Chow to Present Littlefield Lecture in the HSLC: The Stars Have Aligned

Marilyn Chow

On September 17, 2004, Marilyn P. Chow, RN, DNSc, FAAN, presented the fifth annual Littlefield Leadership Lecture in Alumni Hall of the Health Sciences Learning Center (HSLC). On this day, it appeared that the stars had aligned perfectly. Chow, a national leader in nursing and health care, shared her perspective on the need for interdisciplinary, interprofessional education—in a setting the quintessence of collaboration and teamwork.

Heralded as one of the premier interdisciplinary learning environments, the innovative HSLC matched up harmoniously with Chow’s bellwether approach to health care. Looking beyond existing practices to elevate the state of health care, Chow targets health professions education as an area in need of reform through interdisciplinary learning and interprofessional involvement.

Her lecture, titled “Leading from the Middle: Essential for Quality Work Environments,” proposed ways to bridge the growing disconnect between academic preparation of health care professionals and the reality of their practice settings. With a focus on reforming health professions education, Chow probed the relationship between quality patient care and teamwork among health care professionals—a dynamic, she believes, that must be transferred from practice into the curriculum.

Chow is vice president of Patient Care Services, Program Office, at Kaiser Permanente and program director for the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellows Program. She previously served as vice president of Patient Care Services for Summit Medical Center and dean for clinical affairs at Samuel Merritt College in Oakland, Calif.

Chow’s professional service includes being a member of the Institute of Medicine committee responsible for the recent report, “Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality”; a member of the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing; a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing; the at-large nursing commissioner on the JCAHO Board; an appointee to the San Francisco City and County Social Services Commission; and a two-year appointee as senior fellow of the Center for the Health Professions at the University of California, San Francisco.

Chow’s significant contributions to nursing through scholarship, leadership, and civic involvement embody the spirit of the Littlefield Leadership Lecture. Named for Vivian Littlefield, PhD, RN, FAAN, who served as dean of the School of Nursing from 1984 to 1999, the lectureship honors Littlefield’s vision for health professions curricula to focus on interdisciplinary education.

For more information about the Littlefield Leadership Lecture and Dr. Marilyn Chow’s visit, contact Pat Feltskog at the UW-Madison School of Nursing (e-mail: pafeltsk@wisc.edu; phone: 608-263-5230).