Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai Honored by American Medical Association for Ongoing Commitment to Physician Well-Being

For the third time, the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai has earned the American Medical Association (AMA) Joy in Medicine distinction. The award recognizes documented efforts to reduce system-level drivers of work-related burnout and demonstrated competencies in commitment, assessment, leadership, efficiency of practice environment, teamwork, and support.

This recognition is granted to organizations that attest to the rigorous criteria of the Joy in Medicine Health System Recognition Program and demonstrate a commitment to preserving the well-being of clinical care team members through proven efforts to combat work-related stress and burnout.

Burnout in the medical field first received attention by two doctors in 1974 and has engaged the attention of physician researchers during the past several decades. Many hospitals, health systems, and medical schools, including Icahn Mount Sinai, have created the role of Chief Wellness Officer to find ways to both study and remedy burnout in the workforce. In 2021, Mount Sinai researchers reported a dramatic spike in burnout among physicians and health care professionals resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic, which placed acute stress on care teams and exacerbated long-standing issues within the health care system. 

“We are hopeful that the most challenging times of the pandemic have subsided while we remain vigilant in caring for our community in its wake,” says Jonathan Ripp, MD, MPH, Professor of Medicine, Medical Education, and Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Dean for Well-Being and Resilience, and Chief Wellness Officer at Icahn Mount Sinai. “We are extremely honored to receive this recognition from the AMA at a time when we are redoubling our efforts to alleviate the burden our workforce is experiencing in the aftermath of the pandemic. I am honored and deeply proud of our well-being team, our leaders, well-being champions, and partners who are so invested in the well-being and mental health of our faculty, staff and trainees.”

As Icahn Mount Sinai’s first Chief Wellness Officer, Dr. Ripp oversees the Office of Well-Being and Resilience (OWBR), which seeks to promote workforce well-being and address burnout by advancing a culture that enables the workforce and learners to efficiently and effectively do their best work in a community that values them through a robust suite of programs:

• Regular faculty and trainee surveys to determine drivers of burnout and targeted interventions
• A formal Well-being Champion program consisting of more than 80 faculty members representing most departments and training programs; champions work with the OWBR to develop annual plans to address well-being priorities through a framework supported throughout the Mount Sinai Health System
• A steady drumbeat of research: a total of 21 papers published in the last two years facilitated by the support of millions of dollars in federal grant funding
• A pilot grant program administered through the OWBR entitled Reducing EHR, Documentation, and Clerical Effort (REDUcE) to address clerical and EHR burden.
• Well-being and coping training resources for medical and graduate school students, in addition to residents
• A medical student well-being educational program embedded within Icahn Mount Sinai’s redesigned medical school curriculum
• Mental health destigmatization programs to facilitate awareness of and access to behavioral health services

“Health organizations that have earned recognition from the AMA’s Joy in Medicine Health System Recognition Program are leading a national movement that has declared the well-being of health professionals to be an essential element for providing high-quality care to patients, families, and communities,” said AMA President Jesse M. Ehrenfeld, MD, MPH. “Each Joy in Medicine recognized organization is distinguished as among the nation’s best at creating a culture of wellness that makes a difference in the lives of clinical care teams.”

Since its inception in 2019, the Joy in Medicine™ Health System Recognition Program has recognized more than 100 organizations across the country. In 2023, a total of 72 health systems nationwide earned recognition with documented efforts to reduce system-level drivers of work-related burnout and demonstrated competencies in commitment, assessment, leadership, efficiency of practice environment, teamwork, and support.