Don’t Feel the Burn: Miller School and UHealth Ignite Faculty and Staff Wellness
The Miller School’s Office of Faculty Affairs and Development organized a wellness event that focused on enhancing employee engagement and avoiding professional burnout.
An academic medical system relies on a healthy and thriving workforce to operate effectively and efficiently. To that end, the Office of Faculty Affairs and Development at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and UHealth — University of Miami Health System recently hosted “Ignite: Empowering Faculty and Staff Wellness,” an event designed to promote discussions and strategies to reduce burnout and improve wellness.
“We created this event to foster important conversations about the many facets of personal wellness in health care,” said Joan St. Onge, M.D., M.P.H., senior associate dean for faculty affairs and professional development and professor of medicine and medical education at the Miller School. “We’re learning from each other, gathering insights on how our clinical and non-clinical departments are promoting wellness and offering guidance to improve the well-being of all of our colleagues.”
The event was sponsored by the Miller School’s Wellness Task Force and the Office of Faculty Affairs and Professional Development. More than 200 faculty and staff attended.
“I see this event as the beginning of a much larger initiative to better understand and address burnout and wellbeing,” said Radu Saveanu, M.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences and chair of the Wellness Task Force. “I am delighted to see the level of support and engagement among faculty, staff and senior leadership as we embark together on this essential journey of discovery and change.”
Burnout in Health Care
The opening session of the retreat featured a panel discussion about burnout with Henri R. Ford, M.D., M.H.A., dean and chief academic officer of the Miller School, Guillermo “Willy” Prado, Ph.D., associate dean for research affairs in the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies, and Amishi Jha, Ph.D., professor and director of contemplative neuroscience at UM.
“Burnout is a real and prevalent nationwide phenom,” Dr. Prado said. “Data shows that burnout in higher education exists in 35% of the workforce and nearly two-thirds of faculty members experience burnout. Here at the university, we established the Powered by You Engagement Program for faculty and staff to provide confidential feedback on how the university is supporting recognition, well-being, professional development and overall success. This feedback led to an enterprise action plan to identify areas of strength and improvement.”
Dr. Jha gave insights about how to address burnout, revealing its connection to attention span and our ability to think, feel and navigate our social environment.
“If we want to combat burnout, we have to look at the role attention plays,” Dr. Jha said. “Burnout isn’t just emotional exhaustion; it’s also the breakdown of our ability to focus and stay mentally present. Mindfulness training offers a way to strengthen attention. It’s not just about stress relief. The data shows it can support better sleep, more stable mood and more effective relationships. If we want to make real change, we also have to look at our own habits, such as how often we push too hard, multitask or ignore signs that we’re running low on mental fuel.”
Wellness Resources at the Miller School
Wellness is a personal journey and, at the Miller School, a shared priority. The school offers a robust array of resources to enhance job satisfaction, reduce stress, improve productivity and boost employee engagement.
Faculty and staff can take part in daily, 15-minute virtual meditation sessions, access confidential mental health screening tools and participate in wellness workshops throughout the year. Support goes beyond emotional health.
Comprehensive programs like tuition reimbursement, student loan repayment assistance and professional development funding help ease financial burdens and support long-term growth. Additionally, employee recognition initiatives celebrate accomplishments and milestones, reinforcing a sense of community and belonging.
“It’s great that we are in a health system that can provide such vast opportunities for a well-rounded approach to wellness with even more to come.” Dr. St. Onge said.
UHealth Wellness Initiatives
The event culminated with a showcase of diverse wellness initiatives from UHealth’s clinical and non-clinical departments. Representatives from each department highlighted the innovative ways leaders are promoting well-being across the organization.
Presentations touched upon mental health workshops, off-campus social events and mentorship committees. Many employees are taking advantage of the resources provided by the university, showing the positive impact that institutional support can have on individual departments.
“These activities have added a lasting value for our faculty, staff and residents,” said Katie Page, manager of administrative operations in diagnostic radiology at UHealth. “It’s an efficient and fun way to maintain strong collaborations, making wellness not a side effort, but a strong pillar that allows us to thrive.”
“At UM, it starts with our leaders setting the tone for these initiatives,” Dr. Prado said. “We are using The HUB (the university’s internal communications platform) as a resource for faculty and staff recognition and now have a central culture of belonging under human resources. Together, we are constantly improving institutional communication and greater collaboration across departments and campuses.”
Tags: Department of Faculty Affairs, Dr. Joan St. Onge, Dr. Radu Saveanu, employee experience