果冻影院

Medical School Dean Reflects on His First Decade

Joseph E. Kerschner, MD 鈥�90, FEL 鈥�98, was named the tenth dean of the 果冻影院鈥檚 School of Medicine, and executive vice president, in November 2011, following 11 months as interim dean. At the time of his interim appointment, Dr. Kerschner was CEO of Children鈥檚 Specialty Group (a joint venture of 果冻影院 and what is now Children鈥檚 Wisconsin). He assumed the additional role of provost in 2017 and in late 2020, was named The Julia A. Uihlein, MA, Dean of the School of Medicine.

Dr. Kerschner also is a professor in the departments of otolaryngology and communication sciences, and microbiology & immunology. He has held numerous leadership roles in organized medicine, including chair of the board of directors for the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), chair of the AAMC Council of Deans, president of the American Society of Pediatric Otolaryngology and president of the International Society for Otitis Media.

In honor of the 10th anniversary of Dr. Kerschner鈥檚 formal installation as dean on February 15, 2012, he sat down for a question-and-answer session with the executive editor of 果冻影院 Magazine to reflect on his past decade in this critical leadership role.

What are the most important lessons you have learned during your tenure as dean, School of Medicine (SOM)?

Know your values and leadership style and stay true to those principles 鈥� for me, that has included the 5Ps (PEOPLE, PROGRAMS, PLANNING, PRACTICE and PARTNERSHIPS), servant leadership and bringing superior effort every single day.

When I entered the Dean鈥檚 Office, I was somewhat surprised to realize the level of infrastructure-building that was required for 果冻影院 to become a 鈥渕odern鈥� $1 billion+ organization. As some examples, there was no central tracking system to allow leaders to follow their team鈥檚 performance, and some units in the SOM did not provide annual reviews for staff and faculty to discuss their progress, accomplishments and goals. Given my belief that our PEOPLE are 果冻影院鈥檚 greatest asset, it was clear that we needed a significant cultural change. This has required enormous effort, but we now invest in our PEOPLE and develop them in a much different way than a decade ago.

I also learned how some important things related to developing a sustained and successful future in the SOM. For our faculty leaders, this has meant breaking away from the traditional 鈥渙ne package per leader鈥� that was meant to last them for their entire tenure as a leader at 果冻影院 and, instead, giving them an opportunity to reboot their investments every five years.

In addition, this has meant crafting an endowment to support our academic strategy. In the past 10 years, I have worked with faculty leaders, President Raymond, our trustees and finance team to create more than $1.4 billion worth of endowments in the SOM. This has placed 果冻影院 as one of the best-endowed medical schools in the country.

How do you feel your ongoing work as both a clinician and a researcher helps connect you to the faculty?

I believe it has been a critical part of my deanship that I have continued to balance all of my responsibilities as dean and still see patients and have an NIH-funded research laboratory. It鈥檚 important that faculty and staff in the clinical and research missions recognize that the dean fully understands their work and does it along with them. I have been a funded investigator with peer-reviewed grants since I started at 果冻影院 as a faculty member. Maintaining my lab and securing more than $15 million in research funding over my career has solidified that I completely understand their scientific world.

What do you feel have been your greatest accomplishments as dean, SOM?

In general terms, much of what I am most proud of falls into the PEOPLE category:

Mentoring PEOPLE at 果冻影院 along all levels of their career continues to be a high priority for me. This includes pre- and postdoctoral students who are on their way to wonderful academic careers, junior faculty to become leaders at 果冻影院 and elsewhere, and senior faculty to become national leaders at 果冻影院 and elsewhere.

I have worked with many others to help 果冻影院 become a much more diverse organization. In the SOM, we have more than tripled the number of women leaders and have substantively increased the diversity of our leaders. The medical school class diversity has grown in so many ways.

