AMSA Selects Psychologist As New Executive Director, USA

Main Category: Medical Students / Training
Article Date: 21 Feb 2008 - 3:00 PDT


The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), the nation's largest, independent medical student organization, and the AMSA Foundation announce the appointment of its new Executive Director. Dr. Carol Williams-Nickelson, PsyD was selected following an extensive and thorough executive search process with a pool of very highly qualified candidates.

"This is a unique, once in a career opportunity, to shape our nation's future physician leaders, the medical profession and health care at large," says AMSA National President Michael J. Ehlert, M.D. "As a student-led national nonprofit providing leadership opportunities to physicians in training, AMSA and the AMSA Foundation sought a combination of vision, compassion and management expertise in its leader."

James Slayton, M.D., medical director at PacifiCare Behavioral Health and AMSA Foundation Board of Director president, says, "AMSA has a long history of providing leadership opportunities to students, some of whom even take a year off from medical school to work in the national office on issues of great importance to both medicine and our nation as a whole. Dr. Williams-Nickelson has just the right combination of commitment to AMSA's values, enthusiasm and vision, coupled with experience in association management. She will be an excellent staff leader and mentor to the students and help to lead AMSA into a bright new future."

"I'm deeply honored to have been selected as AMSA's executive director," says Williams-Nickelson. "I have great admiration for AMSA's contributions to improving the health care system and making medicine more representative of our society at large. I was drawn to AMSA and the AMSA Foundation because of their commitment to universal health care, diversifying the health care system so that providers look more like their patients, and attending to self-care and work-life balance among physicians. AMSA's mission, its philosophy and values are an inspiration and entirely compatible with my personal and professional orientation."

Williams-Nickelson was the Associate Executive Director, American Psychological Association of Graduate Students (APAGS) of the American Psychological Association. Previously she served as the executive director for Social Service Consultation, Inc., LLC and Support Health Services, Inc., LLC.

She has held numerous volunteer and leadership positions, including the elected chair of the American Psychological Association of Graduate Students, representing nearly 60,000 psychology graduate students nationally. She has served as adjunct faculty, instructor and guest lecturer at The University of Notre Dame, The University of the Incarnate Word and Our Lady of the Lake University.

Williams-Nickelson holds a Doctor of Psychology (PsyD) and a Masters of Science (MS) in Counseling Psychology with a specialization in Marriage & Family Therapy (MFT) from Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas. Her doctoral dissertation proposed "A Model for Women Mentoring Women in Psychology." She also completed a pre-doctoral Internship in Professional Psychology at The University of Notre Dame. She holds a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Psychology and Ballet from Brigham Young University.

Williams-Nickelson has provided services in a variety of health care and forensic settings including hospitals, long-term care facilities, residential treatment centers, community based organizations, private practices and counseling centers. Her professional interests, activities and scholarly publications are in the areas of student advocacy and development, training and supervision, legislative advocacy, leadership, professional development, women's issues and mentoring. She and her husband Dr. David Nickelson, reside in Northern Virginia with their two daughters.

The search was conducted by Jackie Eder-Van Hook, MSOD, Executive Vice President, Transition Management Consulting, Inc. using a new model of executive search, which combines organization development principles with executive search strategies.

About Transition Management Consulting, Inc.

Transition Management Consulting, Inc. (TMC) founded by Robert T. "Bob" Van Hook, CAE and Jackie Eder-Van Hook, MSOD, is a US-based professional services firm providing interim management, executive search, and transition consulting services to associations and nonprofits. TMC has provided interim management and/or executive search services to a number of organizations, including, for example, American Institute of Architects, Alexander Graham Bell, Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, Certified Financial Planners Board of Standards, Council for Landscape Architectural Registration Boards, Entomological Society of America, Marine Technology Society, Society for Interventional Radiology, Society for Technical Communications, Society for Vascular Technology and many more. Additional information about TMC is available at http://www.TransitionCEO.com.

About the American Medical Student Association

The American Medical Student Association (AMSA), with more than a half-century history of medical student activism, is the oldest and largest independent association of physicians-in-training in the United States. Founded in 1950, AMSA is a student-governed, non-profit organization committed to representing the concerns of physicians-in-training. With more than 68,000 members, including medical and premedical students, residents and practicing physicians, AMSA is committed to improving medical training as well as advancing the profession of medicine. AMSA focuses on four strategic priorities, including universal healthcare, disparities in medicine, diversity in medicine and transforming the culture of medical education.

American Medical Student Association

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