The Organization of Program Director Associations (OPDA)


What is OPDA?

OPDA is dedicated to promoting the role of the residency and fellowship program director and program director societies in achieving excellence in graduate medical education. OPDA’s goals and objectives include:

  • Improve the quality of resident education.
  • Promote excellence in the art and science of resident education in all specialties.
  • Represent residency program directors at a national level and provide a political voice in appropriate arenas.
  • Promote communication and cooperation between residency programs, residency program societies, and other members of the graduate medical education community.
  • Enhance the administrative operation of residency programs and residency program societies.
  • Develop the leadership skills and expertise of program directors and program director societies.
  • Support and enhance the mission of CMSS in improving graduate medical education (GME).

OPDA objectives to achieve these goals are:

  • Identify one liaison representative from each program director society (or chair society if no separate program director society exists) for each specialty with a distinct RRC. The liaison representative should be a member of or have a direct reporting responsibility to, the board of directors of the program director (or chair) society.
  • Meet regularly for peer interaction, information sharing, and collaborative problem- solving.
  • Sponsor periodic symposia and meetings on timely GME issues.
  • Identify representatives to act as OPDA liaisons with organizations that regulate and impact GME.
  • Coordinate all OPDA activities with CMSS and its Executive Committee.

OPDA News

OPDA Statements

OPDA Member Societies

  • Association of Professors of Dermatology (APD)
  • Council of Residency Directors in Emergency Medicine (CORD)
  • Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD)
  • Association of Program Directors in Internal Medicine (APDIM)
  • Association of Professors of Human and Medical Genetics (APHMG)
  • Program Directors of the Academic Council of Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI)
  • Program Directors of Society of Neurological Surgeons (SNS)
  • American Academy of Neurology Consortium of Neurology Program Directors (CNPD)
  • Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology (CREOG)
  • Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology (AUPO) Program Directors Council (PDC)
  • American Orthopaedic Association (AOA) Council of Residency Directors (CORD)
  • Pathology Residency Directors Society (PRODS) Association of Pathology Chairs (APC)
  • Association of Pediatrics Program Directors (APPD)
  • Association of Pediatric Surgery Training Program Directors (APSTPD)
  • Association of Academic Physiatrists/ Resident Program Directors Council (AAP)
  • Association of Academic Chairs of Plastic Surgery (AACPS)
  • American Association of Directors of Psychiatry Residency Training (AADPRT)
  • Association of Program Directors in Interventional Radiology (APDIR)
  • Association of Program Directors in Radiology (APDR)
  • Thoracic Surgery Directors Association (TSDA)
  • Assn For Hospital Medical Education and Council of Transitional Year Program Directors (AHME CTYPD)
  • Society of Academic Urologists
  • Surgical Critical Care Program Directors Society
  • Association of Program Directors in Vascular Surgery
  • Allergy/Immunology Training Program Directors (A/ITPD)
  • Association of Anesthesiology Core Program Directors (AACPD)
  • Association of Program Directors for Colon & Rectal Surgery (APDCRS)
  • Otolaryngology Program Directors Organization (OPDO)
  • Preventive Medicine Residencies (ACPM)
  • Association of Program Directors in Surgery (APDS)

If interested in becoming an OPDA Member, please contact ssimmons@cmss.org for more information. 

OPDA Leadership

Deborah Spitz, MD- Immediate Past Chair
Daniel Dent, MD- Chair
Adena Rosenblatt, MD, PhD- Executive Committee Member
Karen George, MD, MPH- Executive Committee Member
Margaret C. Lo, MD, FACP- Executive Committee Member

Next Meeting

Save the Date: The Spring 2024 virtual meeting will be held on Friday, April 12, 2024, from 9:30 am until 3:30 pm (CST).

2024 Virtual Spring Meeting agenda

Past Meeting Information

For more information on OPDA or to become an OPDA member organization, please contact Sarah Simmons at ssimmons@cmss.org