November is National Native American Heritage Month, also known as American Indian and Alaska Native Heritage Month, which celebrates the histories, cultures, traditions, and contributions of Native Americans. The month was established in 1990 to honor the indigenous peoples of the United States, raise awareness about tribal nations, and recognize their history and ongoing impact on the country.

History of National Native American Month
Additional professional learning resources
10 Most Influential Native American Doctors Throughout History
Celebrate Native American Heritage Month with a special evening at UIC

Dr. Mark Rosenblatt, G. Stephen Irwin Executive Dean of the University of Illinois College of Medicine and Chief Executive Officer of the University of Illinois Hospital and Clinics, has been appointed the next Vice Chancellor of Human Health Sciences at the University of California, Davis, where he will oversee UC Davis Health. He will begin his new role on Jan. 19, 2026.
Read the full announcement here.

Dr. Enrico Benedetti, Warren H. Cole Endowed Chair in Surgery, Professor and Head of the Department of Surgery at the University of Illinois College of Medicine, and Associate Director of Transplant Surgery, will serve as the interim G. Stephen Irwin Dean of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, and Scott Jones, Chief Operating Officer of UI Health, will serve as the interim Chief Executive Officer of the University of Illinois Hospital and Clinics, effective January 16, 2026, pending approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees.
Read the full announcement here.

Dr. Roy Phitayakorn will join the University of Illinois College of Medicine as its inaugural Vice Dean for Education, effective Nov. 16, 2025, and subject to final approval by the University of Illinois Board of Trustees. This newly elevated position will oversee all aspects of medical education at the College of Medicine and will play a key role in shaping the educational experiences of learners and faculty alike.
Read the full announcement here.

The University of Illinois College of Medicine and Cook County Health have expanded their partnership, first established in 2021. This new agreement strengthens collaboration across clinical care, medical education, and research, uniting expertise from Cook County Health, UIC, and UI Health to better serve patients and communities. Read the full announcement.

All UI COM community members, including faculty and staff, are subject to the Positive Learning Environment Policy. This policy reflects the college's commitment to providing and maintaining a safe and effective learning environment for all as we train the physician and scientist leaders of tomorrow. Read the full policy.

The April 2026 deadline to comply with Title II of the ADA is less than six months away, requiring all public institutions to make digital content accessible to individuals with disabilities. Learn more about UIC’s digital accessibility initiative supporting colleges and units in meeting this requirement. The College of Medicine is actively engaged, with a team of liaisons collaborating with UIC’s Digital Accessibility Office to implement the initiative. Read the full message.

Presentation: Any Target Every Time: How Multispecific Medicines Are Transforming Pharmacotherapy
Guest Speaker: Raymond Deshaies, PhD
Lecture: 2 - 3 p.m., Tuesday, November 18, 2025, CMWT 227 Irwin Auditorium
Reception: 3 - 4:30 p.m., Tuesday, November 18, 2025, CMWT Faculty Alumni Lounge

Register
Livestream

Please join us on November 13 for our next seminar in the continuum, which aims to address health disparities and advance health equity.
Speakers: Sheela Raja, PhD, Professor and Clinical Psychologist, College of Dentistry, University of Illinois Chicago; and Cecilia (Cec) Hardacker, MSN, RN, CNL, Director of Education, Center for Education, Research, and Advocacy, Howard Brown Health.

Seminar zoom link

Please see the flyer and feel free to share it with others who may be interested.

Questions? Please contact: PCMProgram@uic.edu

The UI COM Office of Faculty Development is offering a new series of mentor training workshops for faculty mentors. All workshops will be offered virtually. Registration is required; please note separate registration links for each workshop.

Overview of Mentorship: Practical Tips for Effective Mentoring in Academic Medicine
When: Monday, December 1, 2025, 12:00 p.m.
Instructor: Memoona Hasnain, MD MHPE, PhD, Professor of Family and Community Medicine, Medical Education and Public Health; Associate Dean for Faculty Development
Register

Communication Skills for Effective Mentorship
When: Monday, December 8, 2025, 12:00 pm
Instructor: Kathryn Fraser, PhD, Behavioral Medicine Director, Halifax Health Family Medicine Residency Program, Daytona Beach, Florida.
Register

Coaching as a Key Element of Mentorship
When: Monday, December 15, 2025, 12:00 pm
Instructor: Stephanie Joe, MD, Professor & Director, Rhinology, Sinus & Skull Base Surgery, Department of Otolaryngology, UI COM.
Register

Circles of Excellence, led by UIC Strategic Marketing and Communications, offers curated sessions for campus marketing and communications professionals on storytelling, branding, digital marketing, and engagement. The next session, on Tuesday, Nov. 18, will focus on writing content that reflects UIC’s mission of access and excellence.

