Dear colleague: 

I am pleased to announce that Lotte Dyrbye, MD, MPHE, will be joining the School of Medicine this spring as Senior Associate Dean of Faculty and Chief Well-being Officer. In this newly created position, Lotte will oversee faculty affairs, faculty and leadership development programs, and diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, and she will lead initiatives that reduce burnout among physicians, residents, and medical students. Lotte is joining us from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., where she has been since 2001. She is currently a professor of medicine and medical education and the co-director of the Mayo Clinic Department of Medicine Physician Well-Being Program.

Lotte is one of the leading experts in the country on clinician well-being. She has received 19 competitive research grants to support her work and she’s author of more than 140 articles, abstracts, and other publications related to the topic. Notably, she is co-author of the National Academy of Medicine’s consensus study, “Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout: A Systems Approach to Professional Well-Being.”  The book was named the 2021 winner of the James A. Hamilton Award, given annually to the authors of a management or health care book judged outstanding by the American College of Healthcare Executives. To address high rates of clinician burnout, Lotte co-developed the Well-Being Index and an interactive web tool that provides a validated instrument for self-assessment, access to tailored resources, and organization-level reports with comparisons to the national norm. The Well-Being Index is used by over 160,000 individuals in 91 countries, and 790 hospitals and organizations.

The members of our School of Medicine community have faced the extraordinary challenges of the pandemic with remarkable resolve and resilience. Our faculty have excelled in care, led in research, and demonstrated their commitment to service. To continue to this success, our School of Medicine must build comprehensive and collaborative programs for faculty development and clinician well-being that match the level care we are providing to others. Based on her impressive achievements and leadership abilities, I am confident that Lotte will make significant contributions to our efforts. Her first day is April 27. Please join me in welcoming her to campus.

Our campus is also announcing today the creation of another key leadership position: Chief Scientific Officer, Child Health. Ronald Sokol, MD, professor of pediatrics and director of the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI), has been named to the position, effective May 1. At the CCTSI, Ron and his team have been responsible for overseeing the implementation of programming supported by more than $187 million in National Institutes of Health funding. As Chief Scientific Officer, Child Health, Ron will be responsible for building and coordinating child health research activities on campus, as well as strengthening the partnerships between the organizations supporting the work of our research community. Many conditions that affect human health develop in childhood and can last a lifetime, so creating strong bonds among our researchers is essential to efforts to understand disease and to improve health of individual patients throughout their lives. We look forward to Ron’s continuing contributions to our campus in this important leadership role.

Three members of the Department of Family Medicine have been named winners in the  2022 Colorado Academy of Family Physicians Awards . Kent Voorhees, MD, professor of clinical practice of family medicine, was named Teacher of the Year; Aimee English, MD, assistant professor of family medicine, was named Family Physician of the Year; and Shawnecca Burke, MD, was named Family Medicine Resident of the Year. Congratulations to all.

A Department of Family Medicine study designed to help rural primary care practices address opioid dependence and use disorder in their communities was successful in increasing treatment in rural Colorado. A January 2022  article  in the Annals of Family Medicine by Linda Zittleman, MSPH, senior instructor of family medicine, and colleagues, reports that the program was associated with an increase in treatment with buprenorphine in more communities in Colorado. The program,  IT MATTTRs , which offers evidence-based community materials and training for primary care practice teams to help reduce suffering from opioid dependence and use disorder, is an example of how our School of Medicine contributes to better health in communities throughout the state.

The Office of Medical Education in the School of Medicine is seeking candidates for course director of the gastrointestinal system course for the School of Medicine’s MD program. The Course Director will lead the development and delivery of a four-week course designed to introduce first-year medical students to foundational medical and clinical gastrointestinal system sciences and prepare them to be successful in their clerkship year and beyond. Applicants for this 0.2 FTE position must have an appropriate terminal degree (MD, PhD, or DO) and a current faculty appointment in the School of Medicine. The job description and application instructions are posted on the School of Medicine Intranet. Application review begins February 20, and the posting will remain active until the position is filled. For questions, contact David Ecker, MD, at david.ecker@cuanschutz.edu. 

The Academy of Medical Educators Teaching Scholars Program is accepting applications. This 18-month certificate program (August 2022-March 2024) for health professions faculty, is designed to enhance knowledge and skills, and develop future leaders in medical and health care education with a focus on core components of educational scholarship and curriculum development. Deadline to apply is Friday, March 11. If you have questions, contact mary.teel@cuanschutz.edu. More information and the application is available on the Teaching Scholars Program website.

The Anschutz Medical Campus television advertisements have returned. The new campaign, called “Possibilities Endless,” builds on the “This is Breakthrough” campaign that was on air prior to the pandemic. “Possibilities Endless” spots began airing regionally during the opening ceremonies of the Beijing Winter Olympics on February 4. This campaign is scheduled to run through the end of April, with spots on air during Super Bowl LVI on February 13. This advertising campaign also includes displays at Denver International Airport and in downtown Denver, as well as in targeted print and digital platforms.

Have a good week,

John J. Reilly, Jr., MD
Richard D. Krugman Endowed Chair
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and
Dean, School of Medicine