Thank You for Joining Us for the 2026 MMCGME Annual Conference! Together, we truly embraced our theme - Shaping What's Next: Innovation, Connection, and Growth—to pave a bright path forward for our GME community.
Held at the beautiful Oak Ridge Country Club in Hopkins on Friday, September 11, 2026, this year's event was a remarkable success thanks to your participation, energy, and shared vision.
Explore below to view our expert speakers, event photos, presentation slides, and more!
Held at the beautiful Oak Ridge Country Club in Hopkins on Friday, September 11, 2026, this year's event was a remarkable success thanks to your participation, energy, and shared vision.
Explore below to view our expert speakers, event photos, presentation slides, and more!
* For Non-MMCGME Members please note there will be a $80 registration fee for attending. Click here to view the MMCMGE member organizations.
EVENT PHOTOS
Photo cred: Christy Badeaux
MEET THE EXPERTS WHO SHAPED WHAT’S NEXT
Our speakers led inspiring conversations that sparked innovation, fostered meaningful connection, and empowered continuous growth across our GME community. Each presenter delivered actionable strategies and visionary leadership to help elevate the future of Graduate Medical Education.
In this section, you will find:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Speakers are listed chronologically as presented in the conference schedule.
In this section, you will find:
- Session Descriptions
- Speaker Biographies
- Presentation Materials
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE CONFERENCE PROGRAM
Speakers are listed chronologically as presented in the conference schedule.
breakfast with colleagues
Start your morning with coffee, conversation, and connection | 7:30 AM - 8:15 AM
Join us for Breakfast with Colleagues, an informal, roundtable-style gathering where you can grab a bite to eat and engage in meaningful conversations with GME experts and peers. Each table will feature a different topic, hosted by experienced colleagues who are ready to share insights, answer questions, and hear your ideas. Choose a topic that sparks your interest—or rotate between tables to get a little bit of everything!
Table Topics:
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE HANDOUT
Join us for Breakfast with Colleagues, an informal, roundtable-style gathering where you can grab a bite to eat and engage in meaningful conversations with GME experts and peers. Each table will feature a different topic, hosted by experienced colleagues who are ready to share insights, answer questions, and hear your ideas. Choose a topic that sparks your interest—or rotate between tables to get a little bit of everything!
Table Topics:
- New Administrators — Decode GME jargon, policies, and basics in a no-judgment zone.
- New Program Directors — Share candid wisdom, solve common pain points, and build your leadership network.
- Shifting Out Mindset — Quick, actionable tips to make daily emails and documents accessible for everyone.
- Coordinator Desk Manual — Streamline operations, onboarding, and team coverage with a central electronic guide.
- Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen— Divide responsibilities, eliminate overlap, and improve clarity in large teams.
- AI in GME — Practical ways to use AI to reduce administrative burden and streamline workflows.
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE HANDOUT
jen pratt, do
opening remarks
opening remarks
JEN PRATT, DO MMCGME ASSOCIATE BOARD CHAIR cHILDREN'S MINNESOTA |
Jen is a pediatric hospitalist with Children's Minnesota. She attended medical school at Midwestern University in Chicago, IL and completed her pediatric residency training at the University of Minnesota. Her areas of interest include teaching medical students and residents, quality improvement work, and caring for medically complex children. Outside of the hospital, Jen enjoys golfing and exploring the outdoors with her family.
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Jessie Roske, MD
Shaping the Future of Rural Health Care & Community Faculty Development
Shaping the Future of Rural Health Care & Community Faculty Development
JESSIE ROSKE, MD GME MEDICAL DIRECTOR CENTRACARE |
Dr. Roske is a hospitalist at St. Cloud hospital. She attended the University of Minnesota for medical school. She also completed her internal medicine residency at the University of Minnesota. She is currently the Medical Director for Graduate Medical Education at CentraCare.
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Session Overview
The keynote presentation details a strategic partnership between CentraCare and the University of Minnesota Medical School aimed at addressing rural physician shortages by expanding regional education. To recruit and retain community-based clinical teachers, it highlights a four-pillar framework centered on structured faculty development, workload management, compensation, and institutional support.
GME Faculty Development Roadmap
GME Faculty Development Roadmap
Nathan Baggett, md, MACM
Designing Learning Experiences in the Age of AI
Designing Learning Experiences in the Age of AI
NATHAN BAGGETT, MD, MACM EMERGENCY MEDICINE PHYSICIAN HEALTHPARTNERS INSTITUTE |
Nathan Baggett is an attending emergency physician for HealthPartners in St. Paul, Minnesota, and an Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School. He completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at HealthPartners Institute/Regions Hospital, followed by a fellowship in medical education. He received his MACM from the University of Southern California and is a 2017 graduate of the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. His primary interest is training the next generation of physicians for a future where AI is simply part of everyday practice.
