RowanSOM Dean named to ACGME Board of Directors

Dr. Thomas A. Cavalieri, Dean of the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine (RowanSOM), has been selected to join the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Board of Directors.

The ACGME is a private, not-for-profit organization that sets standards for US graduate medical education (residency and fellowship) programs and the institutions that sponsor them. ACGME renders accreditation decisions based on compliance with these standards. During the most recent academic year, ACGME was responsible for monitoring approximately 12,420 ACGME-accredited residency and fellowship programs in 182 specialties and subspecialties at 862 institutions.

“While I am honored to be invited to join this prestigious group and to lend my expertise to its critically important oversight role, I do not consider this an individual accolade,” said Dr. Cavalieri, who will serve an initial three-year term on the ACGME Board of Directors. “My selection honors everyone at RowanSOM and reflects the high level of regard that other national leaders in medical education have for our medical school and our university.”

In addition to his role as RowanSOM Dean, Dr. Cavalieri also serves as a Professor of Medicine and Osteopathic Heritage Endowed Chair for Primary Care Research at the medical school. An advocate for older adults, Dr. Cavalieri has raised the bar on the standard of care for the senior population. He was the Founding Director of the Center of Aging, which has grown into the Department of Geriatrics and Gerontology-New Jersey Institute for Successful Aging at Rowan. He is the author of over 40 peer-reviewed publications and abstracts, many of which focus on end-of-life issues, his primary area of research.

Dr. Cavalieri’s career in medicine includes many prominent leadership roles, including:

• Secretarial appointee of the National Academic Affiliations Council with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs
• Chair of the Board of Deans with the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine
• Board of Directors, New Jersey Association of Osteopathic Physicians and Surgeons
• Member of the National Committee on Foreign Medical Education and Accreditation, U.S. Department of Education/Secretary of Education