Dean's Message

At Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Carilion Clinic, well-being is no longer a side initiative—it’s a shared priority that connects people, departments, and programs across our academic health center.

Our VTCSOM Well-Being Committee spans all 13 departments, including all 11 clinical departments, ensuring that every area of our institution has a voice in shaping our culture. Many departments have developed their own internal well-being committees, often with representation from clinical sections, allowing for tailored approaches that reflect the unique needs of each team.

Beyond departmental efforts, we’ve built a network of well-being champions who support our medical students, residents and fellows, medical educators, faculty, and staff at VTCSOM. These champions have helped us gather meaningful data through surveys and large group retreats, and that data has driven the creation of actionable, locally relevant goals.

Together, VTCSOM and Carilion Clinic have elevated well-being as a central theme in our TEACH programming, leadership development, and everyday decision-making. We are intentionally pausing to ask, “How will this decision affect our teams?” This simple question is helping us optimize work culture, enhance professional fulfillment, and reduce unnecessary or frustrating work.

This collaborative work has not gone unnoticed. Carilion Clinic recently received the American Medical Association’s Joy in Medicine Bronze Award—an achievement that reflects our shared commitment to the well-being of our teams. It’s a recognition of the bridges we’ve built in service of healthier, more supportive working and learning environments.

As we continue this journey, we remain focused on listening, learning, and leading with compassion. Well-being is not just a goal—it’s a way we come together.

Lisa Uherick, MD
Chief Well-Being Officer

News Around Campus

Social Media

Events

  • 11/18 Timothy A. Johnson Medical Scholar Seminar Series Featuring Michael D. Keller MD
  • 11/19 Global Health Grand Rounds Featuring Andre “Andy” Muelenaer Jr, MD, and Penelope “Penny” Muelenaer, MD, MPH
  • Raster/Vector/Raster (Fall Art Show) through December 2025

Humanism Note

This Thanksgiving, we’re taking a moment to celebrate gratitude for the people, the moments, and the connections that make life meaningful. To honor the spirit of the season, this Humanism Note is a poem from Amanda Gorman, the inaugural Youth Poet Laureate of the United States, who wrote a special poem reflecting on what Thanksgiving means to her. The poem is included below, and to view her recite it please click here.

"The Republic Gives Thanks"

In 1863, deep in the Civil War's magnitude,
Abraham Lincoln called declared a day of gratitude
Shared by one heart and one voice of America.
A proclamation for a nation in a nightmare,
This Thanksgiving dared Americans
To chime their thanks at a time many believed
That they had no thanks to give.

Yet is this quirky day now about turkey?
About a plate full of food?
Or is it about being grateful
In more than just attitude?
The Haudenosaunee/Iroquois remind us
With one mind, to find the words
That come before all else,
because to give thanks is to live it.

It's not just in speech,
But in each of our daily actions.
It's reaching across divisions towards a
Vision of a long, strong house and table
Where we're able to gather together.

If we dream past pilgrims
and the mast of the Mayflower,
It may empower us to bravely learn
From the People of the First Light,
To return to Lincoln's fight,
To furnish our might by uniting around
Any piece of peace, no matter how small.

We still hear all these first teachers,
Called by the will of those still here on this earth,
Like the Wampanoag, who show us the worthiest
Way to give thanks for our blessings
Isn't to hog them, but to give them away.

It's then, full of this feeling,
That healing can begin, because maybe
To be American is to be a kin
To a courageous hope:
The trust that even if just for a moment
We can, we must, close rank as people,
One heart, one voice, one mind, created equal.

Like two vessels meeting at a riverbank anew
Under the sky's greeting of bright, blank blue,
You'll begin beside the people who flank you.
We come to these words before and above all dreams,
Saying with more love and restored meaning: Thank you. 

Publishing

Recognitions

Congratulations to VTCSOM Representatives at the Virginia Dermatology Society Meeting!

Congratulations to all the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine and Carilion Clinic representatives for a strong showing at the annual Virginia Dermatology Society meeting in Williamsburg.

Special congratulations to:

  • Anne Philip (VTCSOM M2) – Winner of Best Oral Presentation for “Muir-Torre Syndrome – Novel Treatment with Dostarlimab.”
  • Jade Bajic (VTCSOM M2) – Winner of Best Poster Presentation for “A Cutaneous Clue – Paraneoplastic Scleromyxedema in Association with Hodgkin Lymphoma.”

Thank you to dermatology residents — Jane Gay (Class of 2022), Forrest Roberson, Kristen Delans, Haley Pate, Casey Engel (Class of 2024), and Doug Murray (Class of 2024) — for mentoring our students and helping prepare outstanding abstracts and presentations themselves.

Faculty member Howard Pride delivered a lecture on pediatric dermatology and served on the always-popular challenging cases panel. Faculty member Patrick Rush was named incoming President of the VDS, and Roberson was elected Resident Representative on the Board.

Engagement Scholarship Consortium Conference

We also want to congratulate second-year students Etta Hanlon, Blaire Barton, Colby Mallett, and Jade Bajic for winning a poster award at the 2025 Engagement Scholarship Consortium Conference!

Their project, “Creating Sustainable Partnerships: Connecting CHIP and Feeding Southwest Virginia,” exemplifies our commitment to community engagement, collaboration, and impactful scholarship. Their project builds a sustainable partnership between Feeding Southwest Virginia, VTCSOM students, and CHIP of Roanoke to address food insecurity among low-income families. Medical students deliver healthy food boxes for distribution during CHIP home visits, improving

nutrition access, advancing health equity, and promoting child wellness through this community partnership.

