Faculty Factory

Making a decision that leads to a major life change is the topic explored in today’s Faculty Factory episode with Rachel Salas, MD, MEd.

Dr. Salas is Assistant Medical Director with Johns Hopkins Center for Sleep and Wellness and serves as Professor of Neurology with Johns Hopkins Medicine.

She joins our podcast to share the story of her carefully planned major life-changing decision on today’s episode. Make sure to tune in for the full story!

Dr. Salas first visited with us here on the Faculty Factory in October 2020 for Episode No. 92. The interview was called The Practical Use of Strength-Based Psychology. Last year she came back for a “reunion” episode called Coaching and Strength-Based Approaches to Keep us Progressing.

When you are done listening to today’s show, you can listen to her other two episodes here:

• The Practical Use of Strength-Based Psychology

• You can reach Dr. Salas here: [email protected]

Yuval Bar-Or, PhD, brings us more exceptionally valuable financial information for faculty in his third unforgettable appearance on our show this week. Dr. Bar-Or is an Associate Professor with the Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. He is the author of seven books, including the Pillars of Wealth series for medical professionals.

In a field full of confusing terms and jargon, he covers the basics of personal finance for medical professionals with an easily understandable use of plain language in all his appearances on our show.

Today’s discussion involves the importance of knowing your net worth (a.k.a. nest egg), investing basics and retirement planning.

Learn More: https://bit.ly/41DFDN7 

Making his Faculty Factory Podcast debut this week is Andrew Wilner, MD, FACP, FAAN! We are grateful to have this neurologist, prolific medical journalist and podcaster join us for a discussion on giving and receiving feedback painlessly.

In addition to his podcasting and writing, Dr. Wilner currently serves as Associate Professor of Neurology at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis. 

Learn More: https://facultyfactory.org/feedback 

As longtime listeners can attest, we love lists here at the Faculty Factory. This week we are joined by Mary Deane Sorcinelli, EdD who brings us the gift of her top ten tips for new faculty.

Dr. Sorcinelli is Professor Emeritus & Senior Fellow, Center for Teaching & Learning with University of Massachusetts Amherst.

Providing guidance and support to help navigate the challenges of academic medicine is what we are all about. Dr. Sorcinelli’s in-depth list will help young faculty build a strong foundation for the rigors of their career.

While geared towards young faculty, this list provides truly valuable insights and advice that will benefit faculty at all stages of their career.

The list came from Dr. Sorcinelli thinking about what advice she wished she had received when she started out in her career.

“I looked at the research which had identified a couple of core issues and interwoven concerns that new faculty have,” she told us.

To learn more, please feel free to reach out to Dr. Sorcinelli via email: [email protected]. She will be more than happy to send you a document of the tips she outlined in today’s interview.

Making her Faculty Factory Podcast debut this week is Jennifer A. Villwock, MD!  Dr. Villwock joins us for a full exploration of wellness within our field.

Dr. Villwock currently serves as Assistant Professor of Otolaryngology at the University of Kansas Medical Center in Kansas City.

As Dr. Villlwock points out early in this episode, wellness is not something that we have historically done well for ourselves within the culture of medicine.

• Read more on FacultyFactory.org: https://facultyfactory.org/jennifer-villwock/ 

Megan Palmer PhD, MS, is back this week with three important topics she would like to share with our community. It has been well over three years since her last visit to the Faculty Factory Podcast.

Dr. Palmer is an Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine and Higher Education in the School of Education at Indiana University. She is also the Senior Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Professional Development, and Diversity.

While these topics are specific to her institution and the state of Indiana, there are takeaways from this discussion sure to spark ideas for faculty around the globe.

The three topics examined on today’s interview (and the approximate time stamps of when they are introduced) are as follows:

• Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Justice. This discussion takes place in the opening moments of the podcast.

Learn More: https://facultyfactory.org/ 

Heather Brod revisits us on the Faculty Factory Podcast this week for another enlightening chat. This week we are discussing what it means to belong and how we can help others build a sense of belonging at our institutions.

