Wellness, Equity, and Celebrating “Failure” with Sylk Sotto, EdD, MBA, MPS

Joining us today for a spirited discussion on the Faculty Factory Podcast is Sylk Sotto, EdD, MBA, MPS.

Dr. Sotto currently serves as Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine at Indiana University School of Medicine (IUSM). Dr. Sotto is Vice-chair for Faculty Affairs and Professional Development and Vice-chair for Diversity, Health Equity, and Inclusion with IUSM.

She also serves as Health Equity Lead for the Office of Community Outreach and Engagement in the IU Simon Comprehensive Cancer Center. In addition to these roles, she also serves as:

• Director, All IN for Health, Indiana CTSI
• Co-Director, Workforce Development, Indiana CTSI

Dr. Sotto is making her inaugural appearance on our podcast. As you will hear on today’s episode, much of her research focuses on (in)equity in academic medicine.

If you are a loyal listener to our podcast, I am hoping by now you have heard about Writing Accountability Groups (WAGs), but what about Promotion Accountability Groups? You will not want to miss today’s episode, because Dr. Sotto describes this initiative in-depth midway through the interview.

Dr. Sotto shares more innovative ideas with us throughout this entire episode. This includes a recurring program at her institution known simply as “Fail Fest.” In a great twist on the status-quo in awards and ceremonies, Fail Fest is all about celebrating growth in a unique way.

“Failing is part of the process of how we grow in our career as faculty,” Dr. Sotto said.

For more information on the two papers referenced in today’s conversation, please make sure to check out the following:

• Sotto-Santiago S, Ansari-Winn D, Neal C, & Ober M.(2021). Equity + Wellness: A Call for More Inclusive Physician Wellness Efforts. MedEd Publish. https://doi.org/10.15694/mep.2021.000099.1
• Sylk Sotto-Santiago, James E. Slaven, and Theresa Rohr-Kirchgraber. (Dis)Incentivizing Patient Satisfaction Metrics: The Unintended Consequences of Institutional Bias. Health Equity. Jul 2019.13-18. http://doi.org/10.1089/heq.2018.0065