The Endocrine Society is pleased to welcome its president for 2021 – 2022, Carol H. Wysham, MD, who took office March 23, 2021, at the end of the Endocrine Society’s official business meeting during ENDO 2021.
As a clinical endocrinologist and diabetologist at the Rockwood Clinic, part of the MultiCare Health System in Spokane, Wash., as well as a clinical professor of Medicine at the University of Washington, she has been treating patients as well as conducting clinical research and resident education for more than 30 years. She has served as president-elect since March 2020.
“I am very honored to be entrusted with the responsibility of acting as president of the Endocrine Society,” Wysham says. “But truth be told, we are blessed to have very the talented staff that carry out the strategy set forth by the Board of Directors.”
“My interest in diabetes was a marriage of necessity and the exciting ongoing advances in the field – from the development of home glucose monitoring, understanding pathophysiology of complications, new treatments, and the new technologies. I have seen, firsthand, a dramatic improvement in the outcomes of patients with diabetes due to all that has come along in the past 35-plus years.”
Wysham, who succeeds Gary D. Hammer, MD, PhD, credits her predecessors for preparing her for her new role. “Over the past year, I have had the privilege to work along the current and past-presidents and the secretary-treasurer,” she says. “It is truly a team effort.”
Wysham’s research and clinical work focuses on preventing and managing cardiovascular complications in individuals with diabetes. She earned her medical degree at the University of Iowa School of Medicine in Iowa City, then trained in internal medicine at Oregon Health Sciences University in Portland. She then returned to Iowa City to complete her fellowship in endocrinology and metabolism at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics. “The entire field of endocrinology, but especially diabetes, has greatly evolved over the 35 years since I finished my fellowship,” she says. “My interest in diabetes was a marriage of necessity and the exciting ongoing advances in the field – from the development of home glucose monitoring, understanding pathophysiology of complications, new treatments, and the new technologies. I have seen, firsthand, a dramatic improvement in the outcomes of patients with diabetes due to all that has come along in the past 35-plus years.”
Wysham has been a member of the Endocrine Society since 1990 and has been involved as a member volunteer since 2006. She’s certainly been busy in her time with the Society, sitting on the Annual Meeting Steering Committee and serving two years as the Clinical Practice co-chair and one year as the chair. “Additionally, I was a member of the Council (now Board of Directors) for the Society for three years,” she says.
For Wysham, being able to apply the fascinating science of endocrinology to improving the lives of her patients continues to inspire her work. “I hold very dear the long-term relationship with my patients and love to teach!”
Now Wysham is hoping to apply her love of teaching to her goals for the Society over the next year. Her goals include:
- Improving the pipeline of endocrinologists by developing programs to introduce endocrinology as a field early in a trainee’s experience;
- Improving the pipeline of leaders, but developing mechanisms for them to be heard and recognized;
- Strengthening the Society’s 25-year commitment to diversity and inclusion;
- Continuing to explore ways that the Society can support basic science; and
- Broadening the role that the Endocrine Society plays in educating and supporting primary care providers.
I would like to see our Society be the educational home for all endocrinologists, and others seeking knowledge about endocrinology.
“The Endocrine Society is already highly regarded,” Wysham says. “My predecessors and the Society staff have already made great strides in carrying out our strategies for global involvement as well as many of the pipeline issues I am interested in. I would like to see our Society be the educational home for all endocrinologists, and others seeking knowledge about endocrinology.”
Loading ...