Spotlight on Giving

The Craft Family Endowed Guest Professorship on Medicine and Humanities
We are incredibly proud to highlight Dr. Hugh and Mrs. Reggie Craft for their generous commitment to the medical humanities through the establishment of the Craft Family Endowed Guest Professorship on Medicine and Humanities. This new endowment reflects the Crafts' deep and enduring passion for integrating the arts and humanities into medical education. Dr. Craft lives out this value as a local pediatrician who already contributes to our curriculum by teaching ethics courses to first-year students, a history of medicine elective to fourth-year students, and acting as a precept for first-year LACE students. He is also spearheading an oral history focused on medicine in Roanoke and the surrounding areas.  The professorship will bring distinguished scholars and experts to campus to share insights on topics selected from the breadth of the medical humanities, which includes medical history, ethics, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, art, and literature.

We are delighted to announce the inaugural lecture is scheduled to be held at VTCSOM in the spring of 2026.  This initiative will greatly enrich the intellectual life of our community, offering vital perspective and context to our future physicians.  We extend our sincerest gratitude to Dr. And Mrs. Craft for their unwavering support of VTCSOM, our students, faculty, and staff.

Alumni Update

Alumni Updates:
Stephanie Masters, MD ’22 successfully matched into the Maternal Fetal Medicine fellowship at the University of Virginia.  Dr. Masters is currently a PGY4 in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency program at Carilion Clinic.

Attention Class of 2016:
Has it already been 10 years? We are pleased to share that we will be welcoming the VTCSOM Class of 2016 back to Roanoke on June 5-6, 2026 for their 10-year reunion! Be sure to mark your calendars!

If you are a member of the Class of 2016 and did not receive your SAVE-THE-DATE postcard, please let us know by completing our alumni survey.  The survey will allow you to update your contact information as well as your current employment information.  You can also email Brittany May, Director of Alumni Relations, (may@vt.edu)  directly to update your contact information.

Do you have any news to share?
Are you moving on to private practice or a fellowship? Did you get married? Have a baby? Get published, receive an award, or promoted?  Tell us about it! Please fill out our survey:  https://virginiatech.questionpro.com/a/TakeSurvey?tt=vgzDQZL8WMUECHrPeIW9eQ%3D%3D

Carilion Recruitment
Interested in returning to Roanoke or the surrounding areas to work and play?  Carilion Clinic has outstanding employment opportunities available in many specialties. Visit Carilionclinic.org, scroll to Careers and then Physician Careers for more information. You may also reach out to Andrea Henson, director of physician recruitment & onboarding (ahenson@carilionclinic.org) or 540-224-5241.

Take Note

In a heartbreaking story, the mother of 10-year-old Autumn Bushman is now warning other parents about the hidden risks of unchecked nighttime screen access. The article quotes Dr. Abhishek Reddy, a clinical psychiatrist and researcher at VTCSOM, who explains that phone use in bed can be especially dangerous for children who have been bullied because “during the daytime, you can talk to people… But at nighttime, all that access is cut off.”
For more details, you can read the full article here: CBS News story.

Last Note

Beth Bond Named 2025 Recipient of Harrington Award for Administrative Excellence

Beth Bond, Executive Assistant in the Office of the Dean, has been named the well-deserved recipient of the 2025 Dr. Daniel P. Harrington Award for Administrative Excellence at the Virginia Tech Carilion School of Medicine. 

This annual honor recognizes a staff member who demonstrates outstanding dedication, professionalism, and service.  Beth's selection highlights her exceptional contributions and crucial role in the Dean's office.   

The Dr. Daniel P. Harrington Award for Administrative Excellence was named as a tribute to Dr. Harrington's leadership legacy, as the former Vice Dean of VTCSOM.

Beth was nominated by several people.  Some of the comments included:  

"Beth is a welcoming presence in the Dean's Suite, making it a place where employees and students feel comfortable coming to talk with leadership. She embodies the sense of community that VTCSOM prides itself on."

"Beth looks for opportunities to advocate for her colleagues and does so with great skill and political savvy."

She now joins a distinguished group of past recipients, including the inaugural honoree, Dani Backus (Senior Director, Institutional Effectiveness and Accreditation) in 2022, followed by Ryan Anderson (Photo and Video Communications Manager) in 2023, and Brian Stanford (Director of Facilities) in 2024. 

As the fourth person to receive this award, Bond embodies the high standard of administrative excellence that is vital to supporting VTCSOM's mission and success.

Championing Community:  NL Bishop Receives Outreach Excellence Award

Dr. Nathaniel "NL" Bishop, a pivotal figure in community outreach at VTCSOM, has been honored with the 2025 Virginia Tech College Award for Outreach Excellence.  This recognition celebrates faculty and staff who embody the university's motto, Ut Prosim (That I may Serve), through exceptional efforts that extend the VTCSOM mission beyond its campus and into the community.

As a community ambassador for VTCSOM, Dr. Bishop's work is critical to forging deep meaningful partnerships with community leaders, organizations, and citizens across the Roanoke Valley.  He joins a notable group of previous VTCSOM recipients, including Dr. Jennifer Cleveland (2020), Dr. Jack Perkins and Kate Perkins (2021), and Dr. Kristofer Rau (2022), in carrying forward a powerful tradition of service.