The Geoffrey Fleming Academy for Excellence in Education Mentorship Program, also known as the Fleming Society, is designed to provide facilitated peer mentorship for medical educators to:
- Augment teaching and communication skills
- Promote professional growth
- Enhance career development
Under the guidance of the Academy for Excellence in Education (AEE), faculty members in the program will participate in monthly, small-group meetings that consist of eight to 10 junior faculty members nominated by their respective Chairpersons and two senior faculty facilitators with demonstrated success in education. The purpose of these meetings is to provide support and guidance to access and acquire the resources and skills necessary for successful careers as educators. Currently, Dr. Rebecca Swan and Dr. Amy Fleming serve as facilitators, Dr. Jill Simmons is the Pediatrics Chairperson, and Dr. Joe Gigante and Dr. Lindsay Pagano serve on the steering committee.
The following Department of Pediatrics faculty members were nominated by their division chiefs and accepted into the pilot program, which started in April 2021:
- Uchenna Anani, MD, FAAP - Neonatology
- Alexandra Borst, MD - Pediatric Hematology/Oncology
- Isaura Diaz, MD - Pediatric Critical Care
- Angela Grochowsky, MD, FAAP, FACP, FACMG - Pediatric Genetics
- Lindsay Pagano, MD - Child Neurology
Department of Pediatrics faculty members in the second cohort, which began in September 2023, include:
- Wael Alrifai, MD, MS - Neonatology
- Erin Boyd, MD, MSPH - Adolescent Medicine
- Katharine Boyle, MD - Pediatric Critical Care Medicine
- Emma Carter, MD - Pediatric Neurology
- Christopher Ekker, MD - General Pediatrics
- Tori Foster, PhD, BCBA - Developmental Medicine
- Danielle Orsagh-Yentis, MD - Pediatric Gastroenterology, Hepatology, and Nutrition
- Elizabeth Rose - EdD, MEd, MPH
- Lauren Swanson, DO - Neonatology
Geoffrey Fleming, MD, MMHC
The program is named in honor of Dr. Geoffrey Fleming, MD, Professor of Pediatrics, for his devotion to medical education and mentorship. Dr. Fleming received his undergraduate degree from the University of Florida in 1993, his medical degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine in 1997, and his Master of Management in Health Care from the Vanderbilt Owen School of Business in 2019. He did his residency in pediatrics at the University of Texas at San Antonio and completed his fellowship in pediatric critical care at the University of Michigan.
Dr. Fleming and his wife, Amy, moved to Nashville from Michigan in 2007 to join the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine faculty, where he served as a pediatric critical care physician. While on faculty, he discovered a love of educating and later became the Vice President for Continuous Professional Development.
Dr. Fleming served as a critical care physician for over two decades and as program director for the pediatric critical care training program for eight years. From 2017-2018, he chaired the Vanderbilt University faculty senate, and in June of 2020, he was honored by the Chancellor with the Vanderbilt University Thomas Jefferson Award, annually given to a member of the faculty for distinguished service’ to the University. The University has also designated the conference room where he taught critical care fellows on the fifth floor of the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital as the “Geoffrey M. Fleming, M.D. Pediatric Critical Care Education and Conference Room.” A plaque on the wall says he proved “a tireless advocate for excellence in himself and in his trainees."
Dr. Fleming remained on faculty in the Department until his death in December 2020 from cholangiocarcinoma.