The School of Medicine is pleased to announce several important changes and promotions with the SoM leadership:

Paul Gladden, MD, Associate Professor of Orthopaedics
Promoted to DIO and Associate Dean for GME
Director, Residency and Orthopaedic Trauma Service and Surgery at UMCNO,
Surgeon, The United States Marshals and The New Orleans Police Department.

Dr. Gladden joined Tulane School of Medicine, Department of Orthopaedics as Associate Professor in 2009. Dr Gladden had extensive training in Orthopaedic Trauma and was Chief of Orthopaedic Trauma surgery at the University of Florida, Jacksonville, where he also graduated from the police academy and served as a physician for the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office S.W.A.T. team. Dr. Gladden continues to provide service to the United States Marshalls and the NOPD. Dr. Gladden is currently Chief of Orthopaedic Trauma Service at University Medical Center. Throughout his academic career, Dr. Gladden has been actively involved in graduate medical education. In 2011 he was selected to become the Orthopaedic Residency Director and has been an active member of Tulane’s GMEC. He was the UMC hospital representative to Tulane’s GMEC and was Associate Chief Academic Officer for UMC, participating in CLER visits and special review committees over the years. In 2019 Dr. Gladden was asked to become Assistant Dean for GME and Assistant DIO to work alongside Dr. Jeff Wiese. Recognizing the leadership Dr. Gladden has offered to the Tulane GME programs, Tulane has asked him to become DIO and has promoted him to Associate Dean. His efforts during this probationary period will be critical in helping the School of Medicine strengthen its educational programs and exceed the expectations of the ACGME.

Rhonda Coignet, MBA (B’05)
Appointed as Senior Director for Graduate Medical Education

Since joining Tulane in 1996, Rhonda Coignet has provided leadership for several administrative, operational, student and externally related projects and initiatives with university-wide impact. Her previous positions have included Executive Director of Strategic Planning, Executive Director for Development Administration/Special Assistant to the Executive Vice President, and Interim Assistant Provost for Assessment & Institutional Research. Ms. Coignet’s extensive experience with policy and procedure development and implementation, and accreditation, as well as her significant understanding of higher education administration led to her selection in 2018 to oversee preparation for the School of Medicine’s 2019 accreditation site visit of the Liaison Committee for Medical Education (LCME), the result of which was a full 8-year accreditation with no major citations. In 2019, Ms. Coignet was promoted to SOM Director of Accreditation and Special Programs, providing her expertise and administrative oversight to the Professionalism and Wellness Programs of the School, while also coordinating ongoing, continuing review of school performance around accreditation standards, including those for Graduate Medical Education. In that role, she became deeply involved in preparing for the American Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) visits that have occurred over the last 3 years, and in doing so, has become an invaluable resource for the GME program at the School of Medicine. For this reason, she has been selected to become the Senior Director for Graduate Medical Education. In this new role, Ms. Coignet will work closely with the Tulane’s DIO, Program Directors, Program Coordinators, Residents, Fellows, and others to help the program exceed ACGME’s expectations for quality in graduate medical education.

Please join us in congratulating Paul, Bennetta and Rhonda on these appointments and in thanking Jeff for his service to our school.