2023 Regional Meeting

Janet Lindemann, MD
Professor Emeritus and Retired Dean of Medical Student Education,
Sanford School of Medicine, University of South Dakota

Janet Lindemann, MD, MBA, is an exemplary Clinician Educator, an outstanding, compassionate physician and a most effective teacher and education dean.  She is professor emeritus and retired dean of medical student education at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine, is a 1980 graduate of the Medical College of Wisconsin and fellow in the American Academy of Family Physicians. 

After 6 years in small town private practice, she joined the faculty at the Medical College of Wisconsin and later at the University of South Dakota School of Medicine. In 2001, Janet was appointed dean of medical student education where she oversaw the 4-year curriculum for the MD degree until her retirement in 2018. Under her leadership, the school underwent curriculum reform including instituting longitudinal integrated clerkships on all school campuses. Her MBA in healthcare management is from the University of Sioux Falls. She served on the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, including serving as committee chair.  Awards include the Wisconsin Family Medicine Educator of the Year award and the AAMC CGEA Laureate Award. She serves on the board of directors for the Marshfield Clinic Health System. Following retirement,  Janet works with the Medical School Advisory Group which provides accreditation support and medical education consulting. She also volunteers at Feeding South Dakota and as a grade school music teacher.

Elizabeth Ryan, EdD
Associate Dean,  Northwest-Gary Campus
Clinical Professor of Family Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine

Dr. Elizabeth Ryan joined Indiana University School of Medicine as the Associate Dean and Campus Director of the Northwest Campus on October 1, 2018. She is a first-generation college graduate with her doctorate in Education from Loyola University of Chicago. Employed full-time during her master’s and doctoral studies in Education at Loyola University of Chicago, she worked hard and through a beautiful journey found her fit. “I may not have had the most direct path to medical education, but skills and insights learned as a pharmacy technician, managed care claims manager, student and residency coordinator, manager of surgical education, manufactures representative and other service positions prior to my faculty appointments and administrative roles contributed to my development and career trajectory.”

Dr. Ryan has worked across the continuum from: community hospital and academic medical center settings, in family medicine and surgery disciplines, medical student education, residency education and faculty development. Previous employment institutions included, West Suburban Hospital Medical Center, Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine, and Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. Dr. Ryan has been active in the Association of American Medical Colleges Group on Educational Affairs, Central Group on Educational Affairs (CGEA) and Group on Regional Medical Campuses (GRMC). She has served as Chair-Elect, Chair, and Past Chair of the CGEA. She was awarded the CGEA Laureate Award in 2019.

Leadership vision and goals for the Northwest Campus, Dr. Ryan believes that leadership occurs at all levels and one constant is change. She believes in empowering staff, students, and faculty to work at the top of their license/position, providing credit for a job well done coupled with accountability. We are stronger as a team than as individuals. As a team, we will create short-term and long-term goals aligned to Indiana University School of Medicine strategic plan, serving our learners, the people of Indiana and beyond. She also deeply believes in continuous quality improvement. Medicine and Medical Education are dynamic and ever-changing with new scientific discoveries. We need to continually evolve, adapt, and contribute new and innovative ways to advance science for our patients, learners, and communities.

Dr. Ryan is committed to community partners in Northwest Indiana. We have an opportunity to advance existing relationships working together removing barriers, solving problems that benefit our section of the state through our Scholarly Concentration program in Urban Health and Social Determinants of Health. There is much that students can learn from our community partners and give through community-engaged scholarship.

Tom Viggiano, MD, M.Ed
Dean Emeritus
Barbara Woodward Lips Professor
Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine 

As a gastroenterologist, professor, and dean at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Viggiano has advocated for vital changes to address important issues and advance the causes, communities, and organizations he served.

For decades, he has taught in interprofessional education (IPE) programs at Mayo Clinic and in several international IPE leadership programs. He has served on expert panels and as the physician representative to the Interprofessional Education Collaborative that formulated interprofessional education competencies.

He also designed a medical school curriculum that improved clinical reasoning skills and understanding of public health and care delivery issues, and he was a leading proponent for integrating basic and social sciences into the curriculum. He co-authored principles for applying the neurobiology of learning to curriculum design, and he helped found the International Association of Medical Science Educators (IAMSE).

With the Harvard Macy Institute, he pioneered the application of quality improvement methodology to curriculum evaluation and planning. Many schools adopted this strategy, and the Liaison Committee on Medical Education has implemented an accreditation standard recommending that schools use quality improvement methodology in curriculum planning.

Dr. Viggiano instituted education research at Mayo Clinic, and for over 20 years Mayo’s scholars have contributed many publications. Mayo’s program was published as a model for institutional support of education scholarship, and Dr. Viggiano has been a leading advocate for funding and mentoring in education research. He helped define and publish criteria for rewarding education scholarship with academic promotion.

As dean for faculty affairs, he conceived a lifecycle model to anticipate faculty needs in various career stages. The model became the AAMC’s template for designing faculty affairs offices, and a framework for developing and sharing institutional policies and best practices and for fostering wellness and providing effective and equitable support to faculty. Dr. Viggiano served as the founding chair of the AAMC Group on Faculty Affairs (GFA), and he received the inaugural GFA Carole J. Bland Phronesis Award.

Dr. Viggiano has received numerous awards for teaching, humanism, and professionalism; and he has served on the Boards of Directors of both the AAMC and IAMSE. He serves on the editorial board of MedEdPORTAL and on the Best Evidence Medical Education Collaborative.

Deb Simpson, PhD
Academic Affairs Education Director for Advocate Aurora Health
Adjunct Clinical Professor in Family Medicine at the University of Wisconsin
Deputy Editor for the Journal of GME

Deborah “Deb” Simpson, PhD is Academic Affairs Education Director for Advocate Aurora Health – a part of Advocate Health – the 5th largest not-for-profit health care system in the US  whose physicians provide education to medical students, residents, fellows and other health professions. She is an adjunct clinical professor in family medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UWSMPH) & at the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) and a Deputy Editor for the Journal of Graduate Medical Education (JGME). She is a past member of the Alliance of Independent Academic Medical Centers’ Board of Directors and recently completed her term as a public member of the Psychiatry Residency Review Committee-ACGME.  Her more than 900 invited/peer-reviewed presentations and 240 publications in medical education reflect her inter-related interests in: (1) designing medical education based on future job roles; (2) faculty development and vitality of clinical educators; (3) workplace learning and aligning education with clinical care markers for quality and patient experience; and (4) the convergence between what is known about strong learning environments and emerging findings about inclusion, physician well-being, and high quality, safe care.

Prior to joining Aurora Health Care, Dr. Simpson served as the Associate Dean for Educational Support and Evaluation at the Medical College of Wisconsin. She was a member of MCW’s Society of Teaching Scholars, the 1st holder of the Elsa B and Roger D Cohen MDs CHW/MCW Professorship in Medical Education, and the first female to receive the college’s Distinguished Service Award. Nationally she has received the STFM Excellence in Education award for faculty development; a McCann Faculty Scholar for mentoring; the AAMC-CGEA’s Laureate Award and the AAMC-GEA’s Merrill Flair Award; the Alliance of Independent Academic Medical Center Ethel Weinberg MD Award (for creative and innovative contributions to medical education) and is a proud team member for three Alliance of Independent Academic Medical Center Innovation Awards related to CLER, Geriatric Fast Facts, and Upstander Training. She is a native of San Francisco, a graduate of the University of California at Santa Barbara (BA), THE Ohio State University (MA) and the University of Minnesota (PhD – Educational Psychology).