Faculty Factory

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.

In the final stretch before retirement, the anxiety about an impending change in identity can be palpable, but Angela Sharkey, MD, has a lot of encouragement for folks who are struck with those feelings as they approach the closing years of a career in academic health. She joins the Faculty Factory Podcast this week for her third appearance and a triumphant return to our show. Dr. Sharkey is Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. She had a multidecade career in academic medicine featuring patient care, health professions education, and clinical research. She has held leadership roles at four different academic institutions. She retired in 2025 and continues to present at a national level on strategic career planning, conflict management, and other critical faculty development topics. Dr. Sharkey began to think about stepping away from her career in a full-time capacity and immediately reflected on how it would impact her “identity.” When we introduce ourselves in social situations, we tend to say our name, title, and institution, and when we retire, we take a step away from that identity. As an accomplished thought leader in career planning, Dr. Sharkey approached retirement through the lens of how she teaches others to make strategic career decisions. "With retirement, I thought I should be advising myself about the strategy of planning for retirement around my purpose, my passion and my people, to best move forward into this really exciting time," she said.

Daniel S. Eiferman, MD, MBA, FACS, Professor of Surgery at The Ohio State University in Columbus, joins us to discuss his new book, “Cut Open: A Surgeon's Stories of Loss, Resilience, and Growth,” and to explore some of the most important leadership skills in medicine you won't learn in formal training, this week on the Faculty Factory Podcast. Learn about the book: https://www.amazon.com/Cut-Open-Surgeons-Stories-Resilience-ebook/dp/B0GGZFD4HT  Dr. Eiferman shares the leadership skills medical training often leaves out: How to lead a team Navigating difficult conversations Building trust with patients and colleagues

Daniel Shapiro, PhD, returns to the Faculty Factory Podcast this week for a conversation on what really separates thriving academic leaders from those who quietly wash out of their roles. Today's interview is based on a talk Dr. Shapiro recently gave for Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine (ELAM), titled "Chutes and Ladders." After conducting hundreds of 360 evaluations for chairs, institute directors, and deans, and watching what happened to those leaders afterward, Dr. Shapiro started noticing patterns that rarely come up in typical leadership conversations. He breaks these behaviors into three tiers: Foundational behaviors Mid-level skills Advanced skills Dr. Shapiro currently serves as Senior Partner in Performance Transformation and leads the Chartis Center for Burnout Solutions, where he and his team assist leaders of multi-hospital systems with efforts to reduce burnout and the turnover of high-value people. He previously served as the Vice Dean for Faculty and Administrative Affairs at the Penn State College of Medicine (Hershey). Dr. Shapiro first joined us in February 2019. At the time it was the first ever interview released on this podcast and our second episode overall. It focused on factors that influence the productivity, success, happiness, and overall well-being of faculty. He returned in 2022 for an in-depth chat about data's role in advancing the careers of faculty. You can learn more about both those episodes: Episode 169 – A Faculty Factory Reunion with Daniel Shapiro, MS, PhD Episode 2 – A Faculty Factory Interview with Daniel Shapiro, MS, PhD You can get in contact with Dr. Shapiro via email: [email protected] and he is available to follow on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdanshaps/.

We're joined by first-time guest Lacey W. Heinsberg, PhD, RN, on this week's episode of the Faculty Factory Podcast to examine many of the ethical considerations surrounding the widespread use of generative AI tools (ChatGPT, Google Gemini, Claude, etc.). Dr. Heinsberg is Assistant Professor of Health Promotion & Development in the School of Nursing, and of Human Genetics in the School of Public Health, at the University of Pittsburgh. She also serves as Co-Director of the Genomics of Patient Outcomes HUB in the School of Nursing. It feels difficult to opt out of using generative AI without there being serious consequences to our careers, yet as we learn in today's episode, it's a deeply personal choice whether to use it and how much to use it. Personal Code of Conduct Dr. Heinsberg created her own personal code of conduct about using generative AI and discussed this in the interview today. Some of its themes include: "Enhance it, don't replace it" and staying aligned with her own institution's AI use policy. There is almost a certain slippery slope facing us all when it comes to an overreliance on generative AI. Writing is thinking, so if AI is writing for us, are we thinking more deeply? Is this harming our critical thinking? "When does trust but verify become ‘why bother using it at all?", she said. Broaching Tough Questions No one has all the answers to this, but it is important to be discussing this with your teams and to embrace these tough questions. Other recurring themes in this episode include: Authenticity.  Integrity.  Transparency (and where the line is between ghostwriting and flat-out generation of unoriginal text). If you're not sure where to get started on your code of conduct policies, or if you have any other questions, you can reach out to her directly via email: [email protected].

