Former AMA President Heads TAMU Health Science Center

Former American Medical Association President Dr. Nancy W. Dickey was named president of the Texas A&M University System Health Science Center and vice chancellor for health affairs for the Texas A&M University System, effective Jan. 1. The announcement was made last fall during a special meeting of the A&M System board of regents.

"Dr. Dickey is an excellent choice for the presidency of the Health Science Center. She is a proven leader who is highly respected by her peers. Under her leadership, the HSC will further its outstanding service to the citizens of Texas and beyond," said A&M System Chancellor Howard. D. Graves.

"I want to express my sincere appreciation to Chancellor Graves and the board of regents for their confidence in me," Dr. Dickey said.

Although Dr. Dickey’s office is in College Station, she said she spends a fair amount of time visiting the A&M System’s various components, including the Texas A&M Institute of Biosciences and Technology here on the Texas Medical Center campus.

Dr. Dickey sees strategic and collaborative planning in the health science center’s future.

"To some degree, my senior staff and I will carry ideas from one campus to another. We’ll be the vehicle that helps create opportunities for faculty and students at the different campuses by spending time with them. These kinds of face-to-face meetings often lead to really exciting ideas."

Dr. Dickey hopes to accomplish several goals in her new role.

First, the health science center is the youngest in the state, and she wants to increase the institution’s visibility.

"A substantial number of people in the state, and certainly outside of the state, don’t know we exist. We’d like to put ourselves on the map," she said. "Our young health science center provides extraordinary opportunities for research and education, and for service to the entire state. I am committed to leading the HSC to take advantage of these opportunities and I will fully support our faculty, staff and students in their mission to improve the health and quality of life for the citizens of Texas."

Dr. Dickey wants the health science center to partner with all of the A&M System’s universities in enhancing biological and biotechnical research.

"We believe we can increase the amount and the quality of biological sciences research that is occurring," she said.

She also wants the institution to continue training clinicians and contributing to new knowledge.

"We want to continue to be a school that trains superb dentists and physicians, but we also want to be sure that we’re doing cutting-edge research and contributing to new knowledge. There is an emphasis on building our research infrastructure and that brings us back around to wanting to make our mark as a health science center."

The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center campus is scattered across the state, from as far south as McAllen, to as far north as Dallas. Its five components include Baylor College of Dentistry, the college of medicine, the graduate school of biomedical sciences, the Institute of Biosciences and Technology, and the School of Rural Public Health – the only school of its type in the United States.

"The IBT is our health science center’s portal, or entry, into the Texas Medical Center," Dr. Dickey said, "and it is important for our health science center to have this mechanism to interface with."

She said the Texas Medical Center is world renowned for its medical expertise, medical research and even to some degree, translational education – moving from the bench to the bedside.

Dr. Dickey, a board-certified family physician from College Station, served as president of the American Medical Association from 1998 to 1999.

"Because of my time at the AMA, I think people look to me for expertise on ethics, leadership, and communications skills," she said.

Prior to her election as AMA president, Dr. Dickey served in many roles with the organization, including chair of the board of trustees, vice chair, and secretary of the board. During her tenure as chair and president, Dr. Dickey helped create the National Patient Safety Foundation and served as its first board chair. She is also a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians and has served in several capacities with the Texas Medical Association.

Dr. Dickey was founding program director of the Family Practice Residency of the Brazos Valley and is a professor of family and community medicine at the A&M Health Science Center College of Medicine, where she has been on the faculty since 1996.

Currently, she serves as editor in chief of Medem, an Internet-based patient education company. Medem is a partnership of the AMA and nearly a dozen medical specialty societies and several state associations. She oversees the quality of the information and the ethical principles of publishing and advertising. She has served as a reviewer for the Journal of the American Medical Association and on the editorial advisory boards of Patient Care, Medical World News and Medical Ethics Advisor.

Dr. Dickey earned her undergraduate degree from Stephen F. Austin University in Nacogdoches, followed my her medical degree in 1976 from The University of Texas Medical School at Houston, where she was a recipient of the Distinguished Alumni Award. She has also been recognized by the Texas Society of Pathologists, and by "Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities."

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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