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SESSION OVERVIEW
Artificial intelligence is already part of daily practice and training in graduate medical education, but guidance on integrating it in ways that support the development of clinical reasoning rather than quietly erode it remains limited. The risk isn't hypothetical: deskilling in practicing clinicians, "never-skilling" in trainees who adopt AI before foundational competence is built, and a widening gap between learners who use it well and those who let it think for them. This talk explores the cognitive science behind learning in the age of AI and offers practical approaches for helping learners use it well.
brad clark, md & sarah elfering, md
Tackling barriers to bidirectional feedback in training programs
Tackling barriers to bidirectional feedback in training programs
BRAD CLARK, MD PROGRAM DIRECTOR UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA |
Dr. Clark is the director of the pediatric cardiology fellowship Program at the University of Minnesota. He specializes in the care of infants, children and adults with congenital heart disease with heart rhythm disorders. His primary research focus is minimally invasive techniques for device implantation in children and adults with congenital heart disease. Additionally, he has worked on the development of tools to improve the safety profile of catheter ablation.
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SARAH ELFERING, MD PROGRAM DIRECTOR UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA |
Dr. Elfering is an Associate Professor and Clinician Educator at the University of Minnesota. Since 2016, she has served as the Nephrology Fellowship Program Director, earning teaching awards from her fellows and the Department of Medicine’s Education Excellence Award. Dedicated to medical education across all training levels, she leads the UMN outpatient nephrology rotation, which she developed in 2018. Clinically, Dr. Elfering specializes in home dialysis and nephrolithiasis; as a self-proclaimed "stone doc," she takes particular joy in teaching residents and students about mineral metabolism and renal calcium handling. Beyond clinical care, her interests focus on educational innovations and refining trainee assessment in graduate medical education.
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Session Overview
Feedback is essential for both trainees and faculty members to ensure continued professional growth. Providing substantive feedback can be challenging with many barriers including time, anonymity concerns, and personality dynamics. These issues can be amplified in smaller training programs where it can be more difficult to maintain anonymity and evaluators may fear retaliation. We describe local barriers and our methods for implementation of bidirectional feedback that have succeeded in both the pediatric and adult realms.
Worksheet Linked Here
Worksheet Linked Here
matt amundson, med
managing life fatigue
managing life fatigue
MATT AMUNDSON, MED LEARNING & DEVELOPMENT MANAGER OFFICE OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, & INCLUSION UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA |
Matt Amundson, Learning and Development Manager for the Medical School's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (ODEI), views education as a lifelong philosophy. Since joining the University of Minnesota in June 2022, Matt has focused on his primary responsibility: creating and facilitating educational spaces that foster personal growth for staff, faculty, and students. Matt’s day-to-day work centers on building relationships and meeting with leaders across all departments and divisions of the Medical School. He does not use a one-size-fits-all approach. Instead, he spends a significant portion of his time meeting with leaders to determine their specific educational goals and researching the issues affecting their unique environments.
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Session Overview
We spend about a third of our lives working--that's a huge chunk of time! If you feel like no amount of bubble baths, walks, or "brain breaks" can fully recharge you after a long day, you aren't alone. Fatigue is a human experience. Join us for an interactive session where we’ll talk about how to reignite your sense of purpose. We’ll look at ways to reframe burnout and boredom through practical tools like building psychological safety and finding real balance.
program leadership networking
facilitator: jessie roske, md
facilitator: jessie roske, md
JESSIE ROSKE, MD GME MEDICAL DIRECTOR CENTRACARE |
Welcome to a dedicated space for program leadership to connect, share insights, and dive into pressing hot topics. Network with colleagues and collaborate on proactive strategies to drive the future of training.
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strategic connections: building your network
Grab a snack, meet a few colleagues, and try to score a prize on your way out. Head over to the Trail Mix Bar, build your custom mix, and use the prompts below to start four quick conversations with people around you.
How To Participate:
How To Participate:
- Pick Up Your Board: Grab an activity card at the afternoon Trail Mix Bar or center of your table.
- Match & Mix: Use the ingredient guide below to start quick conversations with colleagues around the room.
- Collect Signatures: Discuss the matching topic with an attendee and have them sign or initial the corresponding box on your card.
