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WMAA Events Committee
Membership
Chair, Dr. Sandra Osborn, 1970, Madison
Dr. Susan Isensee, 1983, Madison
Dr. Brian Lochen, 1978, Madison
Dr. Robert Matthews, 1992, Milwaukee
Dr. Thomas Puetz, 1990, South Milwaukee
Dr. Carol Uebelacker, 1988, Delafield
Dr. Kevin Wasco, 1994, Neenah
WMAA President
Dr. Bill Nietert, 1978, Wausau
WMAA Executive Director, Karen Peterson
Quarterly Events Committee Article
When the board of the Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association began to visualize outstanding new facilities for the medical school at Wisconsin, it also began to adopt a new vision for the alumni association itself. And that vision was recently documented in WMAA’s strategic plan for the 21st century.
Central to that plan is a commitment to a new organizational committee structure. “We realized that we need a way to reach out to more alumni than ever before,” says Dr. Harvey Wichman,former president of WMAA. “One of the best ways to get started was to appoint an Events Committee to rethink our outreach efforts.” Dr. Bill Nietert of Wausau was named chair.
“We’re one of the biggest medical alumni associations in the country,” says Nietert, “yet we’re only involving 5 percent of our 9,000 alumni. Those who are involved with us are extremely happy with our current programs, but we think that there are ways to bring more of us together.”
In an era of targeted, generational marketing, it’s not easy to appeal to recent grads and retirees alike. But after an initial meeting in Milwaukee, the Events Committee has some better ideas for getting started. For example, one member suggested that some events should be focused on alumni with young families, who might be more likely to join a crowd of 100 colleagues at a cookout if their children could also be part of the party – and maybe meet Bucky Badger. Family time is more important than ever to this generation of doctors, the committee concurred, and expense is an issue.
“On the other hand, we were in Milwaukee in the first place to do a sophisticated continuing medical education event for alumni at the University Club,” says Nietert. “Some might feel that this sort of venue is stuffy. But my goal as events committee chair it to find ways to bridge the gaps and get more people involved across the board.”
After reviewing attendance data, the Events Committee agreed to try a new format for a winter gathering in Milwaukee this year. Rather than holding WMAA’s traditional Sunday brunch, the group decided to hold a meeting on a weeknight in the center of the city, inviting the UW’s esteemed stem cell researchers to speak.
“The program highlighted how UW research may contribute to the future care of patients,” says Wichman. “Because it was a weekday evening event, young alumni were better able to attend. A few students could attend. The format also attracted non-physicians who are strong potential backers of the Medical School.”
Inclusivity is a key WMAA goal.
“I think the future of medicine will be about banding together,” says Nietert. “The cost of health care, the growth of non-traditional health care, and specialization has been drawing us apart. But maybe alumni gatherings, which are non-political, are the way doctors from the same background will come together collegially to help each other, the students, and to help our school succeed.”
With the medical knowledge base doubling every 18 months — versus every 18 years in the 1950s— Nietert says students need more help than ever to make it through medical school in four years.
“When students face the mental and physical challenge of taking in all this knowledge as well as the financial challenge of attending the third most costly public medical school in the country, perhaps we can help students’ sense of altruism in the profession,” insists Nietert. And rekindling alumni interest in the school and in each other would be a fine outcome as well.
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