Advance the Health of Populations
To work together to improve health outcomes locally and globally
Strategic Plan
Introduction
In January 2020, Peter Bates, MD, Dean ad interim of Tufts University School of Medicine (TUSM), charged a Strategic Planning Steering Committee (SPSC) to develop a School of Medicine Strategic Plan. The SPSC has been chaired by Karen Freund, MD, MPH, Sara Murray Jordan Professor of Medicine and the TUSM Vice Chair for Faculty Affairs and Quality Improvement, and Joyce Sackey, MD, FACP, Dr. Jane Murphy Gaughan Professor of Medicine and TUSM Dean for Multicultural Affairs & Global Health. The SPSC, appointed by Dean Bates, was comprised of 22 medical and graduate students, staff, administrators and faculty representing TUSM, Tufts University and TUSM's academic partners. When the committee was charged, the current anti-racist movement and COVID-19 pandemic were not evident; the effect of these forces on the TUSM strategic plan has been significant.
The committee was charged with developing a strategic plan to guide TUSM for 3-5 years, beginning in 2021; the strategic plan goals are to align with the TUSM Mission, Vision and Values and provide the foundation for operational and financial planning to implement the strategic priorities. Dean Bates encouraged the SPSC to think broadly of societal needs, envision aspirational goals, the role of TUSM and its academic partners in achieving the strategic goals, and to not dwell on perceived implementation barriers early in the planning process. The Quadruple Aim — improving the health of populations, enhancing the experience of individual care, reducing the per capita cost of health care, and improving the work life of those providing health care — was a guiding set of planning principles. The SPSC was not charged with developing an implementation plan for the strategic goals developed by the committee. There were four phases to the TUSM strategic planning process: Discovery, Design, Testing, and Approval and Implementation.
The Context for the Strategic Plan
When the SPSC began its work, it carefully reviewed the existing Tufts University School of Medicine Mission and Values. The SPSC affirmed the continued foundational importance of education, research and clinical care embodied in the Mission and the Values of excellence, humanism, social responsibility and professionalism.
Mission
To educate a diverse body of students and advance medical knowledge in a dynamic and collaborative environment. We seek to foster the development of dedicated clinicians, scientists, public health professionals, and educators who will have a sustained positive impact on the health of individuals, communities, and the world.
Values
Commitment to Excellence
To cultivate a perpetual spirit of inquiry and creativity, leading to outstanding evidence-based health care, rigorous research and scholarship, and inspired teaching.
Commitment to Humanism
To relieve suffering and improve quality of life. To treat all people with compassion, respecting human dignity and autonomy.
Commitment to Social Responsibility
To serve and advocate for all people, especially underserved and vulnerable patients and populations, by addressing social determinants of health, health equity, social justice, and stewardship of social resources.
Building on our Mission and Values
TUSM four mission pillars: Advancing the health of populations; Clinical care of individuals and families; Research; Education
While the SPSC recommended maintaining the core pillars of education, research, clinical care of individuals and families, it added a fourth pillar — advancing the health of populations. The Values were expanded to include explicit commitments to anti-racism and a culture of inclusion, health justice and community partnership. All of the six TUSM Values, old and new, are intended to be cross-cutting across the Mission pillars to foster integration, synergy, collaboration, cooperation, and opportunity.
Engaging Stakeholders
The SPSC took a broad stakeholder–engaged approach, surveying faculty, students, staff and alumni at the beginning of the process and as the strategic goals were drafted. The committee reviewed the results of their survey, which was sent to all TUSM students, faculty and staff eliciting ideas about the collective future of the School of Medicine; there were 484 survey responses.
SPSC members conducted 28 presentations to various constituencies across TUSM and its academic partners, eliciting comment on draft versions of the goals and sub-goals before developing the final strategic plan.
TUSM Strategic Goals and Sub-goals 2021-2025
Tufts University School of Medicine aspires to respond to new and emerging challenges and opportunities, and to continue to be a top-tier medical school.