Who should attend: Anyone who writes or edits content about UIC, especially campus communicators and storytellers.
Words Matter: Writing with Inclusion and Clarity at UIC
When: 11 a.m.-noon, Tuesday, Nov. 18 
Where: Virtual via Zoom; advance registration is required. 

The Department of Medical Education (DME), with support from the College of Medicine Dean’s Office, is now accepting Education Research and Scholarship Project (ERSP) grant applications in Health Professions Education. Open to all COM campuses and disciplines, the program supports projects advancing educational theory, science, and practice. Faculty and Academic Professional Staff may serve as PI or Co-PI, while trainees (MD, PhD, MS students, postdocs, residents, fellows) may participate as Co-Investigators or Key Research Personnel.

Three projects will be funded, for up to $10,000 each.
Application deadline: November 21, 2025.
Submission Site: https://go.uic.edu/edresearch
Full RFP Description

Please direct questions to Lauren Maggio, PhD (lmaggio@uic.edu) and Yoon Soo Park, PhD (yspark2@uic.edu).

The AI.Health4All Center in the UIC College of Medicine, in partnership with the Sirazi Foundation, is offering seed funding up to $30,000 for a one-year pilot project in health technology and AI innovation. The grant supports early-stage research aimed at improving accessibility, equity, and efficiency in healthcare.

Application deadline: December 1, 2025. Learn more and apply

The BRIDgE Program (Bias Reduction, Inclusion, Diversity, and a Guide to Equity) is a 2-hour virtual workshopoffered by the College of Medicine’s leadership and the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in collaboration with the Department of Medicine (Chicago). The session helps participants recognize and address biases and microaggressions through interactive case studies, fostering a more inclusive environment at UI COM and UI Health. Physicians (MDs and DOs) can earn 2 CME credits upon completion.

Note: Beginning January 2023, Illinois healthcare providers are required to complete implicit bias training to renew their licenses or registrations [Illinois - Sec. 2105-15.7 (legislation)].

Register for the BRIDgE Program and view upcoming sessions.

The Office for Access and Equity is relaunching a Professional Development Series to provide faculty, staff, and students with valuable training on workplace rights, equity, and campus culture. Learn more.

Are you interested in participating in activities that help recruit gifted students to the University of Illinois College of Medicine? The UI COM Office of Admissions invites faculty from all disciplines to serve as interviewers for Recruitment Days, held September 2025 – February 2026. Faculty interviews are a highlight of the program, which also includes student panels and curriculum presentations. Faculty interviewers are trained on the interview process.

Format: Virtual interviews (Tuesday - Friday, 10 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.)
Length: 30 minutes each; faculty may select multiple slots

This is a great opportunity to engage prospective students and showcase our talented faculty. If you're interested in participating, please email Trevonne Thompson, MD, Associate Dean for Admissions, at tthomps@uic.edu.

Igniting the thoughts and solutions of influential UIC changemakers to inspire and create a better world. 36 presenters • 3-minute talks • 2 hours of inspiration

When: Thursday, November 13, 2025
Time: 1:30-4:45 p.m.
Doors open at 1 p.m.
Reception to follow the event
Where: Student Center East, Illinois Room

Register by November 8

When: Friday, November 14, 2025, 12:00 - 1:00 PM EST
Learn more and register.

The Mid-Career Leadership Accelerator Program is a six-month development experience for recently promoted associate professors, focused on building leadership excellence in academic medicine. Featuring webinars led by expert coaches and group coaching sessions, the program supports peer connection, accountability, and deeper learning. 

AMWA Annual Meeting in San Francisco on Mar. 27-29, 2026.
Theme: Thriving, Leading, Transforming: Rooted in Purpose, Rising in Power, Committed to Service
Registration opening soon: AMWA Annual Meeting - American Medical Women's Association
Speakers are still being accepted for the sex and gender specific presentation track through Nov 8th.

