Faculty Professional Development Funding Program

Each fiscal year, the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty Development Committee makes available a total of $10,000 for professional development. Faculty may submit applications at any time (until funds are exhausted for the current fiscal year). Divisions are encouraged to supplement the award. Applications with match funding will be given priority.

The focus of the professional development proposals is on training and/or development to improve the effectiveness of faculty in either current or future roles. The program should specifically enhance and refine those abilities most directly related to the mission and goals of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Awards may be used to:

• Enhance or learn new clinical skills and techniques
• Expand teaching methods
• Develop skills in research grant writing
• Learn to utilize new technology
• Develop leadership and management skills

Applicants must fill out a one-page faculty development grant proposal form and submit it to the Faculty Development Committee at least 60 days prior to attendance at the program or activity. The Committee meets monthly and will consider the proposal at their next meeting, then notify applicants as soon as possible of their decision.

Please include with your application the proposed or previous conference brochure, promotional materials on the class or workshop, and/or other printed materials that show the relevance, quality and expense of the activity. Funds may be used for conference fees, training events, classes or other event fees as well as associated travel, meals and lodging. Higher priority will be given to proposals that require either no or limited travel.

Recipients are required to present a summary of their professional development award activities within 30 days of the activity.

The Faculty Development Committee will not approve funding for purchase of hardware, software, certification/license fees or capital equipment. The Committee will not approve salary requests.

Faculty Development Award Recipients 

2022 Recipients

Sumer Wallace, MD - AAMC Early Career Women Faculty Leadership Development Seminar

"This workshop was well timed, providing me with promotion career development guidance. I learned tools that I am applying to my new leadership roles, as Director of Gynecology Quality and Safety for Ob-Gyn, as Physician Informaticist, Gynecology Oncology, for UW Health, and as co-chair of the Ob-Gyn Quality Improvement Review Committee (QIRC)".

2021 Recipients

• Katie Antony, MD - American Board of Obesity Medicine board certification
  • "Thank you to the faculty development committee for helping fund the fees for this examination! I passed, so I am now ABOM certified. I look forward to finding ways to disseminate my learnings to the department and fostering new collaborations with the UW weight management clinic."
• Katie Sampene, MD - One Key Question® Ceritification and Preconception and Contraception Pathways to Care Training
• "I would like to thank the Faculty Development Committee for the award allowing me to complete the "One Key Question" training. The recommendation to use "One Key Question" came from the "Saving Our Babies" report, and therefore prioritizes the feedback from the Dane County Black community. "One Key Question" is an online training in how to approach patients about their pregnancy and contraception wishes in a patient-centered and non-biased fashion. This is particularly relevant to the DEI committee project regarding contraception. I have summarized the key learning points to share with the DEI committee, and hope to use the training to better inform our DEI contraceptive patient experience program."

2020 Recipients

• Ryan McDonald, MD - APGO Academic Scholars and Leaders Program: "The program has enhanced my clinical teaching skills and developed my research skills. Specifically, I participated in interactive sessions on teaching in different learning environments (OT, clinic, inpatient settings). Along with Dr. Jacques, a graduate of the same program, I will share a summary of these evidence-based recommendations to my division.  This training helped me create a research proposal for improving substance use screening during prenatal care. Additionally, I mentor resident research projects and have shared the tools and techniques that I learned with them. I have also been able to build relationships with amazing colleagues across the country, repeatedly supporting each other's research, teaching and clinical endeavors. The networking facilitated by this series has been invaluable in these unprecedented times."
• Luther Gaston, MD - SMFM course: "This course allowed me to talk with the best intrapartum ultrasound physicians in the world. This led to a collaboration with 2 of our residents to submit an abstract to SMFM and to begin working on a manuscript for journal submission. We are likely the only group in the upper Midwest using intrapartum US for the prediction of vaginal birth. We are now working on our second IRB submission for a larger prospective trial."
  
• Janine Rhoades, MD - SMFM online Critical Care course: Each case consisted of a pre-test, a recorded didactic lecture, a case-based series of questions working through a critical care scenario, and a post-test. I gained a great amount of personal knowledge through this course that will help me better take care of critically ill obstetric patients. I now have the tools to share this knowledge with our Ob-Gyn residents and MFM fellows. I gained knowledge from impromptu teaching on the floor and in clinic. Additionally, I have the materials from this course that I can adopt to create my own didactic lectures, case-based lectures, and simulation labs for our trainees.