- Claim Your Prize: Turn in your filled board at the Support Table. The first 10 to complete their board win a secret gift!
mike pitt, md
Branded Whether You Like it Or Not - Applying Marketing Principles to Your Academic Products (and Yourself)
Branded Whether You Like it Or Not - Applying Marketing Principles to Your Academic Products (and Yourself)
MIKE PITT, MD PROGRAM DIRECTOR & VICE CHAIR OF FACULTY DEVELOPMENT UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA |
Dr. Mike Pitt is a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota where he is Vice Chair of Faculty Development, and the Fellowship Director for hospital medicine. A winner of multiple teaching awards, Dr. Pitt speaks across the country with a primary focus of improving the way medical providers communicate with each other and their patients. He has authored over 120 peer-reviewed manuscripts and textbook chapters in leading medical journals and has developed curricula used at hundreds of universities in more than 20 countries. As an award-winning professional magician, he has performed for Fortune 500 Companies all over the world and has taught over 4,000 pediatricians how to think like a magician at the bedside to improve rapport and increase diagnostic yield. He is the c-founder and CEO of Q-rounds, an award-winning hospital rounding software used to automate inclusion of nurses and families in rounds.
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Session Overview
It has been famously said that your brand is what people say about you when you leave the room. Whether we like it or not, in academics we all have a brand. Accordingly, being intentional about crafting and maintaining it can be a powerful part of a successful academic career. In this session, Dr. Pitt will help provide a framework for considering how to define our individual brands and rebrand if necessary. After providing an overview of branding principles, he will then demonstrate how applying this paradigm to our academic careers as a whole – by considering, ourselves as a brand and approaching projects and undertakings through the lens of building or detracting from that brand – can be a powerful tool in supporting academic advancement. Additionally, we will learn how to treat our academic products as actual products and see how applying branding principles can help increase momentum, uptake, and dissemination.
nan gesche, ma, csp
cracking the collaboration code
cracking the collaboration code
NAN GESCHE, MA, CSP COMMUNICATION STUDIES UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA |
Ever been in a meeting where no one speaks up? Or one where everyone talks—but no one listens? It’s a common challenge and one that Nan is passionate about solving. With an M.A. in Organizational Communications, a professional certificate in Training & Development, and over 20 years of experience, Nan equips teams with the skills to collaborate effectively.
Nan specializes in facilitating tough conversations, refining communication strategies, and enhancing engagement. By creating an environment of trust and psychological safety, she helps teams cut through the noise and get things done—together. Blending expert insights with relatable storytelling, her sessions deliver actionable strategies that drive real results at every level. |
Session Overview
In our fast-paced and interconnected world, collaboration is essential for success. Yet, many of us struggle to be truly collaborative, even when we say we value it. The cost of this disconnect is significant. Research shows that 86% of employees cite a lack of collaboration or ineffective communication as the reason for workplace failures, leading to lower productivity, higher turnover, and reduced innovation.
This session, Cracking the Collaboration Code, is designed to bridge that gap. Whether you're a leader aiming to inspire your team or a team member striving to contribute more effectively, this workshop provides actionable strategies and practical tools to foster a collaborative mindset and enhance team dynamics.
View Poll Results Here
This session, Cracking the Collaboration Code, is designed to bridge that gap. Whether you're a leader aiming to inspire your team or a team member striving to contribute more effectively, this workshop provides actionable strategies and practical tools to foster a collaborative mindset and enhance team dynamics.
View Poll Results Here
alicia belkstrom, mha
conference host
conference host
ALICIA BELKSTROM, MHA CONFERENCE HOST GME EDUCATION PROGRAM MANAGER MAYO CLINIC SCHOOL OF GME |
Alicia Belkstrom is a Manager in MCSGME at Mayo Clinic with a Master of Healthcare Administration and nine years of experience. She’s a proud mom of two (one about to start driving!), a hiking enthusiast (13 miles in New Zealand!), and a lover of travel—especially when her husband plans it. Born in Germany and raised with Midwestern charm, Alicia’s outgoing, food-curious (hold the spice!), and always ready to dance or do something silly to make someone smile. She’s excited to bring her energy, humor, and passion for education to the 2026 GME Annual Conference.
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troy taubenheim
closing reflections
closing reflections
TROY TAUBENHEIM MMCGME DIRECTOR |
Troy has been the Director of MMCGME Services since 2008. He is a father to four and a grandfather to two with a third on the way!
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crafting what's next | social hour
Let the conversation continue—meet us in the lounge or on the patio (if the weather cooperates) for Crafting What's Next, our social hour with a cash bar from 4 to 5 PM.
WE VALUE YOUR INPUT!
Did this year’s conference spark new ideas for your program? Tell us what you loved and where we can improve so we can make next year's event even better.
Click here to complete the post-conference survey!
Click here to complete the post-conference survey!
THANK YOU TO OUR LEADERSHIP & CONTRIBUTORS
Shaping What’s Next takes a village! We extend our deepest thanks to the MMCGME Board of Directors, our Conference Planning Committee, and our speakers for their hard work, energy, and commitment to growing our GME community.