You Said—We Did: Actions Inspired by Your Input
Together, school-wide priorities and department-led initiatives create a culture of well-being across the CU School of Medicine.
Faculty voices matter. The University of Colorado School of Medicine (CU SOM) Faculty and Resident/Fellow Well-being Survey guides meaningful changes at both the school level and across individual departments. Below, explore the actions we have taken and continue to develop, as well as how each department is acting on feedback to improve the faculty and trainee experience.
School-Level Actions
At CU School of Medicine, we are acting on the themes raised in the 2024 Faculty Survey. These initiatives are designed to reduce burden, strengthen development, and foster a culture of well-being to create system-wide impact.
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Reduce Administrative Workload
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Address Mistreatment & Bias
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Faculty Development & Career Growth
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Strengthen Peer Support & Recovery
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Improve Clinical Workflows & Efficiency
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Invest in Innovation & Culture
Modernized Promotion Process
CU SOM Rules were changed to allow for the below changes:
- The Regular Faculty Series is now the Tenured and Tenure-Eligible Track, reflecting more inclusive terminology.
- Clinical Practice and Research Professor tracks no longer have a promotion “time clock,” and new ranks (Instructor, Senior Instructor, Assistant Professor) have been added.
- Application requirements have been streamlined:
- One cover letter replaces four separate portfolios.
- A single Personalized Promotions Matrix replaces four separate matrices.
- Supplemental materials are only required for areas of excellence (plus teaching evaluations for all faculty).
- A CV Abstract is required only for tenure applications.
These changes simplify requirements, reduce redundancy, and make the process more transparent and equitable. View more details about the CU SOM Rules changes on our website.
Exploring Faculty Data Solutions
CU SOM is evaluating vendor platforms to streamline annual reviews, reduce reporting burden, and simplify dossier preparation for promotion.
Bystander/upstander training was delivered in select departments in partnership with campus leaders.
Several faculty development programs were expanded or offered, including:
- Expansion of leadership programs and offerings
- A workshop on negotiation (fall 2025, with special emphasis on scientists)
- Financial support for the Department of Medicine's Mentoring Academy
- New Academy of Medical Educators programming and networking events
Peer support after adverse clinical events is being expanded across interested departments.
CU SOM piloted Abridge, an AI-tool to improve documentation efficiency was successfully piloted across CU SOM. Based on this success, licenses will soon be available to faculty.
Abridge users saw big wins during the pilot:
- 25% less time in notes per appointment
- More complete documentation with a 13.8% year-over-year increase in diagnosis
- 62.6% more diagnoses compared to peers durign the pilow
- Lower burnout, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization
As Dean Sampson put it, "This is a win." We'd call it a win-win-win—for our clinicians, patients, and the entire organization.
Thanks to strong support from our departmental leaders, the CU Medicine Board has approved making Abridge a permanent solution.
Huge thanks to Karen Chacko, MD, and all the clinicians who tested Abridge and made this pilot a success.
Funded Well-Being Innovation Awards to support creative, faculty-led initiatives that improve the work and learning environment, reduce burnout, and enhance professional fulfillment across our School of Medicine. The 2025 awardees represent a diverse range of projects that address critical drivers of faculty well-being such as workload, efficiency, and psychological safety, and they are designed for scalability across departments and clinical affiliates. By funding these innovations, CU SOM is building a pipeline of solutions that can be rigorously tested, refined, and implemented to create a healthier, more sustainable environment for clinicians and trainees
2025 Awardees (highlights)
- Project AIDA — AI Documentation Assistant
Lead: Aakriti Pandita, MD (Medicine – Hospital Medicine)
Builds and tests an Epic-integrated AI tool that retrieves pertinent clinical information in real time and drafts problem-oriented documentation to cut cognitive load and burnout; crossover trial with radiology and hospital medicine users. - Optimizing Cognitive Load of Pediatric Nocturnists (Swing-Shift Model)
Lead: Alexandra Kilinsky, DO, MS-HPPL (Pediatrics – Hospital Medicine)
Implements an evening swing shift to absorb admission surges, aiming to reduce NASA-TLX task load, burnout, and attrition among nocturnists; longitudinal design with multiple time points and a daytime control group. - Taming the Inbox — Sustainable Coverage for GIM
Lead: Kristin Jensen, MD (General Internal Medicine)
Pilots an APP float coverage model for out-of-office providers; measures provider well-being, Epic Signal time in InBasket, turnaround time, and feasibility across five clinics via PDSA cycles. - Optimizing AI-Powered In-Basket Messaging
Lead: Yanjun Gao, PhD (Biomedical Informatics)
Builds a retrieval-augmented prompt optimization platform to improve Epic GPT-4 draft replies, targeting higher utilization, lower edit distance, and better sentiment—reducing message time and cognitive burden. - Collaborating to Reduce In-Basket Burden (Clinic Protocols)
Lead: Jennifer Caragol, MD (Family Medicine)
Standardizes workflows (routing, MA scope, SmartPhrases), tracks Epic Signal metrics and SMART goals (e.g., time per appointment, turnaround, pajama time), and embeds training for sustainability.
