An Interview with Dean E. Schraufnagel MD ATS President
In this column, ATS President Dean E. Schraufnagel, MD, talks about the Society’s accomplishments over the past year and the challenges it will face in the future.
Q. Your term as ATS President ends tomorrow. Looking back, what are your proudest accomplishments?
A. On paper, getting the United States Postal Service to print a stamp for our founder, Edward Livingston Trudeau; proclaiming 2010 “The Year of the Lung;” and editing the Breathing in America: Diseases, Progress, and Hope book would be the answer, but I would also like to be remembered for getting the ATS to do more for its members, especially our clinician members.
Q. Even before you became President, you led the Society’s “Year of the Lung” efforts. Why was the effort launched? Do you think it reached its objectives?
A. The objective of 2010 “The Year of the Lung” was to raise awareness to lung disease and that it did, although raising awareness, similar to marketing, is an ongoing process for which you can always do more. The results of awareness and marketing campaigns are difficult to measure and are means to an end, rather than the end themselves. In our case, the goal of raising awareness was to promote better respiratory health for everyone, which is an ongoing challenge.
Q. You’ve been an active ATS member for a long time, but, even so, serving as President offers a new perspective. Has your view of the Society changed during the past year?
A. My view of the ATS has been greatly reinforced by my time of service on the executive committee. The ATS has a great ability to educate and influence the practice of medicine and research, and I appreciate this now more than before. The ATS also gives its members opportunities for leadership and involvement. It can change people’s lives for the better.
Q. Much of the President’s role is serving as an ambassador to sister societies, particularly those located around the world. How do these Societies view the ATS?
A. Yes, ATS leaders are ambassadors in many different capacities and this allows us to be more effective. It has been my good fortune to have great friends as leaders of our “sister societies.” I greatly respect them as people and respect their societies. And I believe they respect us. I think at times there may be friendly rivalries, which may help our members or clients. I think societies say to themselves, if a “sister” society can do something, why can’t we?
Q. Throughout your presidency, you’ve emphasized that the ATS is really about its members. What did you mean by that?
A. Ambassadors are only important because their counties are important, and we are only effective because of our great members. Legislators and opinion makers on Capitol Hill listen to us because we say we speak for our 15,000 very important members. I believe our most valuable asset is our members and our most important function is to be a resource that our members can use to improve themselves, their work and the care of their patients.
Q. How have benefits and services to members improved during the past year?
A. I believe that our “members-first” culture has been enhanced. In almost every ATS activity, almost every Society leader and staff member think of how it will affect our members at large. Most committees, assemblies, the board of directors, journal editors and those planning the International Conference have added or changed activities in response to members’ needs. For example, in response to members’ requests for more facilitators, the International Conference Committee doubled the number. They set up a quality improvement poster session and enlisted the help of 27 master clinicians to meet members concerns.
Q. These accomplishments have occurred during, admittedly, tough economic times. How has the ATS managed to do this, and do you think it can continue to make progress, despite the rather inhospitable climate in which most organizations find themselves?
A. Actually, the bad financial year was 2009 with its crash and slow recovery. For ATS, this was a blessing in disguise because it caused us to re-evaluate our expenditures and programs. The Society did well in 2010 partly because of the changes made after 2009. However, we continue to look for cost-effective ways of doing business. Some changes, such as the increased concern about conflict of interest, are welcome. The ATS adopted a code of ethics early on because we wanted to make sure that our guidelines were as free of bias as they could be. Oftentimes, great activities do not have great costs.
Q. Would you do this again?
A. Being ATS President is no doubt the highlight of my professional career. I was pleased and grateful to be able to do it. However, I also appreciate our ATS system of sharing leadership and annual rotation of leadership. Although it is a really great job, it can also be really exhausting. I look forward to next year and helping the ATS in a slightly different capacity. I would like to thank the members and staff for giving me this opportunity and making the most of it.