The AAMC is accepting submissions for Learn Serve Lead 2026, its annual meeting to be held November 6–10, 2026, in Anaheim, California. Open to all in academic medicine, LSL fosters collaboration across campuses and disciplines. The call for medical education submissions includes:

1. Sessions on Medical Education
2. Medical Education Innovation Abstracts
3. Medical Education Research Abstracts

Deadline: December 1, 2025. Learn more.

The 2026 Call for Research in Medical Education (RIME) Papers consists of two types: (1) Research Papers and (2) Review Papers. Accepted papers will be presented at Learn Serve Lead 2026 and published in Academic Medicine. The Submission Portal will open on October 20, 2025. Work focused on a wide variety of themes, incorporating a broad representation of topics, institutions, and presenters, will be selected. Please email educationalaffairs@aamc.org with any questions.

Submission Portal Opens: October 20, 2025
Deadline: December 1, 2025. Learn more.

Available through Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and anywhere else podcasts are available.

The Lure of Lore: How Medical Students Learn to Navigate Interprofessional Interactions
Authors Kelsey Miller, Bonny Dickinson, PhD, MS-HPEd, and Kelvin Pollard discuss how medical students learn “lore” from peers during clerkships and how these interprofessional experiences shape their identity, autonomy, collaboration, and understanding of their role on the health care team.

The “Uninsured” Patient
Sujal Manohar reflects on the importance of digging deeper into a patient’s social history by expanding past the typical questions.

Conflicts of Interest (COI) in the P&T Review Process
COI for UEOs and Deans:

*If a UEO or Dean is the candidate’s mentor or collaborator, they should provide a letter of support (mentor) or a letter of collaboration (collaborator).

In cases where the UEO or Dean has a conflict, a special request for an alternative UEO/Dean must be submitted for review and approval by the OVPFA.The alternative UEO will prepare the dossier and provide the UEO evaluation for the case.The alternative Dean may be an Executive, Senior, or Associate Dean in the college or a Dean from another college. Learn more about COI.

New Campus Mentoring Resource
The new Faculty Mentoring Guidebook, a comprehensive resource designed to support the development, enhancement, and sustainability of mentoring programs across UIC’s colleges and departments. This guidebook offers practical tools, proven frameworks, and actionable guidance to help faculty mentors foster a culture where mentoring is visible, valued, and impactful.

Faculty Mentoring Guidebook
A comprehensive resource designed to support the development, enhancement, and sustainability of mentoring programs across UIC’s colleges and departments. This guidebook offers practical tools, proven frameworks, and actionable guidance to help faculty mentors foster a culture where mentoring is visible, valued, and impactful. Faculty Mentoring Guidebook 

P&T Resource: UI COM Guidance for Mentoring Documentation in Promotion Dossiers
Since 2024, the P&T Dossier requires a Mentoring Plan to be developed for faculty members based on the revised Mentoring Policy. To facilitate the documentation of the mentoring plan in the P&T dossier, we have developed guidance for promotion candidates and UEOs. The updated Guidance for Mentoring Plan Documentation in the P&T Dossier is available here.

We-CARE Faculty Peer Support Program - Compassionate Alliances for Resilience & Empowerment
The We-CARE program promotes faculty well-being and inclusion through confidential peer support from trained We-CARE Helpers. Adapted from a Harvard model, it offers a safe space to discuss burnout, conflicts, or career challenges while connecting faculty with helpful resources.

Stephanie Joe, MD, FACS & Memoona Hasnain, MD, MHPE, PhD, We-CARE Co-Directors.
See We-CARE Website for more info.

Faculty Mentoring Toolkits
The Designing and Leading Inclusive Faculty Mentoring Programs at UIC Toolkit is now available to offer best practices for designing and leading inclusive faculty mentoring programs across a breadth of departments and colleges nestled within the UIC landscape. This toolkit includes interactive resources, such as the UIC Mentoring Map and best practices checklists for Units, Mentors, and Mentees. These Administrator Toolkits were created to provide easy access to tools and resources to help administrators manage compliance, support unit operations, and improve workplace effectiveness. Requests for additional toolkit topics may be submitted through this contact page.

We welcome submissions for our newsletter related to faculty development updates, training and funding opportunities.

Contact: Rohan Verma, Program Coordinator UICOM Office of Faculty Development, rverma26@uic.edu or Dr. Memoona Hasnain, Associate Dean for Faculty Development, memoona@uic.edu.

Past FD Newsletters 

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