Advocated for a newFaculty Lounge on the Anschutz Campus for connection and community that opened summer of 2025.
Building a Culture of Well-Being
Together, these efforts are creating an ecosystem where well-being is embedded in systems, culture, and opportunities for growth.
Department-Level Actions
Departments are implementing local initiatives tailored to their unique challenges and opportunities. Explore by theme or department:
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Workload & Efficiency
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Culture & Community
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Mentorship, Coaching & Development
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Leadership & Infrastructure
Reducing hassles, streamlining processes, and improving team-based practice.
- Anesthesiology: Building a robust peer-to-peer support system, expanding mentorship for junior faculty, and increasing faculty input into scheduling decisions.
- Family Medicine: Reducing EHR burdens with an In-basket Playbook, launching Think Tank Mondays, and supporting smoother re-entry after leave.
- Medicine: Expanding mentorship and coaching, addressing workflow inefficiencies, and launching divisional Well-being Leaders for local support.
- Neurology: Improving clinic efficiency and teamwork through the syNAPSE Committee, fostering collaboration across care teams.
- Neurosurgery: Resetting departmental culture with transparency and accountability, expanding mentorship, and optimizing Epic workflows.
- Otolaryngology: Streamlining workflow efficiency with clear clinic communication pathways to reduce bottlenecks and delays.
- Orthopedics: Expanding APP leadership and inclusion, adding transparent salary practices, launching APP onboarding, and coaching for leaders.
- Pediatrics: Driving efficiency with innovation programs, offering executive coaching, and expanding peer and credentialed coaching programs.
- PMR: Optimizing Epic workflows, creating a Mental Health and Wellness Support Plan, and offering retreats and BetterTogether Coaching.
- Psychiatry: Piloting workload efficiency projects, expanding mentoring retreats, and creating quiet wellness spaces with a Wellness Avengers team.
- Radiation Oncology: Improving clinical efficiency with more faculty hires, optimized scheduling, and standardized OR processes.
Fostering belonging, recognition, equity, and collegiality.
- Dermatology: Launching a well-being committee, offering BetterTogether Coaching, and building community through social events and service projects.
- Emergency Medicine: Creating spaces for connection with a faculty retreat and ongoing small-group gatherings to foster belonging and peer support.
- Family Medicine: Reducing EHR burdens with an In-basket Playbook, launching Think Tank Mondays, and supporting smoother re-entry after leave.
- Medicine: Expanding mentorship and coaching, addressing workflow inefficiencies, and launching divisional Well-being Leaders for local support.
- Neurosurgery: Resetting departmental culture with transparency and accountability, expanding mentorship, and optimizing Epic workflows.
- Ophthalmology: Enhancing mentorship through new programs, retreats, and BetterTogether Coaching, plus support for national faculty development.
- Orthopedics: Expanding APP leadership and inclusion, adding transparent salary practices, launching APP onboarding, and coaching for leaders.
