Elizabeth Harry, M.D., has been appointed chief wellness officer (CWO) for Michigan Medicine, effective November 1, 2023. In this role, she will direct the Michigan Medicine Wellness Office — one of the first established at an academic medical center, initially focused on physician burnout. Harry is an expert in clinician well-being and will lead a group that aims to elevate the well-being of individuals and groups across the Medical School and U-M Health, including faculty, staff and learners.
Harry currently is senior medical director of well-being at UCHealth, assistant dean of faculty well-being at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, and associate professor of medicine at the University of Colorado Hospital School of Medicine in the Division of General Internal Medicine. She has practiced internal medicine in both the inpatient and outpatient settings over the course of her career. In addition to the University of Colorado, Harry practiced at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, where she was assistant medical director and director of faculty development and well-being for the Brigham and Women’s Physicians Organization, as well as faculty liaison for graduate medical education well-being at Partners Healthcare (now “Mass General Brigham”).
She is a national expert on cognitive load, burnout, and well-being, having given over 40 lectures on the topic as a visiting professor and at conferences and educational forums. In addition to her leadership roles in provider well-being, Harry has partnered with leading institutions across the country to advance research and share successful strategies in this domain. She continues to study and publish about the impact of systemic and cultural aspects of health care systems on individual well-being.
Harry earned a Bachelor of Science in psychology and biology from Santa Clara University and her medical degree and completed residency training in internal medicine at the University of Colorado. She has been a Macy Scholar for the Harvard Macey Institute, and she also completed the Brigham Leadership Program at Harvard.