the award today at the 2019 ACGME Annual Educational Conference in Orlando, FL. The two-year, $50,000 fellowship will support Dr. Chang and her team at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine in developing an innovative curriculum for the Barondess Elective – Advanced Clinical Reasoning, a new elective for senior medical students and Internal Medicine residents. The curriculum will focus on the clinical history, physical examination and clinical reasoning with real patients. The two-year fellowship will yield written cases prepared by the students to guide future learners. For years to come, trainees taking the elective will add cases, increasing volume and variety.

“The ACGME is honored to partner with The New York Academy of Medicine to present the Barondess Fellowship to Dr. Chang for her proposal to develop an innovative curriculum to improve clinical care,” said Thomas J. Nasca, MD, president and chief executive officer, ACGME. “We look forward to seeing the positive impact of her work on both physicians and the patients we serve.”

Dr. Chang was selected from a highly competitive field of applicants by a Selection Committee chaired by Dr. David Siscovick, Senior Research Scientist at The New York Academy of Medicine, and including representatives from the Academy and the ACGME and other experts. The Committee’s review focused on the candidate, the proposed innovation, and the potential to impact the institutions’ educational and training programs related to the clinical transaction.

“I am extraordinarily honored to receive the Barondess Fellowship in the Clinical Transaction for 2019-2021,” said Dr. Chang. “With this opportunity to work with the distinguished NYAM and ACGME, I hope to create an innovative curriculum on advanced clinical reasoning. My vision is to have an adaptable curriculum that can be used nationwide with live patients. I am particularly excited about having our trainees contribute to the curriculum and thereby elevating them from learners to teachers.”

Dr. Chelsea Hook Chang is Assistant Professor and Associate Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency UTRGV/Doctors Hospital Renaissance at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley School of Medicine. She completed medical school at Texas A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine in 2012, then completed an Internal Medicine Residency in 2015 and was awarded Intern of the Year at Scott & White in Temple Texas where she trained. She has been board certified since 2015 and immediately began working as a primary care physician and as clinical assistant professor for both Internal Medicine residents and College of Medicine in Temple Texas. She was awarded the Outstanding Teaching Attending in Internal Medicine by Texas A&M Medical Students in 2018.

About the Jeremiah A. Barondess Fellowship

The Jeremiah A. Barondess Fellowship in the Clinical Transaction was established in 2016 to honor the visionary role of Academy President Emeritus Jeremiah A. Barondess, MD, in clinical medical education, and to recognize his teaching of clinical skills at the bedside to generations of medical students and residents.

About The New York Academy of Medicine

Established in 1847, The New York Academy of Medicine is dedicated to ensuring everyone has the opportunity to live a healthy life. Through our original research, policy and program initiatives we provide the evidence base to address the structural and cultural barriers to good health and drive progress toward health equity. This work and our one-of-a-kind public programming are supported by our world class historical medical library and our Fellows program, a unique network of more than 2,000 experts elected by their peers from across the professions affecting health. 

About ACGME

The ACGME is a private, non-profit, professional organization responsible for the accreditation of approximately 9,600 residency and fellowship programs and approximately 700 institutions that sponsor these programs in the United States. Residency and fellowship programs educate over 120,000 resident physicians in 130 specialties and subspecialties. The ACGME’s mission is to improve health care and population health by assessing and advancing the quality of resident physicians’ education through accreditation.