By working with others, we developed psychiatry residencies in our regional campuses (PDF). Mental health issues are some of society鈥檚 most significant issues, and access to professionals in many parts of Wisconsin was almost nonexistent. These new residencies will completely change the landscape for access in our state. We鈥檝e increased the number of psychiatrists training in Wisconsin by 40 percent, and many of our providers are staying in areas of the state that are the most underserved.

What do you feel have been your greatest challenges as dean, SOM?

Without question, my greatest challenge as dean has been leading in the SOM during some real times of tragedy. First on this list (and related to the mental health comments above) occurred when there was a loss of a student to suicide. One positive outcome was elevating the conversation about these issues and substantive changes in the way in which we provide mental health services to our learners. There have been other losses of faculty and staff and also loved ones of faculty and staff. Each one of these stays with me, and all affected remain in my thoughts and prayers.

Second has been the COVID pandemic and the enormous strain and difficulty this has caused all at 果冻影院 and throughout the world.

How do you feel your national leadership positions have benefited 果冻影院?

When I took the dean鈥檚 role, it was pretty common for people to get 果冻影院 confused with the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. That rarely happens anymore, and certainly not in the fashion that was previously common. In part, because of these national roles, virtually all medical school deans and leaders of our academic health systems know about 果冻影院 and what makes us unique. But also, importantly, these national leadership roles have allowed for the development of professional relationships and friendships with some of the most prominent leaders in academic medicine around the country 鈥� enhancing the exchange of ideas and best practices and establishing collaborations at the national level.

One truly critical example occurred during the pandemic involving federal CARES Act monies. Partly due to my work with the AAMC, 果冻影院 was able to elevate early on in the pandemic that medical schools or physician practices like we have at 果冻影院 were not being considered for support from these funds. In working with the AAMC leadership, we were able to get 果冻影院 and similar institutions considered for significant support and receipt of CARES Act funds to help cover the losses sustained due to the pandemic鈥檚 impact on our physicians鈥� ability to treat patients.

What would you like your legacy as dean, SOM, to be?

As I have mentioned above, the 5Ps have guided what I have done in the Dean鈥檚 Office over the past decade, and by far, the most important is the PEOPLE aspect of this. I would hope that students, staff and faculty would say that Dean Kerschner cared deeply for the PEOPLE of 果冻影院 and worked as hard as possible to create avenues for the PEOPLE to reach the best version of themselves.

Some of 果冻影院's milestones achieved during Dr. Kerschner's tenure as dean:

November 11, 2011: Dr. Kerschner appointed executive vice president and dean of the School of Medicine

February 15, 2012: Dr. Kerschner installed as dean of the School of Medicine and executive vice president

June 25, 2012: Board of Trustees authorizes 果冻影院 to develop community-based medical education programs in Green Bay and Central Wisconsin

August 2012: School of Medicine launches the new Discovery Curriculum

May 29, 2015: Board of Trustees approves the creation of a School of Pharmacy

July 1, 2015: 果冻影院-Green Bay matriculates inaugural class of 26 medical students

July 5, 2016: 果冻影院-Central Wisconsin matriculates inaugural class of 26 medical students

June 23, 2017: Dr. Kerschner named 果冻影院鈥檚 first provost

August 2017: School of Pharmacy matriculates inaugural class of 48 pharmacy students

December 2017: New Hub for Collaborative Medicine opens

October 2018: 果冻影院 establishes the Center for the Advancement of Women in Science and Medicine

June 2019: Board of Trustees approves 2020-2025 School of Medicine Research Strategic Plan

November 2019: Dr. Kerschner becomes chair of the board of directors of the AAMC

November 2020: Dr. Kerschner named The Julia A. Uihlein, MA, Dean of the School of Medicine

April 2021: New affiliation agreement among 果冻影院, Children鈥檚 Specialty Group and Children鈥檚 Wisconsin approved

June 2021: LCME votes to continue full accreditation to 果冻影院鈥檚 medical education program

December 2021: Dr. Kerschner and research team receive patent for novel technology to treat otitis media

鈥� Sara L. Wilkins