The UAB School of Medicine is home to more than 1,200 residents and fellows training in the dozens of programs offered for graduate medical education.
Advocating for those trainees is a group of residents and fellows that make up the House Staff Council, a body that serves as the voice of residents and fellows throughout the hospital, university and UAB community. This group of program-appointed representatives, along with leaders from the Graduate Medical Education Office, meet monthly to discuss issues pertaining to resident work and bring trainees’ needs and concerns to the GME office to help facilitate change.
Below, a few members of the 2020-2021 House Staff Council leadership reflect on their terms as HSC leaders and share projects they’re proud of, along with initiatives coming up.
John Killian, M.D.
PGY 5, General Surgery Residency Program
2020-2021 HSC Position
President
How long have you been part of the House Staff Council?
Five years
Why did you want to be involved?
The HSC has an exceptional track record of advocating for our residents and fellows and making improvements that help them care more effectively for patients. I was eager to be a part of a team committed to those goals.
What led you to becoming an HSC leader?
Dr. Bob Hollis, who is now a colorectal surgery attending at UAB, was the president of the HSC when I began serving as a HSC representative. Dr. Hollis was a highly effective leader, and he showed how action through the HSC could positively impact our colleagues. For example, he led the initiative to provide food for house staff after-hours by partnering with Food and Nutrition Services, and that program is now in its fifth year of operation. After working as a representative, I then served as the secretary of the HSC as a PGY3, and I really enjoyed being able to work with other residents and fellows, learn from them, and address issues that were important to all house staff.
What project during your HSC leadership are you most proud of?
I’m most proud of how our team has remained engaged and made significant progress on multiple projects even in light of some of the challenges presented by COVID-19. For example, our vice president, Dr. Peter Abraham, led a team of 11 residents and fellows to establish a service that simplifies the outpatient scheduling process for house staff seeking medical care. We had identified this as a key need, with over 60 percent of house staff stating that issues surrounding the appointment scheduling process were major barriers to obtaining medical care. By collaborating with ambulatory medicine, Dr. Abraham and his team were able to develop the UAB4YOU system to meet that need, and we’re very excited to see this program’s impact and future applications.
What upcoming initiatives are you looking forward to, from your team and/or from future HSC leadership?
In addition to the excellent work on access to healthcare, our wellness chair, Dr. Boone Rountree, is leading an initiative to deliver financial education programming to house staff, and our secretary, Dr. Cameron Pywell, is working to close gaps in childcare in the same manner that we’ve approached healthcare – by developing a needs assessment that will position the HSC to address this important issue in coming years.
All of these issues – medical care, improving financial literacy, access to childcare – are high-impact, and I’m excited to see great work continue in these areas. In addition, we’ve been able to grow the involvement of house staff across a variety of committees in the hospital (ranging from paging and communication to opioid stewardship). I’m certain the residents and fellows working on all these different projects will continue to bring great ideas, energy, and leadership as they work to fulfill UAB’s mission and better the systems that impact all of us every single day.
Cameron Pywell, M.D.
PGY-4, Hematology/Oncology Fellowship Program
2020-2021 HSC Position
Secretary
How long have you been part of the House Staff Council?
Two years
Why did you want to be involved?
I wanted to help advocate for residents and fellows at UAB within the larger institution and represent house staff perspectives.
What led you to becoming an HSC leader?
I wanted to work in a larger capacity with implementation of HSC initiatives benefiting the residents and fellows.
What project during your HSC leadership are you most proud of?
I am proud of the advances many have contributed to regarding COVID, CORES, and UAB4YOU for resident/fellow healthcare, and the progress made in childcare.
What upcoming initiatives are you looking forward to, from your team and/or from future HSC leadership?
I am looking forward to advancing the childcare initiative to further assist residents and fellows balancing their clinical responsibilities with parenthood, as well as assisting with other initiatives.
Boone G. Rountree, D.O.
PGY-3, General Psychiatry Residency Program
2020-2021 HSC Position
Wellness Chair
How long have you been part of the House Staff Council?
I have been on the HSC for two years now having volunteered to be a representative for psychiatry as a PGY-2 and then running for Wellness Chair for my PGY-3 year.
Why did you want to be involved?
I noticed a disconnect between my program and the GME office. As someone passionate about leadership and advocacy I decided I wanted to be part of the solution for that.
What led you to becoming an HSC leader?
Both personally and professionally I have a passion for wellness and prevention of physical and mental illnesses. Therefore I wanted to help lead the charge to ensure UAB house staff have the resources they need to allow them to thrive. Research shows that the culture a resident and fellow trains had a large impact on how they practice medicine so I am a firm believer that if we are to address the rates of physician burnout and physician suicide in the United States we need to target how we train new physicians.
What project during your HSC leadership are you most proud of?
I am not sure we can call it a “project” however the thing I am most proud of during my 2020-2021 term is the HSC response to COVID-19 and the efforts the entire leadership team put in to ensure house staff were informed and advocated for at all levels of GME. I feel this made a huge impact on how our house staff weathered the pandemic despite everything they were facing.
What upcoming initiatives are you looking forward to, from your team and/or from future HSC leadership?
The Wellness Resource Center is honestly the thing I am looking most forward to. This was something I had been thinking about since I first started residency and the fact I am now able to help contribute to its fruition means a lot to me personally. It is my hope that having this space will help foster more interdisciplinary comradery as well as promote a more holistic training environment for our house staff and their families.