Fall 2025

Tuesday, September 16, 2025

Times listed in Central Time Zone

8:00am-9:00am: Registration & Continental Breakfast

9:00am-9:45am: Welcome, Overview of the Day, Introduction to APPD

9:45am-11:45am: Part 1: Program Organization 101: Basics of Day-to-Day Program Leadership (Part 1)

12:00pm-1:00pm: Region Networking Lunch

1:15pm-2:15pm: American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) Updates

2:30pm-4:30pm: Community-Building/Section Specific Programming:

• Associate Program Directors’
• Categorical Program Directors’
• Coordinators’ / Administrators’
• Fellowship Program Directors’
• Vice Chairs of Education

4:45pm-5:45pm: Hot Topic Workshop / Leadership Development / Building an Effective Team

6:45pm-8:00pm: Dinner and Keynote Address: Leadership Through Challenging Times
Keynote Speaker: Ingrid A. Walker-Descartes, MD, MPH, MBA

Dr. Walker-Descartes attended the University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry where she obtained her Doctorate in Medicine. Upon graduating from medical school, she did a residency in Pediatrics at New York Methodist Hospital in Brooklyn, NY and subsequently pursued further training in a combined General Academic Pediatrics and Child Abuse Fellowship at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.

Dr. Walker-Descartes is on faculty at Maimonides Children’s Hospital of Brooklyn. In the Department of Pediatrics, she serves in two roles – one as a clinician and the other as an administrator. In her clinical roles, she practices General Pediatrics and a Child Abuse Pediatrics. As an administrator, she serves in the following roles: Program Director of the Pediatrics Residency training program, Fellowship Director for the Child Abuse Fellowship Program, the Vice Chair of Education for the Department of Pediatrics, and the Director of Child Maltreatment Services for the Children’s Hospital.

Dr. Ingrid Walker-Descartes is a distinguished medical educator, clinician, and national leader in graduate medical education. During her 18-year tenure in Medical Education leadership at Maimonides Children’s Hospital, she has pioneered curricular innovation, faculty development, and competency-based assessment models that have shaped pediatric training. Her leadership roles as it relates to APPD, include serving on the APPD Program Director’s Executive Committee and as a Council member for APPD LEAD Program, where she mentors emerging academic leaders.

A recipient of numerous honors—including Crain’s Notable Black Leaders and the United Hospital Fund’s Excellence in Health Care Award—Dr. Walker-Descartes has led the design and implementation of OSCE-based curricula addressing professionalism, cultural humility, and bias mitigation. Her scholarly work spans child maltreatment education, trauma-informed care, and the intersection of health equity and medical education. She is widely regarded for her ability to translate educational theory into practice, fostering inclusive, high-impact learning environments across the medical education continuum.

Wednesday, September 17, 2025

Times listed in Central Time Zone

8:00am-9:00am: Registration & Continental Breakfast

9:00am-10:00am: Welcome, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Updates

10:00am-11:00am: Program Organization 101: Basics of Day-to-Day Program Leadership (Part 2)

11:15am-12:15pm: APPD Learning Community Showcase / Facilitated Learning
(attendees will rotate through 2 different tables/topics for networking and learning)

12:15pm-12:30pm: Closing Remarks; Conference Adjourns

REGISTRATION OPEN

Fall Meeting Only: Register Now 

Fall Meeting + Pediatric Medical Education Conference: Register Now

Fall Meeting Registration Fees

APPD Member:
Early: $545 (by July 31)
Regular/Onsite: $595 (after July 31)

Non-Member:
Early: $595 (by July 31)
Regular/Onsite: $645 (after July 31)

Attend both the Fall Meeting + Pediatric Medical Education Conference and receive >20% discount!
Early (Member/Non-Member): $945 (by July 31)
Regular (Member/Non-Member): $995 (after July 31)
Onsite (Member/Non-Member): $1,045

Policies:
Code of Conduct: APPD is committed to providing a safe, productive, and welcoming environment for all meeting participants, including, but not limited to, attendees, speakers, volunteers, sponsors, APPD staff members, and service providers. APPD has zero-tolerance for any form of bullying, discrimination, or harassment, and reserves the right to take any action deemed necessary and appropriate, including immediate removal from the meeting without warning or refund, in response to any incident of unacceptable behavior. APPD reserves the right to prohibit attendance at any future meeting, virtually or in person. Disruption of presentations at any event organized by APPD is strictly prohibited. Participants should not copy or take screen shots of Q&A. Presentations, postings, and messages should not contain promotional materials, special offers, job offers, product announcements, or solicitation for services. APPD reserves the right to remove any presentation, posting, or message that it deems to be inappropriate for a scientific meeting. Read the full code of conduct here.

Photography: By registering for the APPD 2025 Annual Fall Meeting, attendees consent to be photographed during the meeting, with the understanding that these images may be used in APPD documents, social media, and publications only. If anyone prefers to not have their photo used by APPD, please contact info@appd.org.

Cancellation: APPD reserves the right to cancel any sessions due to lack of enrollment or other factors. In the event of a cancellation, registered participants will be notified by e-mail and will have the option to choose an available alternative. All registration cancellations by participants must be received in writing to APPD. A $50 administration fee will be assessed for all cancellation requests received by August 18, 2025. Cancellations received after August 18, 2025 will not be eligible for a refund. All reimbursements will be processed following the meeting.

Marriott St. Louis Grand
800 Washington Avenue
St. Louis, MO 63101
Phone: 1-314-621-9600

The discounted rate for APPD attendees is $219 per night (plus taxes, fees). The rate is for king and double-bed room types.

Make Reservation

Housing reservation cut-off deadline: August 23, 2025

Joint Accreditation Statement

In support of improving patient care, this activity has been planned and implemented by Amedco LLC and Association of Pediatric Program Directors. Amedco LLC is jointly accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME), the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE), and the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC), to provide continuing education for the healthcare team.

Professions in scope for this activity are listed below. Amedco Joint Accreditation Provider Number: 4008163

Physicians

Amedco LLC designates this live activity for a maximum of 11.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits^TM for physicians. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.

American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) MOC

Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the activity, with individual assessments of the participant and feedback to the participant, enables the participant to earn 11.25 MOC Part 2 points in the American Board of Pediatrics’ (ABP) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABP MOC credit.

You must request your certificate within 45 days of the activity to meet the deadline for submission to PARS. Credits are generally reported during the first week of each month for those who claimed during the month prior.

Below is information for all speakers for the meeting:

Conflict of Interest Disclosure
All speakers are required to complete a conflict of interest disclosure. Please complete the online form here by July 31, 2025.

Conference PowerPoint/Slide Template
Speakers may use the conference PowerPoint/Slide template. Download the template here.