Helen Boucher, MD, was appointed to a new joint position as interim dean for Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston and chief academic officer for Tufts Medical Center's parent health system, Burlington, Mass.-based Wellforce, according to a June 16 statement.
Dr. Boucher is chief of the geographic medicine and infectious diseases division at Boston-based Tufts Medical Center, professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine, and a director of the Stuart B. Levy Center for Integrated Management of Antimicrobial Resistance. She begins her new roles July 1, becoming the first woman to lead the medical school in its 128-year history.
As Dr. Boucher takes on these new roles, the school will continue its academic partnerships with Tufts Medical Center and its other clinical affiliates, which include Portland-based Maine Medical Center, Newton (Mass.)-Wellesley Hospital, Lahey Hospital and Medical Center in Burlington, Boston-based St. Elizabeth's Medical Center, and South Shore Hospital in South Weymouth, Mass, she said in a news release. She also said she plans to explore new student training opportunities within Wellforce.
"Healthcare now is increasingly delivered outside the hospital, and as we think about things like population health and the future of personalized medicine, the ability to train the next generation of physicians, physician assistants and other healthcare professionals in those environments is very important," Dr. Boucher said.
Dr. Boucher succeeds Peter Bates, MD, former Maine Medical Center senior vice president of academic affairs and chief academic officer, who has served as interim dean for Tufts University School of Medicine.
Read more about Dr. Boucher here.