Kristin Schleiter Hitchell, JD, LLM joined the ACGME in June 2020 as Vice President, Public Policy and External Relations. She oversees the development of ACGME public policy under the guidance of the ACGME Policy Committee of the Board of Directors, coordinating policy initiatives with ACGME Member Organizations and representing the ACGME and its activities to policy makers, legislators, and regulators.

Ms. Schleiter previously served as Vice President, Policy and Strategic Engagement for the American Board of Medical Specialties, where she provided strategic leadership and operational oversight for policy development, advocacy, and stakeholder engagement. She directed legislative strategy, and worked with external stakeholders, policy makers, and health care organizations to manage emerging trends and issues that impact specialty certification. She also led stakeholder outreach efforts to demonstrate the value of continuing certification to physicians and the public. Ms. Schleiter led the effort to adopt the new ABMS policy on parental, medical, and caregiver leave, resulting in a new standard minimum amount of time all ABMS Member Boards must facilitate for residents.

Ms. Schleiter also served as a Senior Legislative Attorney with the American Medical Association’s Advocacy Resource Center, where she advised the AMA Council of Legislation and developed, coordinated, and directed nationwide state legislative and regulatory advocacy campaigns on priority issues, including telemedicine, physician workforce and licensure, medical liability reform, and scope of practice. During her tenure at the AMA she developed the AMA Health Workforce Mapper, a groundbreaking, interactive tool that illustrates public demographic and health data and the geographic distribution of the health care workforce. Ms. Schleiter served as a senior research analyst early in her tenure at the AMA, providing legal counsel for the AMA Council on Ethical and Judicial Affairs and contributing to the AMA Code of Medical Ethics.

Prior to her role at the AMA, Ms. Schleiter served as the State Government Affairs Analyst for the American Academy of Pediatrics, where she developed public policy and advocacy strategy on Medicaid/CHIP and ACA implementation. She practiced as a litigator for nine dark months.

Ms. Schleiter earned her Bachelor of Arts in biology and philosophy from Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois, and her Juris Doctor and Master of Laws (LLM) degrees in health law from Loyola University Chicago School of Law in Chicago, Illinois.