DLHS basic sciences and clinical faculty will be participating in an initiative aimed at alleviating administrative burden and reducing burnout. The initiative is led by Margit Burmeister, Ph.D., Associate Chair and Professor of Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics, and Brigid Gregg, M.D.,(link is external) Assistant Professor of Pediatric Endocrinology. Burmeister and Gregg joined the U-M Michigan Medicine Wellness Office as Faculty Associates, for one year to co-lead the task of tackling administrative burden on faculty and advocating for practical recommendations. Their role starts July 1, 2023.
A news article from the Computational Medicine and Bioinformatics site indicated that Burmeister will be asking basic science faculty members in the Medical School to contact her directly with any issue with administrative processes that they’d like to see addressed: [email protected](link sends e-mail). Gregg will ask physician faculty members to contact her with their own administrative issues: [email protected](link sends e-mail). Examining administrative burden for both clinical and basic science faculty is important because faculty who are physician scientists complete an array of administrative tasks.
According to the CMB news piece, several surveys were conducted to find out about administrative burdens, but in themselves, questionnaires constitute yet another demand on faculty. For Burmeister, it is time to ”do something,” rather than “studying.”* Based on many conversations with colleagues across departments and with over 30 years of experience as a faculty member with joint appointments within the Medical School, Burmeister can already list target actions. These are either at the level of funding agencies, or within the University’s higher administrative units, or at departmental level.
For more information, please contact Margit Burmeister at [email protected](link sends e-mail).
*Related publication:
Sheehan KA, Schulz-Quach C, Ruttan LA, et al. “Don’t Just Study our Distress, Do Something”: Implementing and Evaluating a Modified Stepped-Care Model for Health Care Worker Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry. 2023;68(1):43-53. doi:10.1177/07067437221111372
