As the Associate Vice Chair of Faculty Development in the Department of Medicine, Sushma Cribbs, MD, MSc, assists the Vice Chair for Faculty Development with the promotion and tenure process; provides oversight for the annual FEED conference and other faculty development events; provides guidance to the faculty development committee and mentoring subcommittee; and guides the overall direction of the DOM faculty development program.
Read our interview with Cribbs, below. She shares the experiences that led to her role in faculty development, how her work has been impacted by COVID-19, and more.
Tell us a little bit about your background at Emory and the Department of Medicine.
I came to Emory University in 2002 from Boston, where I grew up and went to college and medical school. I had never been south of Washington D.C., so it was a big change for me, but I loved Emory! I started in 2002 as an internal medicine resident, which was my first experience with direct hands-on mentorship and career development guidance, and I found it invaluable and life changing. With this mentorship, I initiated a multidisciplinary, multi-institutional collaborative effort between Boston University and Emory to examine how body mass index modulates airway oxidative stress in asthma during my second year of residency. Together with my mentor at that time, I secured funding for this project and performed a year of research prior to my fellowship training as a senior associate in Emory’s Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, Allergy and Sleep Medicine, extending this project to investigations related to adipokines, eicosanoid lipid mediators, and biomarkers of airway oxidative stress in obese asthmatics. I then pursued fellowship training in pulmonary and critical care medicine at Emory and after finishing, began a faculty position at Grady Memorial Hospital as a clinician-scientist, focused on studying the mechanisms by which HIV affects lung immunity rendering individuals susceptible to lung infections and lung injury. During my early years at Grady, I obtained a Master of Science in Clinical Research from Emory’s Laney Graduate School and served in a number of leadership positions including medical director of the Pulmonary Clinic at Grady and associate program director of the Pulmonary and Critical Care Fellowship Program. After four years at Grady, I moved to the Atlanta VA, where I continue to see patients, supervise students, residents and fellows, and conduct translational research.
What spurred your interest in faculty development?
I first became interested in faculty development when I joined the Early Career Subcommittee of the Faculty Development Committee in the DOM in 2011. I was excited and enthusiastic about enhancing early career faculty satisfaction and career development. As a member on this committee, I actively participated in various projects including the COACH program, Project M-PACT, and the creation of a DOM policy on enhancing and supporting diversity. In an effort to build relationships and a sense of community across all divisions and sites, I shared in the conception and development of longitudinal School of Medicine promotion track templates and algorithms to provide guidelines for faculty, which were formalized as DOM PATHS. Further, in 2011, I also participated in the Junior Faculty Development Course to enhance my own skill set to ensure academic success. After serving as a member for two years, I was asked to chair the Early Career Subcommittee in 2013. As chair, I organized our committee to institute various programs to improve satisfaction, morale, and a sense of community within the DOM. However, my most notable contribution during this time was the creation of the Best Unofficial Guide to Life at Emory (BUGLE). The BUGLE’s objective was to provide site-specific, practical information to help with onboarding and faculty satisfaction, allowing for a smoother transition to faculty, and is still in use today.
Simultaneously in 2011, I was selected to be on the Members-in-Transition and Training (MITT) Committee at the American Thoracic Society (ATS). The MITT committee’s purpose is to represent the views of early career members at ATS and to promote career development for students, residents, fellows (clinical and post-doctoral), and early career faculty. During my time on this committee, I have been intimately involved in several initiatives such as developing, organizing, and programming the Center for Career Development, the Faculty Development Series and the Student Scholars Program for 80-100 students from all over the world at the ATS International Conference. Further, as chair, I led our committee to the development of a New Faculty Boot Camp, a two-day curriculum to address specific skills for the difficult and disruptive transition from fellowship and post-doctoral training to unsupervised practice as faculty.
I have been very fortunate in my professional life thus far to have encountered a diverse and energetic group of people who have supported and inspired me. These individuals, along with the experiences I have had during my journey, have provided me with many occasions to be impactful to others globally, particularly early career members, through science, education, and career development.
Why do you think faculty development is so critical to faculty members at all levels?
There are many reasons why I believe that faculty development is so critical to all faculty. Having access and participating in faculty/career development programming has been shown to enhance professional education, academic performance, and competence, not just for the faculty member – but for all learners – by fostering knowledge and skills.
Many of us chose academic medicine because we found a passion in patient care, teaching and scientific exploration, but these passions can ebb and flow throughout your career. As a mid-career faculty member, I have experienced these ups and downs myself. Engaging in faculty development, not just for yourself, but to enhance and be impactful to the lives of others, can play a key role in sustaining academic vitality for your career, which in turn, can reduce job dissatisfaction and ultimately burnout.
If you could say one thing to get faculty to participate in faculty development programming, what would it be?
Although there are days when you cannot even imagine adding one more item to your schedule, participating in some aspect of faculty development, whether it is an online course, workshop or didactic, is time well worth investing. Not only will you augment your own your professional development and increase your skill set, you may also increase the academic success of your learners and in turn, you will likely increase your job and career satisfaction. In addition, you may just find yourself networking and meeting individuals you would never otherwise have the opportunity to do so, which may result in further scientific and educational collaborations, which again, will increase your professional success.
What are some challenges of promoting the importance of faculty development during a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic?
There are so many challenges, I’m not sure where to start. First of all, our inability to gather in one location has significantly decreased the ability to network, collaborate, and communicate our shared experiences, which has resulted in feelings of isolation. Although we have pivoted to having virtual workshops and conferences to provide not only the knowledge, but also the contact, the idea of ‘zoom fatigue’ is real and it is difficult for anyone to sit in front of computers for extended periods of time. Further, many faculty members have had to take on the additional burden of caring for loved ones and performing household duties while still attempting to work at home. This has understandably led to stress, frustration, and fear concerning their career development and lack of academic progress during this time as they continue to bear considerable weight during the pandemic.
I think it is always important to be innovative in our programming for faculty, but especially now, we need to think creatively about how to connect and support our faculty by expanding information on digital scholarship and improving communication and connectivity across all our sites.
How can faculty get involved in faculty development in the Department of Medicine?
Reach out to us! I am always happy to discuss and talk with faculty about opportunities. One of the biggest challenges we have is dissemination of information across the breadth of Emory. In addition, please look at our website to find opportunities that are of interest for you to participate in for your own career development and also to enrich your job environment.
What is the most challenging part of your new role? What is the most rewarding part?
Promotions and Tenure (P&T) has definitely been the most challenging so far. I am still learning the process and trying to understand the guidelines intimately to make sure I can help the faculty get promoted. Although P&T has been challenging, it has also been very rewarding at the same time, as I see faculty move forward in their promotion. One of the other most rewarding parts has been developing, organizing, and implementing various faculty development programming for our faculty, focusing on high-priority topics.
Is there anything else you’d like people to know about the Office of Faculty Development or faculty development in general?
I just want people to know that we are available to support our faculty and guide them through their career development. I also want our faculty to be knowledgeable about our offerings. Please go to our website and reach out if there are any specific requests we are not addressing. The pandemic has reduced our ‘touch points’ with faculty, and we will need to move forward with purpose and hard work to make sure we are meeting their needs.
My goal in this new role is to continue to expand on my passions to educate and mentor the careers of early career professionals, and also provide access to platforms on mentorship, leadership, and career development to enhance education and innovative scholarship for all our faculty. By doing this, we can provide a unique environment for our faculty members to grow and ensure their professional success within Emory University. I hope to continue to have significant and meaningful impact on all faculty by increasing the value of Emory and providing benefit to both its members and Emory’s mission.
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