Heather joined our show last year for a memorable chat on executive coaching and leadership. 

Heather is an 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.

Learn More: https://facultyfactory.org/belonging/ 

It’s the return of R. Kevin Grigsby, MSW, DSW, on the Faculty Factory Podcast this week!

Dr. Grigsby joins our show for a timely discussion on organizational strategy in academic medicine. Today’s conversation also includes vital tidbits on leadership, how to conduct an efficient meeting, and much more.

Today’s episode is another example of a return guest rejoining our show for a powerful and memorable reunion episode. It was way back in September 2019 when he first joined us. As you would imagine, nearly three and a half years later there was a lot to catch up on.

You can revisit Dr. Grigsby’s episode from 2019 with us here.

Dr. Grigsby has entered a stage of his career he is describing as “replenishment” as he continues to work on projects he helps colleagues with in academic medicine and science.

Dr. Grigsby previously served as Senior Director, Member Organizational Development at the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC).

Dr. Grigsby started his academic career at Yale Child Study Center.  As a social worker by training, Dr. Grigsby was involved with work in the early stages of his career with organizations, such as group homes and shelters for homeless kids.

He worked on research to help those organizations better meet their missions.

Dr. Grigsby spent almost a decade at Penn State College of Medicine as Vice Dean for Faculty and Administrative Affairs. Before he joined the AAMC in 2009, he was Vice Dean for Administration and Research at the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.

At some point in our academic medicine careers, we will all overcommit ourselves to an overwhelming number of responsibilities.  

Jennifer Apps, PhD, joins the Faculty Factory Podcast this week to chat about reconnecting to our values to reclaim some balance.

Dr. Apps is a pediatric neuropsychologist at Children's Wisconsin, a pediatric acute care children's hospital in Milwaukee. She also serves as associate professor and the vice chair of faculty development in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine Department.

No one wants to miss a potentially great opportunity and many of us have a hard time saying no, but without clearly defining our values it is difficult to prioritize what matters most. 

“The worst feeling comes when you get into these positions and you feel like you're not doing any of them because you're just managing them all instead of really being able to excel,” she said.

“We've all gone into these fields where we've demonstrated the ability to persevere towards a long-term goal, but in order to do that, you have to have these values that have been guiding you,” Dr. Apps said. 

Learn More: https://facultyfactory.org/ 

It’s our annual “State of the Podcast” address this week on the Faculty Factory as we preview Season 5 and the year ahead! We are privileged to welcome listeners to this milestone fifth year of the Faculty Factory Podcast. Faculty Factory producer, Casey Callanan, MBA, joins podcast host Kimberly A. Skarupski, PhD, MPH, to recap some Faculty Factory community highlights from 2022 on today’s show. We also preview some of the exciting new resources, podcast episodes, and content that is coming as part of Season 5 in 2023! Here are some resources as mentioned in today’s episode:

As a friendly reminder, the previous seasons of this podcast have included:

• Season 1: Discussions with Deans

As mentioned in today’s show, Seasons 2 and 3 of the podcast come with a companion eBook that recaps a lot of the content that were outlined in those episodes. You can check them out here:

• The Snippets for Success eBook [pdf]

Writing Accountability Groups (WAGs) aim to make writing automatic, mechanical and routine. WAGs started as a group “writing bootcamp” for faculty members and its core principles can be utilized by any writer to improve their craft. Please visit WagYourWork.com and WAGs on HopkinsMedicine.org to learn more.

If you feel as though the timing is right for you – or a colleague you want to sponsor – to be interviewed on our show, please never hesitate to reach out to us via our contact us page or by sending an email to [email protected]. If there is someone you think we need to talk to, please indicate the name and email address of the guest you would like to sponsor when you send us a message!

The success of the Faculty Factory would not be possible without the generous contributions of the hundreds of folks who have donated their time to be interviewed for our show. We would like to send a sincere thank you to all who have contributed to this ongoing mission. You can also find us on Twitter where we look forward to connecting with our community even more.