On Jan. 27, 2022, the AMA held a webinar in the AMA STEPS Forward™ series: “Reconsidering priorities and practical strategies for addressing clinician well-being in Omicron’s wake.”
The Omicron variant has caused a surge in COVID-19 cases, putting additional stressors on an already overwhelmed health care system. This webinar aims to help CEOs, CMOs and CWOs address the urgent, nearly universal concern about workforce protection and retention during this Omicron wave.
Panelists share their recent experiences and discuss the unique stressors and psychological consequences resulting from the variant. Learn about how the variant has influenced well-being priorities and goals, new Omicron stressors during the crisis, best practices in leadership and the impact of mistreatment in the context of COVID-19 and beyond.
Webinar materials
- Download a list (PDF) of recommended resources including podcasts, toolkits and more.
Webinar recording
Moderator
Jonathan Ripp, MD, MPH
@Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Dr. Ripp received both his undergraduate and medical degrees from Yale University and completed internship and residency in Internal Medicine (IM) at the Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City. In the role of chief wellness officer, Dr. Ripp oversees efforts to assess and provide direction for system- and individual-level interventions designed to improve well-being for all students, residents, fellows, faculty and other health professionals in the Mount Sinai Health System. As the former associate dean of GME for Trainee Well-Being, he served to help spread well-being initiatives across the training programs of the Mount Sinai Health System. Dr. Ripp practices as a clinician in the Mount Sinai Visiting Doctors home-based primary care program where he maintains an active patient panel. In addition, Dr. Ripp is the Co-founder and Co-Director of CHARM, the Collaborative for Healing and Renewal in Medicine
Panelists
Heather Farley, MD, MHCDS, FACEP
@ChristianaCare
As the first chief wellness officer for ChristianaCare in Newark, DE, Dr. Farley’s focus is on advancing the professional fulfillment and wellbeing of healthcare workers. She leads advocacy programs and initiatives aimed at optimizing the caregiver experience and fostering WorkLife meaning, connection, and joy. Dr. Farley completed residency training in emergency medicine in 2005, fellowship training in administration in 2006, and earned her Masters of Health Care Delivery Science from Dartmouth College in 2018. She has previously served as the assistant chair of the Department of Emergency Medicine at ChristianaCare and was instrumental in establishing the institution’s first freestanding emergency department in 2013, subsequently serving as the medical director for 3 years. In 2014, she developed “Care for the Caregiver” one of the nation’s earliest and largest peer support programs for health care providers.
Liselotte (Lotte) N. Dyrbye, MD, MHPE
@Mayo Clinic
Dr. Dyrbye is professor of Medicine and Medical Education, Division of Community Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, and is a thought leader in physician burnout and engagement. As co-director of the Program on Physician Well-Being, she has conducted numerous national and multi-institutional studies, conducted randomized clinical trials of possible solutions, and been an innovator. She has received 11 competitive research grants to support her work and co-developed the Well-Being Index. Dr. Dyrbye is a member of National Academy of Medicine (NAM) Action Collaborative on Clinician Well-Being and Resilience and co-authored the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine consensus study report, Taking Action Against Burnout: A Systems Approach to Professional Well-Being, was released in the fall of 2019.
Joshua C. Morganstein, MD, CAPT
@Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Dr. Morganstein is associate professor and vice chair in the Department of Psychiatry and deputy director at the Center for the Study of Traumatic Stress (CSTS) in the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences and a Captain in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service. He received his medical degree from the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. He completed a combined residency in Psychiatry and Family Medicine in the National Capital Consortium in Washington, DC. He has been invited by numerous state healthcare organizations, medical professional organizations, interagency teams, and global partners to inform health care system leaders and personnel on critical public mental health principles and the adaptation of practices and procedures from high-stress occupations to help promote well-being and operational sustainment during the global pandemic.
Disclaimer: The viewpoints expressed in this video are those of the participants and/or do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the AMA.
