Blogs

AAIM Member Spotlight

Abdo Asmar, MD

Program Director
Department of Internal Medicine
University of Central Florida
College of Medicine

How long have you been a member of AAIM?

Since 2011 when I began my position as part of the Internal Medicine Residency Program Leadership at the University of Central Florida College of Medicine. Previously I worked at Cook County Hospital in Chicago in a different role, but was familiar with the Alliance.

Describe your typical day.

I don’t have a typical day; it begins and ends and I have no idea how. At the end of each day, I know I enjoyed every minute of it, but it was a blur.
A lot of what I do during the day depends on the time of year. When I‘m teaching I spend a lot of time in the classroom. When it is interview season for residency programs, I’m interviewing students up to three times a week. Wednesday is my clinical day as a practicing nephrologist.
One thing I do every day is wake up my 6-year-old daughter to go to school - I do that every day.

What is your favorite part of the job?

The residents. I’ve been asked what keeps me up at night. I don’t know what that is, but I know what gets me up in the morning. It’s being around residents and working with a team of faculty, staff, associate program directors, coordinators and residents to develop an outstanding environment of patient care. And in the process we’re developing a new culture of scholarship and academic training for tomorrow’s physicians.

How has the AAIM membership been of value to you and your career?

The Alliance has changed my life. University of Central Florida College of Medicine is one of America’s newer medical schools. I was hired as a founding faculty member to help build the undergraduate medical education program from the ground up and was later asked to lead the development of a residency program at hospitals that had never had GME programs. As a new program, we needed help in areas such as faculty development and educational resources. The AAIM provides outstanding assistance. Its faculty development tools, APDIM survey, and Alliance Forums are just a few of their outstanding resources. The AAIM community is collaborative and allows members to share best practices. I am a big fan of AAIM and all it provides to clinician educators.

What's your favorite moment of your career so far?

I was selected by the MD Class of 2015 to be their commencement faculty speaker and speak with them about what it means to be a physician. I remember the chills I had when I received the invite from the Dean of Students.

What was your childhood dream job?

I actually wanted to be a pilot up until I was a 16. In high school, I made a transformational shift and decided I wanted to be a physician to combine my love of science and serving people.

How do you spend your free time?

I spend my free time with my wife and two girls – ages 11 and 6. Sunday is a special day for my family as we spend time together, go to church and do something special. Recently, we began fishing as a fun way to enjoy the day together. I also like to watch all kinds of sports – especially collegiate – when I have time. GO KNIGHTS!

What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

I like acting. My kids and I perform a lot of plays and puppet shows. Although I haven’t taken my talents to Hollywood yet!