Wellness

Outstanding Department for Wellness Award

The Indiana University School of Medicine Department of Emergency Medicine was selected as the 2026 recipient of the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM) Outstanding Department for Wellness Award, recognizing a comprehensive, data-informed and department-wide commitment to physician well-being.

Recognition of a mature wellness ecosystem

The Department of Emergency Medicine’s wellness work began with targeted pandemic-response needs and expanded into an integrated ecosystem supporting faculty, learners, APPs, nurses, staff and trainees across clinical, education, research and service missions.

Coordinated infrastructure

The Emergency Medicine Wellness Taskforce became a central organizing structure for assessment, communication, interventions and continuous improvement.

Programs with national visibility

The STAR Program, Litigation Peer Support Program, workplace safety work and wellness research have been disseminated regionally and nationally.

emergency department sites

2020

Wellness Taskforce established

40+

residency programs in STAR expansion

1,400

learners reached through GME expansion

Wellness Recognition Timeline

2020

Wellness Taskforce launched and began coordinating department needs assessment and intervention.

2021

ACEP Wellness Center of Excellence Award recognized the department’s wellness response.

2021

Litigation Peer Support Program launched to support physicians involved in malpractice lawsuits.

2022

STAR Program developed around dashboards, referral and resident-led peer support.

2025

STAR Program expanded across GME programs and learners.

2026

SAEM selected the department for the Outstanding Department for Wellness Award.

Programs that defined our wellness model

Wellness Taskforce

Multi-site representation, serial needs assessment, wellness data review, resource development and implementation support.

STAR Program

A scalable learner wellness strategy combining personalized dashboards, structured peer support and referral resources.

Litigation Peer Support

Facilitated support for physicians facing the distress and isolation of malpractice litigation.

Workplace safety

Research, measurement, and advocacy around workplace violence, on-shift wellness and team culture.

Structural support

Scheduling, bereavement, lactation, flexible accommodation and EHR efficiency efforts designed to address systems-level drivers of burnout.

Scholarship

Peer-reviewed publications, grants, abstracts and presentations that translate local innovations into shared knowledge.

measurable and visible outcomes

Impact Highlights

Opt-out counseling

Residency wellness work increased mental health service utilization and normalized support-seeking behavior.

Peer support participation

Resident-led peer support and litigation peer support have become prominent components of the department’s wellness infrastructure.

National scholarship

Wellness work has generated grants, manuscripts, abstracts, and national presentations across SAEM, ACEP, CTSI, and other venues.

Sharing what works

The Department of Emergency Medicine has presented and published wellness work on COVID-era physician well-being, peer support, resident wellness, workplace violence, shift wellness, bereavement scheduling and medical litigation peer support.

This dissemination reflects an intentional effort to turn local innovation into evidence-informed strategies for emergency medicine and academic medicine more broadly.

What began as targeted interventions during COVID expanded into a comprehensive ecosystem supporting faculty, learners and staff across the Department of Emergency Medicine.

Paul Musey, MD