Mandy J. Hill, DrPH, MPH, HIVPCP, is a first-time guest on the Faculty Factory who is highly aware of the unique challenges leaders face. She joins us this week to explore a critical yet often overlooked issue: the toxic feeling of a need to overperform in this field. Dr. Hill currently serves as Professor and Chair of the Department of Population Health and Health Disparities, and Centennial Chair in Preventive Medicine and Community Health, in the School of Public and Population Health at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB). Overperforming is frequently normalized because faculty are conditioned to exceed expectations rather than simply meet them. But "when that becomes the norm, you can create a toxic condition," as Dr. Hill points out in the interview's opening moments. “If you are an early-stage investigator without mentors and champions willing to bring you into that ‘winning team,’ the default way of thinking is to do more,” Dr. Hill said. Overperforming is quickly becoming (if not already) the baseline in academia. It is the overwhelming reality of the culture, so what can be done? Autonomy and investing in ourselves are the only paths forward, and choosing when enough is enough has to be implemented or we risk creating a profession that no one will want to enter.

This week on the Faculty Factory Podcast, we're exploring overcoming adversity and stressful times for a very special "best of" episode. The snippets from today's podcast focus on viewing your career as a marathon, staying positive through unimaginable circumstances, and embracing a mindset of humility through leadership, teambuilding and mentorship over the course of your career in academic health. We're featuring important highlights from three episodes in our archive: Episode 130 – Habits and Hacks with Barbara Fivush, MD Episode 150 – Habits and Hacks with Fawaz Al Ammary, MD, PhD Episode 312 – Life Lessons in Informal Learning, Mentorship, and On-the-Job Education with David J. Skorton, MD We start out hearing from Dr. Skorton, who reflects on his own approach to overcoming the persistent waves of adversity he must address while leading the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). After that, we hear from Dr. Al Ammary, who shares how he turned a vicious and unprovoked physical attack into a source of positivity, with a take-home message of staying positive no matter what. We close with Dr. Fivush. She outlines crucial tips for building a team to get things done and chats about why working on your career is a long-term process, a marathon and not a sprint. She also touches on how staying focused and resilient through the inevitable ups and downs of a career is a must.

Lauren Maggio, PhD, MS(LIS), Editor-in-Chief of MedEdPORTAL, visits the Faculty Factory this week for a comprehensive look at the value of submitting to this open-access, peer-reviewed publication and why utilizing its resources throughout your career is a must. In addition to her role with MedEdPORTAL, Dr. Maggio is a Professor and the Director of Research in the Department of Medical Education at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. She also serves on the editorial boards of Academic Medicine and Perspectives on Medical Education. Founded in 2005, MedEdPORTAL is the Association of American Medical Colleges' journal of teaching and learning. "MedEdPORTAL is a diamond open access journal. And what that means is that not only can everyone around the world read what's in MedEdPORTAL for no charge, there's also no charge for you to publish in MedEdPORTAL. So there are no fees for the authors and for the readers. Which to me, as someone who came up in information science and open access, is incredibly important," Dr. Maggio said. MedEdPORTAL also supports the creative commons approach to protecting the intellectual property of those who are published, while allowing others to utilize its value. "We use Creative Commons licenses, which ensure that you have your copyright, that you will get credit for your work, but you are allowing others to reuse your work and modify it for their own context. Because at the end of the day we want our colleagues around the world to be able to take those off the shelf and put them into play in their classroom," Dr. Maggio added.

This week on the Faculty Factory Podcast, David Niesel, PhD, tackles one of the most underexplored questions in academic medicine: do you actually know how to be happy outside of your career? It's a provocative starting point, but one that gets at something real in a broader discussion on being strategic when approaching retirement and transitions for leaders in academic health. "Not everybody is ready for retirement at the same time," Dr. Niesel said, "and that question of readiness sits at the heart of this conversation." Over the course of his career, Dr. Niesel rose through the ranks of academic leadership, serving as Vice Dean for the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Department Chairman, Dean, and ultimately as the Chief Research Officer at University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB). He retired from full-time employment in 2021 and continues as an adjunct professor. He also co-hosts Medical Discovery News, a weekly radio show that recently surpassed 1,000 episodes and publishes a 500-word column each week. You can find out more and tune in here: https://www.medicaldiscoverynews.com/ Dr. Niesel makes the case that skills you've built over decades don't disappear when you step away from the institution. They remain in demand, and that's exactly why intentionality matters. You can't afford to live this next stage by default.

