PHILADELPHIA, PA April 19, 2017 – The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME),
co-sponsor and creator of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) and many other healthcare assessment tools and services, is pleased to announce new executive board members and officers elected at its 2017 annual meeting. Dr. Latha Chandran, Dr. Donna Elliott, Dr. Reena Karani, and Ms. Pat Mastors have been elected to four-year terms as Executive Board members. Dr. Alfred Tallia has been elected Treasurer of the NBME, and Dr. Paul Wallach has been elected Vice Chair.
Dr. Latha Chandran, MD, MPH, the Miriam and David Donoho Distinguished Teaching Professor, is Vice Dean for Academic and Faculty Affairs at SUNY Stony Brook University School of Medicine, and Founding Director of the Donoho Academy of Clinical & Educational Scholars (ACES). Dr. Chandran is being inducted into the SUNY Distinguished Academy this year. In the past Dr. Chandran has received the SUNY Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Teaching, the President’s Award for Excellence in teaching as well as the Aesculapius Award for Excellence in Medical Teaching, the highest faculty teaching award granted by the School of Medicine at Stony Brook. Her research and practice interests include general pediatrics, adolescent medicine, educational scholarship and faculty development. Dr. Chandran has served as a volunteer with the NBME since 2003, as part of test development committees, internal review and standard setting committees, as well as finance and audit committees.
Dr. Donna Elliott, MD, EdD, is the Senior Associate Dean for Student and Educational Affairs, and Professor of Clinical Pediatrics at the University of Southern California’s Keck School of Medicine. She focuses her research and training activities on cultural competence and professionalism education and assessment in medical education. She is the recipient of the Remarkable Women of USC Award, and numerous teaching and leadership honors. Dr. Elliott has served as a volunteer with the NBME since 2009, as part of the USMLE Step 1 and Management committees among others, and currently serves on NBME’s International Oversight Committee.
Dr. Reena Karani, MD, MHPE, is Senior Associate Dean for Undergraduate Medical Education and Curricular Affairs at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, and a Professor of Medical Education, Medicine and Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine. Dr. Karani is the 2013 recipient of the National Award for Scholarship in Medical Education from the Society for General Internal Medicine, in addition to numerous other honors. She is also the recipient of several awards for teaching, mentorship and educational leadership. Her research interests focus on learner assessment methodologies, workplace-based learning and curriculum design. Dr. Karani has served as a volunteer with the NBME since 2011, as a member and chair of several test material development committees for the USMLE, as well as internal review, finance and audit, and management committees.
Pat Mastors is Co-Founder, Director of Engagement, and Board Chair of the Patients’ View Institute, a non-profit organization committed to organizing and amplifying the patient voice to enhance the quality of care. Ms. Mastors is a tireless patient advocate, speaker, author, and patient/family advisor to both government health agencies and physician practices, and works with groups nationwide on promoting patient safety and engagement. She is also patient co-chair of the National Quality Forum (NQF) Patient and Family Engagement Action Team, and has been a part of successful efforts to pass two patient safety laws in her home state of Rhode Island. She is also Coordinator of the Women’s Health Activist Movement (WHAMGlobal.org), a “network of networks” established in 2016, created to empower and cultivate female leaders who advance healthcare systems that are transparent, respectful, accountable, and equitable. Ms. Mastors has served as a volunteer with NBME since 2015 as a member of the Public Stakeholders Committee, and as a member at-large.
Dr. Alfred Tallia, MD, MPH, is Professor and Chair of Family and Community Health at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School of Rutgers University, and a Fellow of the Rutgers Center for Organizational Development and Leadership. Dr. Tallia also served as the founding executive director of Robert Wood Johnson Partners, the accountable care organization designed to bring the research, educational, and clinical resources of Rutgers University and the Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health System to solve contemporary problems in healthcare delivery for patients across the socioeconomic spectrum. In 2014, Dr. Tallia received the Chair Award for Lifetime Service from the New Jersey Academy of Family Physicians, is a recipient of the Edithe J. Levit Distinguished Service Award from NBME, and is the 2017 recipient of the Peter W. Rodino, Jr. Citizens Award from the Edward J. Ill Foundation for Medical Excellence, among other honors. He has served on the executive committee of the Washington-based Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative, the coalition of Fortune 500 payers, providers, and consumers advancing healthcare reform, and on the boards of Horizon (Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Jersey) Health Innovations, the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and Health System, and continues to serve on boards of numerous other public and private health-related organizations. Dr. Tallia has served the NBME as a volunteer for more than 20 years as part of USMLE Step 3 examination committees, the Family Medicine Subject Examination task force, the USMLE Budget, Finance & Audit, and Test Accommodations Committees, the centennial steering committee, chair of the USMLE evaluation program, as a board member, and Executive Board member-at-large, among other roles. He chairs the Composite Committee governing the USMLE program, the common licensure assessment pathway for all foreign and domestic medical school graduates.
Dr. Paul Wallach, MD, is Vice Dean for Academic Affairs at Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University. Dr. Wallach was the recipient of the Distinguished Alumnus Award from the University of South Florida College of Medicine in 2011, and has been honored with a broad array of teaching and leadership awards throughout his career. Promoting high quality and creative approaches for medical education has been a priority for Dr. Wallach, and he has particular clinical interest in hypertension, lipid disorders, and preventive care. He has published and presented widely on topics ranging from patient & physician roles in end-of-life decisions to the impact on health of serving as a standardized patient. Dr. Wallach has served the NBME as a volunteer for more than 20 years, including roles on USMLE examination committees, the Composite Committee, and the Committee to Evaluate the USMLE Program. He has provided leadership as Chair of the Step 2 Ambulatory Committee, the Step 1 Gross Anatomy and Embryology Committee, the Step 2 Committee, the Advisory Committee for Medical School Programs, the International Oversight Committee, and the NBME Finance Committee. He has volunteered as a member of the Board since 1998, the Executive Board since 2011, and as Treasurer of the NBME Executive Board from 2015-2017.
The NBME membership is composed of approximately 80 individuals representing the academic community, national professional organizations, state licensing boards, students, residents, the federal government and the public. Responsibilities of the membership of the NBME include recommending policy to and electing its board of directors.
The NBME is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides high-quality assessments for the health professions. Protection of the health of the public through state-of-the-art assessment is the mission of the NBME, along with a major commitment to research and development in evaluation and measurement. The NBME develops the three-step United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE®), which provides a common evaluation system and established minimum standards for all doctors of medicine seeking an initial license to practice medicine in the United States. USMLE is a joint program of the NBME and the Federation of State Medical Boards. Results of USMLE are reported to all licensing authorities in the United States and its territories for use in granting the initial license to practice medicine. The NBME’s examinations and services are also widely used by the medical education system both in the United States and around the world.
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