The TUSM 2021–2025 strategic goals, each with a set of sub-goals, and aligned with the TUSM Mission and Values are to:
Transform TUSM into an Anti-Racist Institution
To inspire and effect greater change in the system
Achieve Inclusive Excellence
To ensure the equitable opportunity to learn and work in a diverse environment
Make TUSM Degree Programs Affordable
To increase opportunities and remove barriers so that all students can pursue their passions
Advance Community Impact
To have a positive effect on the people and communities we serve
Achieve Greater Integration
To optimize the environment for a broader culture of collaboration
These six goals preserve and build upon the current TUSM Mission of clinical excellence, education and research and the core TUSM Values of excellence, humanism, social responsibility and professionalism.
Strategic Planning Steering Committee
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Karen Freund, MD, MPH, Sheldon M. Wolff Professor of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine; Professor and Chair of Medicine, Tufts University School of Medicine
Joyce Sackey, MD, FACP, Dr. Jane Murphy Gaughan Professor, Tufts University School of Medicine; Dean for Multicultural Affairs & Global Health, Tufts University School of Medicine; Associate Provost and Chief Diversity Officer, Tufts University Health Sciences Schools -
Kristin Lindquist, MSc, SPSC Project Manager; Communications Manager
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Faiz Jaspar Abu, Maine Track MD/MPH Candidate
Mary Brown, MD, MS, Pediatrician; Director; Pediatrics Clerkship, TUSM; Director of Continuity Clinics, Pediatric Residency Program; Assistant Professor
Stacie Clark, PhD Candidate
Kevin Dunn, PhD, Vice Provost, Associate Professor, Tufts University
Signe Flieger, PhD, Tufts Health Plan Professor of Health Care Policy Research; Assistant Professor of Public Health and Community Medicine
Paula Gagnon, Associate Director of Student Affairs
John Ibekwe, MD Candidate
Nathanaelle Onyinyechi Ibeziako, MD Candidate
Iris Jaffe, MD, PhD, Executive Director, Molecular Cardiology Research Institute (MCRI); Cardiologist; Director, Vascular Biology Research Center within the MCRI; Elisa Kent Mendelsohn Professor of Molecular Cardiology
Amy Lee, MD, Family Physician in Clinical Practice at Greater Lawrence Family Health Center; Associate Professor of Family Medicine
John Leong, MD, PhD, Chair of Molecular Biology & Microbiology
Jamie Maguire, PhD, Kenneth and JoAnn G. Wellner Professor; Associate Professor of Neuroscience
Christina McCormack, Department Manager for Public Health and Community Medicine
Erin Morgan, Director of Medical Development for Alumni Giving and Relations
Elizabeth Moss, MD/PhD Candidate
Anne Mosenthal, MD, Lahey Chief Academic Officer
Keith Nokes, MD, MPH, Director, Ho Health Justice Scholars Program; Assistant Professor of Family Medicine, Lawrence General Hospital
Douglas Sawyer, MD, PhD, Co-Director, Myocardial Biology & Heart Failure Research Lab; Chief Academic Officer, Maine Medical Center; Interim Director, Maine Medical Center Research Institute
Anthony Schlaff, MD, MPH, Director of Public Health Program, Professor of Public Health & Community Medicine
Mike Tarnoff, MD, Chair and Surgeon-in-Chief, Tufts Medical Center; Associate Professor of Surgery
Dominic Voehler, MPH Candidate
Clara Williamson, MD Candidate -
Scott Epstein, MD, Dean of Educational Affairs
Caitlin Fai, MD, MD Candidate
Rubeen Guardado, DrPH Candidate
Aviva Must, PhD, Dean of Public Health and Professional Degree Programs
Approval Process
January 4, 2021 (for Vote)
Executive Council
January 4, 2021 (for Vote)
General Faculty
January 8, 2021
President and Provost
January 12, 2021 (for Endorsement)
Board of Advisors
1st week of February 2021 (at President’s discretion)
Tufts BOT and/or TAAC