On this week's episode of the Faculty Factory Podcast, Donna J. Adams, EdD, discusses the noticeable rise in learner concerns over the past five years. Now that we are more than half a decade removed from the peak of the pandemic, managing these issues has become a top priority. With UTMB in Galveston, Texas, Dr. Adams serves as Program Director, Translational Research Education, in the Institute for Translational Sciences Office of Educational Programs. We're excited to welcome Dr. Adams for her first appearance on the show as we explore how faculty leadership can actively step in and help address these challenges. "I always tell students you need to look long term. You need to think about what skills can I pick up now that could be transferable to a postdoc to get into where I really want to go? Sometimes you have to play the long game instead of the short game," Dr. Adams said. Learning about unexpected career paths, opening new doors, and playing the "long game" (since some of the skills you gain will stay with you throughout your career) are all explored in this episode through the lens of Dr. Adams's robust experience. Transferable skills, a sense of curiosity, and relationship building are also covered. As the discussion wraps up, Dr. Adams also addresses getting comfortable with change, one of the few constants in academia, and why providing psychological safety is essential.

This week on the Faculty Factory Podcast, we’re talking about education once again, and this time it's all about exploring teaching that goes way beyond the status quo for a very special "best of" episode. The snippets from today’s podcast focus on technology, meeting learners where they are, avoiding cognitive overload, and introducing clinical and micro-scale instructional approaches. We're featuring important highlights from three episodes in our archive: Episode 283 – Tiny Talks, Academic Medicine and the Clinical Learning Environment with Anna Handorf, MD Episode 158 – Just in Time Teaching (JiTT), Evidence-based Knowledge, and Technology with Alice Fornari, EdD, FAMEE, RDN Episode 297 – The Art and Science of Delivering “Micro Resources” in Academic Medicine with Alice Fornari, EdD, FAMEE, RDN We start out hearing from Dr. Handorf about the three rules of Tiny Talks. These three guidelines are so important to consider when crafting learning materials at any level. After that, we move on to back-to-back interviews with Dr. Fornari, who is constantly incorporating the latest technology and applications to bring just-in-time teaching elements and “micro resources” to learners. Our education-themed archive of content is robust here at the Faculty Factory. We've organized this content into its own dedicated section on our website, so it's never been easier to find the next episode that might inspire you.

This week on the Faculty Factory Podcast, we explore what neurodiversity is and how it plays out in the workplace with our guest, Kelley J. Slack, PhD. Dr. Slack is an Organizational Psychologist in the Department of Pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, Texas. First things out of the gate, we learned neurodiversity is not a medical term but rather a social construct. "You're not going to find neurodiversity in a medical textbook, but at the same time it's 'not not' a medical term in that it highlights the natural variation in human neurology," she said. Dr. Slack reminds us that we all possess cognitive strengths and deal with different challenges. This natural range has played a vital role in human flourishing, and our latest episode is the perfect starting place to learn more. You can contact Dr. Slack by email. And learn more about the study she mentioned in the closing moments of the podcast.

Companies and institutions have mission statements, but when it comes to individuals, it is unfortunately much less common. Maybe it's time to change that narrative. Crafting a personal mission statement takes strategic planning. This means being deliberate about having your behavior reflect what drives you. It entails reflecting on what is important to you and what values should govern your decision making as you forge ahead in your career. Luckily for us, Adam D. Wolfe, MD, PhD, makes his fourth appearance on the Faculty Factory Podcast this week to discuss just that. Everyone wants to save time, and there may not be a better time saver than doing what Dr. Wolfe encourages, which is to revisit your values, personal mission statement and what you want to accomplish in the next year or two. That true north will help you have the confidence to say no, and a well-timed "no," as many of us can painfully attest, can save you significant time, headaches, and stress. About Dr. Wolfe Dr. Wolfe is Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Program Director of the Pediatric Residency Program. He also serves as Assistant Dean of Medical Education and holds the Jann L. Harrison Endowed Chair in Pediatric Graduate Medical Education at Baylor College of Medicine in San Antonio at CHRISTUS Children's. As mentioned, this is Dr. Wolfe's fourth appearance on the Faculty Factory Podcast. Please be sure to visit his previous appearances here: Visit episode 320 – Self-Promotion and Other Challenges to Embrace in Academic Medicine Check out episode 326 – Key Communication Tips for Better Relationships in Academic Medicine Here is episode 374 - The Power of Peer Mentoring Circles

