Call for applications

Calls for applications are released every fall.

Mission & Vision

Mission: To establish norms and behaviors at all levels of the Department that drive a positive impact on the wellness of staff and faculty.

Vision: To be a leader that sets the institutional standard of wellness through initiatives that motivate, empower, and unify staff and faculty for the benefit of each other, patients, and community.

Introducing the Wellness Council

Our Wellness Council is led by two co-chairs, representing DOM staff and faculty to advance the priority areas highilghted by the Task Force. 

Co-Chairs

Joshua Stripling, MD — Faculty Representative Co-Chair of the DOM Wellness Council
Associate Professor of Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases

Kaitlyn Waugaman, MPH, RDN, LDN — Staff Representative Co-Chair of the DOM Wellness Council
Program Manager, Division of General Internal Medicine and Population Science

Members

1. Madeline Eckenrode, MD, Assistant Professor (Medicine/Pediatrics), Division of General Internal Medicine and Population Science

2. Bernadette Johnson, Manager – Clinical Research Administration & Research and Informatics Service Center Research Director, Division of Infectious Diseases

3. Audrey Landry, RN, Clinical Care Coordinator, Division of Gerontology, Geriatrics and Palliative Care Medicine

4. Rita Paschal, MD, Associate Professor, Division of Hematology and Oncology

5. Brianna Patterson, MPH, Program Director I, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, Gender Health Clinic

6. Kaylea Phillips, BSN, RN, Nurse Supervisor, Cardiac Electrophysiology, The Kirklin Clinic

7. Kirk Russ, MD, Assistant Professor, Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology

8. Jessica Thomas, MBA, Director of Finance, Department of Medicine

9. Lakeshia Caldwell, Administrative Associate, Department of Medicine, (Staff Support for Wellness Council)

Past members

1. Carmen De Miguel, PhD, MS, Assistant Professor, Division of Nephrology

2. Brandy Collins-Freiger, C-TAGME, Supervisor – Education Admin, DOM Housestaff Office

3. Song Ong, MD, Associate Professor, Division of Nephrology

Subcommittees

The subcommittees were established to address specific feedback from the Task Force for Wellness. Each subcommittee has a distinct overall goal aimed at improving various aspects of wellness. These goals are tailored to target the unique needs and concerns identified by the taskforce, ensuring a comprehensive approach to enhancing wellness within the organization.

Leadership Evaluation

Goal: Develop systematic evaluation of leadership.

Based on feedback from TFW: Improve feedback to Department, Division, and other leaders on their leadership performance to allow for individual development

Access Center

Goal: Improve communication to understand clinic needs and streamline scheduling.

Based on feedback from TFW: Improve communication between Divisions and individual clinics with the Access Center; Improve understanding of clinics needs to reduce scheduling frustrations; Eliminate issues where providers become their own schedulers

Onboarding & Retention

Goal: Streamline onboarding, clarify responsibilities, reduce staff turnover, and address workload stressors and frustrations.

Based on feedback from TFW: Develop a digital onboarding toolkit; Establish a structured onboarding process; Assign peer champions to new hires; Start recruitment before funds available

Culture of Engagement

Goal: Build a culture where all faculty & staff have a voice in the decisions that impact their wellness.

Based on feedback from TFW: Create a safe space where staff can share their concerns without retaliation, similar to trend tracker; Celebrate unique backgrounds and perspectives in DOM through the stories of others - “Tapestry: Stories that celebrate access and engagement in DOM”

Our History

The UAB Medicine 2022 Pulse Survey identified high distress and burnout across UAB for faculty and staff. After a review of the results, the Department of Medicine (DOM) created a Task Force for Wellness (TFW) to explore and address concerns specific to our work environment. We surveyed all faculty and staff in the department to solicit broad input of concerns.

Data Collected

In 2023, the following concerns were brought up across all subcommittees, pertaining to faculty and staff, and consequently, were deemed high-priority areas for the department:

• Salary: need for transparency in salary, be market-competitive, assess for changes in workload, and ensure pay disparities are addressed

• Recognition and Advancement: need to promote retention with recognition of effort, and to create pathways for advancement

• Workload: need to intentionally and proactively manage workload demands, including coverage needs, to decrease the burdens of overwork

• Leadership Development: need to systematically assess leaders and allow opportunities to provide them feedback; provide opportunities for existing leaders and those seeking leadership roles to develop leadership skills

• Culture and Engagement: need to engage department employees in their work, communicate changes to those impacted, ask for and include employee input; ensure bi-directional communication in Divisions and Department, ensure department provides support to all

In addition, the following areas were noted to be high priority areas due to the barriers for efficient and meaningful work and high frustration levels:

• Inadequate and inconvenient parking for staff

• Delays and barriers to research throughput by the OSP and IRB

• Delays, inefficiencies, and barriers to clinical care by current processes with the Access Center, appointment templates hindering patient access, and an overwhelming number and complexity of portal messages

Past Medical Grand Rounds

A year of wellness progress and achievements of the DOM Wellness Council

Want to join a subcommittee?

If you are interested in becoming a member of one of our subcommittees, please use the Wellness Mailbox form.