PALTC23 Conference Recordings FR16 Enhancing Leadership for Women in PALTC: Reclaiming Happiness in our Lives

Enhancing Leadership for Women in PALTC: Reclaiming Happiness in our Lives

After the turbulent past few years, it is time to refocus on why we love working in PALTC and the happiness our commitment to the patients and the care communities brings. What practices are healthiest, instill happiness in us, our teams and our patients? How do we continue to enrich ourselves so we can spread the love? How do cultural, economic, and interpersonal forces impact our happiness? This workshop targets an inter-professional audience of women committed to PALTC, though all are welcome to attend. Leaders in PALTC will draw from their diverse backgrounds, experience, and research to share their journeys, what they love about their work, and their strategies for happiness and wellbeing. Facilitated roundtables will create dialogue around shared experience. Attendees will re-focus on their happiness and identify individualized strategies to promote joy in PALTC.

Learning Objectives:

At the completion of this session, learners will be able to:

  • Name individual and structural factors that affect happiness for those working in PALTC.
  • Use tools proven to increase happiness.
  • Describe ways to help yourself and coworkers mitigate stress and increase happiness.

Jamehl Demons, MD

Jamehl Demons, MD, is an associate professor of Internal Medicine/Geriatrics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She is a graduate of the Emory University School of Medicine and the internal medicine residency and geriatrics fellowship of Wake Forest. She states as her reason for entering geriatrics is to provide care to post-acute and long-term care nursing home residents. Dr. Demons is a past president of the North Carolina Medical Directors Association (now CPALTC) and is excited to begin her fourth year as the Co-Director of the Society’s Futures Program. She serves on the DEI taskforce and has helped plan its annual symposia.

Suzanne Gillespie, MD, RD, CMD

Suzanne Gillespie, MD, RD, CMD, is Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Geriatrics/Aging and Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry. She is board-certified in Internal Medicine, Geriatric Medicine and Hospice & Palliative Medicine. Dr. Gillespie is Associate Chief of Staff for Geriatrics Extended Care and Medical Director of two Community Living Centers in the VA Fingerlakes Healthcare System. She is proud to be the current president of AMDA the Society for PALTC Medicine.

Patricia Bach, PsyD, RN

Patricia Bach, PsyD, RN, is a clinical psychologist who specializes in behavioral medicine, geriatrics, and neuropsychology. She is a graduate of Georgetown University, the California State University at Sacramento, and the California School of Professional Psychology, with internship and fellowship training at Eastern Virginia Medical School and the Kaiser Center for Neuropsychological Services, respectively. Dr. Bach is an adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Family & Community Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School and serves on AMDA’s Behavioral Health Advisory Council.

Sabine Von Preyss-Friedman, MD, FACP, CMD

Sabine Von Preyss-Friedman, MD, FACP, CMD, is an Internist and Geriatric Medical Specialist and has practiced in Skilled Nursing Facilities since her fellowship at the University of Washington in 1988. She first became a certified Medical Director in 1992 and has since been enthusiastically engaged in Medical Direction of Skilled Nursing Facilities. In 2011, she was honored by AMDA/Society of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine as Medical Director of the Year. She is Associate clinical Professor Emerita at the University of Washington and Chief Medical Officer of Avalon Healthcare. As a Medical Director and Chief Medical Officer she is involved in Quality improvement, developing standards and outcomes measures in our facility and the successful translation of medical evidence into clinical care. Her mission is to support the best care possible medical care for all of our patients. Dr. von Preyss-Friedman currently serves as the president of the Washington State Society of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine.

Gwendolen Buhr, MD, MHS, MEd, CMD

Gwendolen Buhr, MD, MHS, MEd, CMD, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics at Duke University Medical Center. She works as an educator and clinician teaching and practicing in the primary care and long‐term care setting. She earned her MD from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, completed residency in Internal Medicine at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, NC, and then went on to do a geriatrics fellowship at Duke University. Dr. Buhr also has a Master of Education degree from North Carolina State University.

  • 1.5 CME
  • 1.5 CMD Management
  • 1.5 MOC

Release Date: 03/29/2023   |   Expiration: 03/01/2026

Credit Statements:

Accreditation: Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education for physicians. 

CME Designation: Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medical Association designates this enduring material for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

CMD Credit Hours: This CME activity has been pre-approved by the American Board of Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine (ABPLM) for up to 1.5 management hour(s) toward certification or recertification as a Certified Medical Director (CMD) in post-acute and long-term care medicine. Each physician should claim only those hours of credit actually spent on the activity.

The CMD Program is administered by the ABPLM. For further information, contact ABPLM at 410-992-3117 or at cmd@paltmed.org.

ABIM Maintenance of Certification (MOC): Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the evaluation component, enables the participant to earn up to 1.5 Medical Knowledge MOC points and patient safety credit in the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program.

Participants will earn MOC points equivalent to the amount of CME credits claimed for the activity. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC credit.

Financial Disclosure Statement:

The Association requires the disclosure of all speaker/faculty/planner’s relevant financial relationships; presence of off-label use of a device or medication; and discussion of any experimental, new or evolving topic prior to each accredited education activity.

If the learner perceives any bias toward a commercial product or service, advocation of unscientific approaches to diagnosis or therapy, or recommendation, treatment, or manners of practicing healthcare that are determined to have risks or dangers that outweigh the benefits or are known to be ineffective in the treatment of patients please report this to the Association's staff.


The following speaker(s) disclosed relevant financial relationship(s): 

  • Julie Gammack, MD, CMD (Planner & Speaker): Stockholder: Amarin
  • Kenya Rivas Velasquez, MD, CMD, FAAFP (Planner & Speaker): OptumRx: Stockholder
  • All other planners, speakers, and AMDA staff have no relationships with ineligible companies.

All relevant financial relationships have been identified and mitigated.

Components visible upon registration.