Christian Bimé, MD (Pulmonary), Elizabeth Juneman, MD (Cardiology), and Sireesha Koppula, MD, MPH, MBA (Nephrology), are the three University of Arizona Department of Medicine representatives among 72 clinicians—14 from Tucson—included in the “Class of 2018” for the Banner Health Advanced Leadership Program for Physicians.
The class is the largest ever for Banner—so big it had to be split in two with Thursday and Friday cohorts for meetings, according to Laura Gardner, program manager with the Banner Corporate Center in Phoenix. The program officially started March 3, but the class won’t host its first on-site training session til April 19.
“We have six on-sites and finish on Sept. 28 with our graduation,” Gardner said. “Participants have a few networking events, scheduled for April, June and September. And they’ve got some coaching calls once a month,” in addition to online activities and other meetings.
After the September graduation, participants are required to choose among six options or "tracks" for the program's "post-grad experience" over the following year. These include: Grad Track Retreats, Assist on an Onsite Session, Group Projects, Group Coaching, Alumni Association (tracking where ALP graduates are now) and Advocacy—this last track added by one of last year's cohorts and which involves working with Bethany Bruzzi, DO, inpatient service medical director, Family and Community Medicine, Banner – University Medical Center Tucson (Banner – UMC Tucson or BUMCT), and Jason Bezozo, Banner's vice president for government relations.
"We ask them to pick just one, but some pick two or three," Gardner said. “The focus is to promote leadership development amongst our physicians in order to prepare them for the next step in their careers. We proudly say every one of our CMOs at our hospitals have been through this program.”
DOM’s ALP Program Candidates
- Dr. Bime, an assistant professor of medicine in the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, is medical director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit at Banner – UMC Tucson. He earned his medical degree from the Universite de Yaoundé, in Cameroon, and a master’s degree in epidemiology from Michigan State University, completing his residency in internal medicine at Detroit’s Wayne State University where he was chief resident. He did his Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship at Johns Hopkins University and joined the faculty at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson in 2013. He has received several research and training awards, including the UAHS Career Development Award (2014) and NIH/NHLBI AZ-Pride Program in Advanced Health Disparities Training (2015).
- Dr. Juneman is an associate professor of medicine, UA Division of Cardiology, member, UA Sarver Heart Center, UA Reynolds Scholar in Geriatrics, and director, outpatient cardiology, Banner – UMC Tucson and South. She joined the UA faculty full time in January 2015, previously serving an assistant professor (since 2007) through her role as heart failure, echocardiography and stress lab director at the Southern Arizona VA Health Care System in Tucson. Dr. Juneman completed her residency in internal medicine and Cardiovascular Disease Fellowship at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson, where she was both chief resident and chief fellow. She holds a medical degree from the University of Texas – Houston and an electrical engineering degree from Southern Methodist University. She is a peer reviewer for the Journal of Cardiac Failure (since 2007) and Tissue Engineering (since 2011).
- Dr. Koppula is an assistant professor of medicine, Division of Nephrology, and medical director, inpatient dialysis, Banner – UMC South, and medical director, nephrology clinic operations, Banner – University Medical Group (BUMG) Tucson, and medical director, quality, BUMG Tucson. She got her medical degree at Rangaraya Medical College (India) and was a clinical physician in Andhra Pradesh, India, before earning her master’s in public health degree from Western Kentucky University (2002-04). She followed that with an internship at Creighton University Medical Center (Omaha, Neb.) and her internal medicine residency at Rosalind Franklin University (Chicago). She completed her nephrology fellowship at the UA College of Medicine – Tucson and joined the faculty afterward. She has since earned an MBA from the UA Eller College of Management and completed the American Association for Physician Leadership (AAPL) Certified Physician Executive Program and American Board of Medical Quality Certified in Medical Quality (CMQ) Program.
Other Tucson ALP Program Candidates
- Bellal Joseph, MD, professor and vice chair of research, Surgery, BUMCT
- Eric Peters, MD, chief, Anesthesia, Banner – UMC South
- Katri Typpo, MD, MPH, chief, Pediatric Critical Care, BUMCT
- Katherine Woods, DO, assistant professor, Psychiatry, BUMCT
- Melissa Zukowski, MD, medical director, Pediatric ED, BUMCT
- Holli Horak, MD, associate professor, Neurology
- Ann Mathias, DO, associate professor, Family & Community Medicine, BUMCT
- Elizabeth K. Meehan, MD, assistant professor, Family & Community Medicine, BUMCT
- Valentine Nfonsam, MD, associate professor, Surgical Oncology, BUMCT
- Robin Singh, MD, MPH, CMO, Banner – University Medical Group
- David Stewart, MD, chief, Colorectal Surgery, BUMCT
Click here to see who else made it into the program’s Class of 2018.
—David Mogollón
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