In this episode, Dr. Stuart Slavin speaks with Dr. Saadia Akhtar, professor of emergency medicine and senior associate dean for Trainee Well-Being and GME at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. They explore the evolution of Mount Sinai's GME Well-Being Champion Program—an initiative that empowers faculty champions across specialties and sites to identify local challenges and drive meaningful improvements in workplace culture and efficiency. Dr. Akhtar shares how the program fosters collaboration, builds community, and supports learners and champions through structured debriefs, system-level feedback, and professional development. This model offers a scalable, data-informed approach to improving well-being in medical education.

Podcast Chapters

• (00:00) – Intro & Guest Background

• (01:01) – Origins of the Well-Being Champion Program

• (03:54) – Wellbeing Is Local: One Size Doesn't Fit All

• (04:37) – Champion Roles & Reporting Structure

• (06:13) – Monthly Debriefs & Report Outs

• (08:01) – Champion Independence from Program Leadership

• (09:05) – Trainee Support & Resource Sharing

• (10:34) – Collaboration with Program Directors & Champions' Role

• (13:42) – Professional Development & Lecture Series

• (15:40) – Stipends, Recognition & Career Growth

• (17:23) – Champion-Led Initiatives & Impact

• (21:00) – Reaching Institutions with Limited Resources

• (23:20) – The Iterative Continuous Quality Improvement Approach

• (25:14) – Final Reflections

• (26:16) – Closing & Resources