Faculty Factory

“Hustle culture” is ingrained in so many of us in this field, and as our guest on the Faculty Factory Podcast this week, Jennifer Bickel, MD, argues, the busiest among us need to slow down and find time for wellness the most.

Dr. Bickel is a neurologist, and in 2024, she joined the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston as vice president and chief wellness officer.

"Along the way, when did we start thinking that fun was not professional?" Dr. Bickel ponders, arguing that injecting fun is crucial to our work.

Wellness used to be looked at as a nice-to-have, not a mission-critical aspect of academic health, but those days are over. Not feeling valued is a leading cause of burnout, and how/why to show more appreciation for each other is a crucial aspect of this interview.

The effects of chronic stress on the brain make us see an impending change as more of a threat than as an opportunity. It also leads us to show up with cynicism rather than empathy (not ideal for any line of work, especially one that includes clinical care).

By staying super busy all the time and not getting sufficient breaks, we are much more likely to make mistakes. It's crucial to breathe, take a step back, and reflect regularly, because when you attempt to grind your way through everything, you actually don't have the time to keep the status quo.

Companion resources from this interview:

Center for Brain Health: https://centerforbrainhealth.org/

Duke Center for the Advancement of Well-being Science: https://caws.dukehealth.org/meet-the-director/

In this "Best of" Faculty Factory Podcast episode, we're revisiting conversations with three incredible past guests to bring you a compilation broadcast exploring some of the most common hazards associated with social media, technology, and AI large language model (LLM) usage.

These technologies can work wonders, but there are certain pitfalls to be on heightened alert for in academic medicine, and we discuss several of those in this episode.

Conversations featured in this compilation include clips from the following episodes:

Episode 139 – Social Media Habits and Hacks with Sapna Kudchadkar, MD, PhD

Episode 389 – Examining the Ethical Obligations of Generative AI with Lacey W. Heinsberg, PhD, RN

Episode 392 – Identity Formation Beyond the Job Title in Academic Health with Angela Sharkey, MD

First up, we look at ethical social media use and the common mistakes to be aware of with Sapna Kudchadkar, MD, PhD.

That's followed by a check-in with Lacey W. Heinsberg, PhD, RN. Dr. Heinsberg talks about LLMs impacting critical thinking and how they can get things very wrong, requiring careful, responsible use of these tools.

We wrap up with Angela Sharkey, MD, who discusses cell phone addiction and how the Healthy Minds Podcast, which she discovered while walking her dog, helped her gain an intentional focus on being present in the moment and break free from the poor cell phone habits so many of us endure.

Heather Brod is back on the Faculty Factory Podcast this week for a look at finding and owning your own "Main Character Energy," a concept borrowed from internet culture that has very real implications when taken to heart by faculty.

"What I've learned is that main character energy, at its core, is about agency. It's about how you are writing the script of your own life and not being a supporting character in your own life story," Heather said.

Heather is a prolific executive coach and consultant. Prior to branching off on her own to go into coaching full time, Heather was Executive Director at the Center for Faculty Advancement Mentoring and Engagement with the Ohio State University's College of Medicine in Columbus.

Heather digs into why so many faculty members struggle to answer a deceptively simple question: what do you want? Working through this concept of main character energy with them is about identifying their values, their non-negotiables, and the type of impact they actually want to make throughout their career. 

For more information about Heather and her work, please visit the website of Heather Brod.

Along with the voice of the Faculty Factory Podcast, Kimberly A. Skarupski, PhD, MPH, Heather is the co-author of The Insider's Pocket Guide to Navigating a Faculty Career in Academic Medicine, which was published in 2024 by Springer Publishing Company. The book aims to outline a pathway to achieving a rewarding and prosperous career in academic medicine.

Kathryn Burtson, MD, MHPE, FACP, is our guest on the Faculty Factory Podcast this week for a look into academic coaching and individualized learning plans, part of a broader effort to move graduate medical education forward.

Dr. Burtson is a first-time guest on our show and a colonel in the United States Air Force Medical Corps. She is Director of Medical Education at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Associate Professor of Medicine at Wright State and Uniformed Services Universities, and Vice Chair of Faculty Affairs at the Wright State Department of Medicine.

Here are the links to her articles mentioned at the start of this podcast:

Academic Coaching to Enhance In-Training Examination Performance in Internal Medicine Residency - PubMed

Academic Coaching to Promote Self-Directed Learning in Graduate Medical Education - PubMed

Empowering Learning: Self-Directed Strategies of Internal Medicine Residents in an Academic Coaching Program - PubMed

The House Cup: Using Longitudinal Gamification to Improve Didactic Attendance - PubMed

Since our Faculty Factory podcast's launch in 2019, we have had the honor of interviewing some of the world's most impressive people, with a constant recurring theme being that these folks know how to safeguard their time.

In this Faculty Factory best-of compilation episode, we're diving into some quick-hitting time management tips packed into a quick 15-minute broadcast with some of the most powerful mic-drop segments in this show's 7+ year history.

Three-time management experts in academic health are featured this week, with clips from the following episodes:

Episode 63: Time Management and Efficiency with David M. Yousem, MD, MBA

Episode 68: Using Time Productively with Donna L. Vogel, MD, PhD

Episode 119: Habits and Hacks with Shameema Sikder, MD

Themes covered throughout include goal setting, prioritizing, list-making, saying no, and how to face the items on your list that you dread most (or simply eliminate them if that’s an option).

"Time is ultimately our most precious commodity, so if you are saying yes to certain projects, it eventually means you will be saying no to something else," said Dr. Sikder.

Drs. Yousem and Vogel discuss the importance of prioritization, particularly in the context of Stephen Covey's (author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People) Time Management Matrix, which is mentioned in-depth in both Dr. Yousem's and Dr. Vogel's clips.