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In this week’s episode of the Faculty Factory podcast, we have the honor of speaking with Lisa Bellini, MD, MACP, a prominent thought leader in academic medicine.
Dr. Bellini currently serves as Senior Vice Dean for Academic Affairs at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.
The conversation revolves around Dr. Bellini and her colleague’s influential paper, “The Definition of Faculty Must Evolve: A Call to Action,” published in October 2020. This seminal work gets to the core of what it means to be a faculty member in today’s dynamic and evolving landscape of academia.
In response to the evolving healthcare environment in the United States, academic medical centers are undergoing transformations that take a redefined understanding of faculty roles.
The dynamic interplay between economic priorities and the imperative to realign educational programs to meet the present and future needs of society and patients has introduced a heightened complexity to faculty identity, their perceived worth, and the educational mission they uphold.
As Dr. Bellini points out in today’s discussion, “Doing all of this effectively takes time and faculty’s time needs to be protected to be able to do this effectively.”
“If we aren’t protecting and supporting faculty time, then education gets marginalized to the least amount of time it takes to provide care for the patient,” she added.
The Definition of Faculty Must Evolve: A Call to Action
Read “The Definition of Faculty Must Evolve: A Call to Action” here.
Learn More About Today’s Guest
Dr. Bellini obtained her MD from the University of Alabama at Birmingham followed by an Internal Medicine residency, a chief residency and pulmonary fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Bellini served as the Vice Chair of Education and Inpatient Services for all undergraduate and graduate medical education programs in the Department of Medicine until 2019 where she also served as Program Director for the Internal Medicine Residency for 20 years, stepping down in 2016. From 2005-2008, she was the Associate Dean for GME for University of Pennsylvania Health System with operational responsibility for all policies and procedures related to the training of over 1000 residents and fellows in 68 UPHS sponsored training programs.
She currently serves as the Senior Vice Dean for Academic Affairs for Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine with oversight for policies, procedures, and faculty development of over 3000 faculty, academic partnerships including that with the Philadelphia VA, executive leadership searches, internal and external chair review processes, and the development of Graduate Medical Education Programs in Vietnam through Penn’s global initiatives.
Nationally, Dr. Bellini has been a member of the Alliance of Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) where she served as inaugural Chair of the Board as well as Treasurer and President of the Association for Program Directors in Internal Medicine. She chaired the inaugural AAIM Innovations Committee. Additionally, she has served on several key committees for the ACGME, using much of her research and administrative experience to influence national policy regarding GME. She also chaired the Committee on Faculty Identity for the AAMC and was a member of the IOM’s committee on Conflict of Interest.
Her research focuses on medical education, including the health and well-being of residents and faculty, and the effects of fatigue and sleep deprivation on patient outcomes and the learning environment. She served as Co-PI for iCOMPARE, the largest randomized trial in GME that looked at patient safety, educational, and sleep and alertness of interns exposed to standard versus more flexible duty hours.
She is a highly accomplished educator who has won numerous teaching awards as well as a lifetime achievement award from the Alliance of Academic Internal Medicine.