- Pediatrics: Driving efficiency with innovation programs, offering executive coaching, and expanding peer and credentialed coaching programs.
- Psychiatry: Piloting workload efficiency projects, expanding mentoring retreats, and creating quiet wellness spaces with a Wellness Avengers team.
- Radiology: Adding a Vice Chair for Mentorship and Well-being, offering BetterTogether Coaching, and hosting advancement forums and socials.
- Surgery: Expanding peer support, offering executive coaching to leaders, and developing APP-focused mentorship and Grand Rounds.
- Basic Sciences: Promoting inclusion with equitable service loads, upstander/bystander training, and expanded mentoring and negotiation workshops.
Expanding opportunities for guidance, growth, and fulfillment.
- Anesthesiology: Building a robust peer-to-peer support system, expanding mentorship for junior faculty, and increasing faculty input into scheduling decisions.
- Dermatology: Launching a well-being committee, offering BetterTogether Coaching, and building community through social events and service projects.
- Family Medicine: Reducing EHR burdens with an In-basket Playbook, launching Think Tank Mondays, and supporting smoother re-entry after leave.
- Medicine: Expanding mentorship and coaching, addressing workflow inefficiencies, and launching divisional Well-being Leaders for local support.
- Neurosurgery: Resetting departmental culture with transparency and accountability, expanding mentorship, and optimizing Epic workflows.
- Ophthalmology: Enhancing mentorship through new programs, retreats, and BetterTogether Coaching, plus support for national faculty development.
- Orthopedics: Expanding APP leadership and inclusion, adding transparent salary practices, launching APP onboarding, and coaching for leaders.
- Pediatrics: Driving efficiency with innovation programs, offering executive coaching, and expanding peer and credentialed coaching programs.
- PMR: Optimizing Epic workflows, creating a Mental Health and Wellness Support Plan, and offering retreats and BetterTogether Coaching.
- Psychiatry: Piloting workload efficiency projects, expanding mentoring retreats, and creating quiet wellness spaces with a Wellness Avengers team.
- Radiology: Adding a Vice Chair for Mentorship and Well-being, offering BetterTogether Coaching, and hosting advancement forums and socials.
- Surgery: Expanding peer support, offering executive coaching to leaders, and developing APP-focused mentorship and Grand Rounds.
- Basic Sciences: Promoting inclusion with equitable service loads, upstander/bystander training, and expanded mentoring and negotiation workshops.
Building systems and accountability for sustained change.
- Anesthesiology: Building a robust peer-to-peer support system, expanding mentorship for junior faculty, and increasing faculty input into scheduling decisions.
- Dermatology: Launching a well-being committee, offering BetterTogether Coaching, and building community through social events and service projects.
- Family Medicine: Reducing EHR burdens with an In-basket Playbook, launching Think Tank Mondays, and supporting smoother re-entry after leave.
- Medicine: Expanding mentorship and coaching, addressing workflow inefficiencies, and launching divisional Well-being Leaders for local support.
- Neurosurgery: Resetting departmental culture with transparency and accountability, expanding mentorship, and optimizing Epic workflows.
- Orthopedics: Expanding APP leadership and inclusion, adding transparent salary practices, launching APP onboarding, and coaching for leaders.
- Pediatrics: Driving efficiency with innovation programs, offering executive coaching, and expanding peer and credentialed coaching programs.
- Psychiatry: Piloting workload efficiency projects, expanding mentoring retreats, and creating quiet wellness spaces with a Wellness Avengers team.
- Radiology: Adding a Vice Chair for Mentorship and Well-being, offering BetterTogether Coaching, and hosting advancement forums and socials.
- Surgery: Expanding peer support, offering executive coaching to leaders, and developing APP-focused mentorship and Grand Rounds.
- Basic Sciences: Promoting inclusion with equitable service loads, upstander/bystander training, and expanded mentoring and negotiation workshops.
Actions from the 2022 CU SOM Well-Being Survey
The 2022 University of Colorado School of Medicine Faculty and Resident/Fellow Well-Being Survey provided critical insights that drove action at both the School and departmental levels. Browse key initiatives below.