STFM Podcast: August 2025

The STFM Podcast

August 2025: ADFM Lifecycle of Leadership Series Part 3—Cultivating Other Leaders with Dean Seehusen, MD, and Elisabeth "Beth" Wilson, MD, MPH, MS-HPEd

The final installment in our leadership series with the Association of Departments of Family Medicine (ADFM) explores how to cultivate new leaders and guide your department forward toward collective growth. In this episode of The STFM Podcast, Dean Seehusen, MD, and Beth Wilson, MD, MPH, MS-HPEd, unpack the distinctions between coaching, mentoring, and sponsoring, as well as how to use each effectively to build a diverse culture of resilience and development within your institution. They also share strategies for identifying emerging talent, fostering inclusive pipelines, and supporting growth across all career stages.

Hosted by Omari A. Hodge, MD, and Jay-Sheree Allen Akambase, MD

Resources

Elisabeth "Beth" Wilson, MD, MPH, MS-HPEd

Elisabeth Wilson, MD, MPH, MS-HPEd, is chair of the Department of Community & Family Medicine at Dartmouth Health and Geisel School of Medicine. As chair, Dr Wilson is responsible for the advancement of Dartmouth’s academic and clinical mission. She leads a system-wide primary care leadership committee, oversees the oldest Practice-Based Research Network in the country, and recently launched a new regional primary care research and policy center. She also has the honor of working with Dartmouth medical and public health students committed to serving under-resourced communities. Dr Wilson is a member of the Primary Care Centers Roundtable and recently served on the board of the Association of Departments of Family Medicine.

Prior to joining Dartmouth in 2022, Dr Wilson held the position of chair of the Department of Family Medicine at Maine Medical Center for 5 years. During that time, she served as the executive director of the Preble Street Learning Collaborative, an academic-community partnership to address unmet needs of people experiencing homelessness in the Portland area. Dr Wilson spent the first two decades of her career at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) where she completed her residency and research fellowship, after receiving a dual MD-MPH degree at Tufts University School of Medicine. While at UCSF, she held the positions of vice chair of Education in the Department of Family and Community Medicine, director of the Northern California Faculty Development Fellowship, dean’s diversity leader for the Differences Matter initiative, and founding director of the Program in Medical Education for the Urban Underserved.

Dr Wilson has dedicated her career to achieving health equity through education, research, clinical care, and advocacy. She is passionate about teaching and mentorship, and committed to nurturing team members to succeed, both personally and professionally. She believes that providing high quality, equitable care requires building strong and sustainable partnerships with the communities we serve.

Dean Seehusen, MD

Dean Seehusen, MD, earned his medical degree from the University of Iowa and a Master of Public Health from the University of Washington. He is a graduate of the Tripler Army Medical Center Family Medicine Residency and the Madigan Army Medical Center Faculty Development Fellowship in Family Medicine. Dr Seehusen served 21 years as an Active Duty physician in the United States Army. He is a decorated combat veteran of wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He holds a board certification from the American Board of Family Medicine and a certificate of Added Qualification in Healthcare Administration, Leadership, and Management. He holds active licenses to practice medicine in Georgia and South Carolina. Dr Seehusen is a fellow of the American Academy of Family Physicians. He is deputy editor of the Journal of the American Board of Family Medicine and an associate medical editor of American Family Physician. He is the inaugural fellowship director of the ABFM Research and Editing Fellowship. He is the president of the Association of Departments of Family Medicine. Dr Seehusen is currently professor and chair of the Department of Family and Community Medicine at Augusta University in Augusta, Georgia.