The Arnold P. Gold Foundation Board Chair Richard C. Sheerr has announced two new appointees to the Board of Trustees: Dr. Pedro “Joe” Greer, Dean of Roseman University’s new medical school, and Dr. Rosemarie L. Fisher, who is Professor Emerita & Senior Research Scientist at Yale School of Medicine.
“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Greer and Dr. Fisher to the Board of Trustees at the Gold Foundation,” said Mr. Sheerr. “They bring extensive healthcare experience at the highest and most innovative levels, as well as embodying scientific excellence, compassion, and collaboration in their care of patients. We look forward to their insights as we pursue the mission of ensuring humanistic healthcare for all.”
Dr. Fisher joined the Trustees in June as Chair-Elect of the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) Advisory Council, a position that automatically includes a seat on the Board. Dr. Greer joined the Board of Trustees on September 20.
The Gold Foundation is a nonprofit organization that champions humanism in healthcare. For more than 30 years, the foundation has worked to foster compassionate, collaborative, scientifically excellent care by engaging medical schools, health systems, companies and individual clinicians around the world. The foundation is perhaps best known for the now iconic White Coat Ceremony, which marks the start of training by emphasizing the importance of humanistic care, and the Gold Humanism Honor Society, which has more than 40,000 members.
About Dr. Pedro “Joe” Greer
“I am truly humbled and honored by this appointment,” said Dr. Greer. “This foundation has a progressive philosophy of life that affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives that inspire us to the greater good. Humanism in healthcare, compassion, collaboration, scientific excellence — all of those things are things that we should be striving for — as well as, to use a wider lens, health equity and racial justice in our country.”
Dr. Greer has a celebrated medical career advising former presidents and creating health clinics for the underserved in Florida. He is also a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” Fellowship.
Dr. Greer joined Roseman University of Health Sciences in Las Vegas in summer 2020 as the inaugural dean of a new medical school. Prior to this role, he served as Professor of Medicine; Founding Chair of Humanities, Health, and Society; and Associate Dean for Community Engagement at Florida International University’s Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine in Miami. Working with various colleges at that university, he spearheaded the nationally recognized Green Family Foundation Neighborhood Health Education Learning Program. This program prepares students in healthcare fields to address the inequities in healthcare by caring for underserved families in Miami-Dade County.
Dr. Greer has been a long-time advocate for health equity, working directly with patients as well as guiding and advising on policy. He established Camillus Health Concern, Inc. and Saint John Bosco, health centers for underserved populations in Miami-Dade County. He has received numerous recognitions, including 2019’s 500 Most Influential Business Leaders in Life Sciences listed on the Florida Trend; the 2019 AMA Foundation Pride in Profession Award; the Bob Graham Center for Public Service 2017 Citizen of the Year; the 2014 National Jefferson Award in the category of Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged; and the 2013 Great Floridian Award. He wrote Waking Up in America, a book about his life experiences, including caring for homeless individuals and advising Presidents George Bush Sr. and Bill Clinton on healthcare policy.
He completed his medical studies at La Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra in the Dominican Republic. He trained in Internal Medicine, served as Chief Resident, and completed two post-doctoral fellowships (Hepatology and Gastroenterology) at the VA/University of Miami Miller School of Medicine in Miami, Florida.
About Dr. Rosemarie L. Fisher
“To serve on the Board of a foundation that exists to inspire all in healthcare to maintain and increase their level of respect, caring and sense of responsibility for the people around us – those who we are treating and those who are our colleagues – is not only a great honor, but also a very rewarding experience,” said Dr. Fisher. “I look forward to working with my fellow like-minded Board members as we move forward.”
Dr. Rosemarie L. Fisher is Professor Emerita, Senior Research Scientist and Deputy Title IX Coordinator at Yale School of Medicine, as well as Chair of the Governance Committee of the GHHS Advisory Council.
She served as the Designated Institutional Official/Director/Associate Dean of Graduate Medical Education at Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale School of Medicine from 1998 to 2016. In this role, she was responsible for the oversight of approximately 100 training programs and 1,100 trainees. She became the first Director of Resident/Fellow Well-Being at Yale and has established a Peer Support Group titled “Call-A-Friend.” In 2017, Yale New Haven Hospital and Yale School of Medicine established the Rosemarie L. Fisher, MD Award for Leadership in Graduate Medical Education, of which she was the first recipient.
Dr. Fisher served as a member of the Internal Medicine Residency Review Committee of the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) for 7 years and as the Chair of that group for 3 years. During that time, the committee was responsible for revising the program requirements for Internal Medicine and all of the subspecialties.
In her other roles, she has served as a member of the Council of the Association of Program Directors of Internal Medicine, a member and Chair of the Group on Resident Affairs of the Association of American Medical Colleges, Chair of the Council of Faculty and Academic Societies of the AAMC, and on the Board of Directors of the AAMC.
In 2020, the Connecticut Chapter of the American College of Physicians established the Rosemarie L. Fisher, MD, MACP Woman Leadership Award, of which she was the first recipient.
Dr. Fisher is also a recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the 2006 ACGME “Courage to Lead” Award and the American Gastroenterology Association’s 2008 Outstanding Women in Science Award and the 2020 Female Physician Leadership Award.
Dr. Fisher received her MD from Tufts University School of Medicine, completed her residency in Internal Medicine at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, New York, and trained in gastroenterology at the Royal Free Hospital, London, and Yale University.