This interview is one in a series of interviews with the 2026 recipients of the ACGME Awards. These awardees join an outstanding group of previous honorees whose work and contributions to graduate medical education (GME) represent the best in the field. They will be honored at the 2026 ACGME Annual Educational Conference, taking place February 19-21, 2026, in San Diego, California.
2026 Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Awardee Nikki Binz, MD is the Vice Chair for Education, Associate Designated Institutional Official, and Emergency Medicine Program Director at University of North Carolina Hospitals in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
ACGME: How did you become involved in medicine, and in academic medicine specifically?
Dr. Binz: I knew medicine was in my future since I was a kid, heavily influenced by my father who has practiced family medicine for over 40 years. During my emergency medicine residency at the University of North Carolina (UNC), I initially planned on community medicine, because I valued efficiency and loved direct patient care. However, during my final year, I was named our Resident Director of Undergraduate Medical Education, charged with teaching and mentoring our medical students. My mentors helped me see the joy in myself with these learners and encouraged me. They told me that I had certain strengths for leadership and teaching. So, after less than one year at my community job, I returned to UNC and jumped headfirst into academic medicine as an assistant residency director. My academic career has been so fulfilling and inspiring. I am forever grateful to my mentors for empowering me early in medical education leadership.
ACGME: What does this award mean to you?
Binz: The world! I am humbled and so appreciative of the ACGME to be recognized for my 10 years of hard work as a program director. It is a role that has defined my career and will always be my most proud achievement. My program has truly been my family. I am grateful for my mentors, my team, and all my former residents who are a part of my journey.
ACGME: What do you feel is the most important job the program director has?
Binz: Passion. I strive to exemplify and model passion in my work each day, hoping to instill and foster it in others. A program director must listen, support, and empower their learners and their leadership team, inspiring through shared purpose, clear communication, and a commitment to excellence. I aim to understand everyone’s goals and challenges and work collaboratively to remove barriers and foster a culture of trust, inclusion, and accountability. I hope to help each resident identify their passions within medicine to create a career that is fulfilling, life-long, and impervious to burnout.
ACGME: What is the most rewarding part of your job?
Binz: The successes and achievements of my graduates. I am so proud to see them graduate and save lives all over the world. It especially humbles me to see the impact they are making in their communities and our specialty through leadership, community outreach, research, and advocacy.
ACGME: What is the most challenging?
Binz: Program directors are the gatekeepers to their specialties, which is a heavy burden to bear. We are responsible for ensuring the future of our specialties and health and safety of patients. To maintain clinical excellence and professionalism in medicine, we must constantly assess and challenge learners, innovate curriculum, remediate trainee deficiencies, and promote a culture of feedback friendliness. It’s a high-stakes, complex job with many moving parts and competing priorities.
ACGME: What advice do you have for residents or fellows who may be interested in pursuing a career in academic medicine?
Binz: Follow your passions! Academic medicine will fill your cup in so many ways. For me, it’s coaching, mentorship opportunities, and collaborations with peers. A career in academics allows me to have a greater impact on medicine and provides a front row seat in the development of future physicians.
Learn more about the ACGME’s Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award here. Register for #ACGME2026 on our conference website, where we’ll continue to celebrate this year’s honorees.