When it comes to exploring senior roles in academic medicine and understanding how one goes about achieving them, we have the perfect guest this week on the Faculty Factory Podcast as we welcome Jenny Mladenovic, MD, MBA, MACP. She joins us to help make sense of the opportunities available and to shed light on the variables to consider when pursuing one. "I do think it's really important to recognize that faculty have chapters in their life and they may not be interested now, or there may not be opportunity now, but it is still important to understand what these roles are, what they mean, and why we have them," she said. She also reminds us that if you ever think you are overreaching for a job, you have nothing to lose by applying, except perhaps your pride. "The reality is that there is no perfect job and you will never know everything going into a job. Once you start with that, it makes it a little easier," she said. In leadership, communication skills are essential, as are operational expertise, discipline, and at least some level of financial management. The good news is that all of these skills can be developed. "I have my personal biases, so everything I say should be filtered through that. But I believe a dean's role is most important in recruiting and managing faculty. They have to have some mix of charisma and operational expertise," she said. About Dr. Mladenovic Dr. Jenny Mladenovic is President and CEO of the Center for Women in Academic Medicine and Science (CWAMS) and Chair/Founder of the GEMS Alliance. Previously she was Executive Vice-President and Provost at Oregon Health Sciences University (OHSU) and has held positions as senior associate dean at two institutions. Additionally, Dr. Mladenovic is an AOA graduate of the University of Washington and trained at Johns Hopkins Hospital, Stanford University, and the University of Washington.  For nearly two decades, she had an NIH/VA funded laboratory focused on hematopoietic cell differentiation. She holds an MBA from the University of Miami and is a certified mediator.

What can we do to deal with this funding crisis in academic health and get through it with balance, equanimity and resilience? Mindfulness-based stress reduction and other mental health aspects that can help deal with the funding challenges in academic health are explored in this week's edition of the Faculty Factory Podcast with our guest Neda Gould, PhD. "It's tapping into our creativity and also recognizing that we will also get through this. It's just how can we get through it with some balance and equanimity and resilience?" Dr. Gould said. In this funding climate, with job security concerns top of mind, there are resources along the lines of support groups and other available tools to explore because we all have to keep fortifying forward. No one has all the answers, but Dr. Gould takes us through many small changes we can work on to continue to enjoy life despite these external stressors. Dr. Gould is Director of the Mindfulness Program and Associate Director of the Bayview Anxiety Disorders Clinic, both in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. About The Johns Hopkins Mindfulness Program: https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/psychiatry/specialty-areas/mindfulness In March 2020, Dr. Gould joined the Faculty Factory Podcast (remotely, of course) and delivered two very memorable episodes to help our community cope with the emerging anxiety of the time, for which we are forever grateful. Along with her most recent podcast interview with us before today, you can revisit all of her interviews with us: Self-Care Tools for Stressful Times with Neda Gould, PhD Tips for Dealing with Uncertainty in Uncertain Times with Neda Gould, PhD  Guided Meditation with Neda Gould, PhD

This week on the Faculty Factory Podcast, we are taking on the topic of education (and more specifically, the learner and faculty experience) by featuring important highlights and snippets from three very important episodes in our archive on that topic: Episode 270 – Elevating the Value of Teaching and Teacher Identity in Academic Medicine with Karen Moniz, MEd (HSE), PhD(c) Episode 299 – Best Supporting Practices and Strategies for Stressed-Out Learners and Faculty with Jessica Seaman, EdD Episode 333 – Essential Tips for a Successful Clinical Education Career with Carla L. Spagnoletti, MD, MS The Faculty Factory’s education-themed episodes cover everything from AI in the classroom to autonomy-supportive instruction, humanities integration, and the evolving identity of the teacher-clinician. We’ve recently organized this content into its own dedicated section on our website, so it’s never been easier to find the episode that might inspire you. About Our Podcast Guests Karen Moniz, MEd (HSE), PhD(c), brings her wisdom and insights to the Faculty Factory while drawing from her extensive experience as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Alberta. She previously served as the Faculty and Staff Development Program Director at that institution from 2018 to 2023. Jessica Seaman, EdD, serves as Assistant Professor of Medical Humanities, Co-Director of the Gold Track Curriculum, and Assistant Dean of Faculty Development at Creighton University School of Medicine in Phoenix, Arizona. Carla L. Spagnoletti, MD, MS, serves as Professor of Medicine and holds the George H. Taber Endowed Chair in General Internal Medicine with the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. In addition, she is the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, the Associate Division Chief for Education in GIM, and the Associate Director of the Masters and Certificate Programs in Medical Education within the Institute for Clinical Research Education.