Blogs

AAIM Member Spotlight

Laurel Fick, MD

Internal Medicine Residency Associate Program Director
St. Vincent Hospitals 
Indianapolis, IN

How long have you been a member of AAIM?

My first exposure to AAIM was as a Chief Resident in 2008 at Medical University of South Carolina when I attended the Chief Residents Meeting. That experience opened my eyes in terms of where I wanted my career to go. I then moved from South Carolina to St. Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis.

Describe your typical day.

At St. Vincent I am the Director of the Transitional Year Residency and Associate Director of the Internal Medicine Residency. My biggest role, other than clinical and administrative duties, is my involvement in promoting physician wellness within our department. I received a grant from the St. Vincent Foundation that is supporting a multitude of wellness initiatives for residents and faculty at our hospital. We are doing environmental improvements (department fitness circuits, office ball chairs) physician art contests, social media connectedness, mindfulness, a newsletter and more!

It’s been a transformative change for our department in terms of how wellness and physician support has been perceived. I am planning on submitting proposals for workshops and posters outlining our work for AIMW18. 

What is your favorite part of the job? 

I have the world’s best job. If I had to name one favorite part is the mentoring that I get to do and working with some truly inspirational people! We have students from Indiana University School of Medicine and Marian University College of Osteopathic Medicine. Mentoring students from different schools is an amazing experience. I talk with my students about choosing a specialty that will fit the goals for their lives. We discuss issues like physician suicide but also attrition. The goal is to have happier, healthier and more adjusted physicians who stay engaged in their careers for a lifetime.

How has the AAIM membership been of value to you and your career?

It allows me to continually be reminded of why I am doing the work I am doing. We get to meet once or twice a year to align with people in similar positions and to re-center my thinking and passion for academic IM. There aren’t a lot of female mentors in academics and it’s been a great place to find mentors. I’d love to get more involved in committee work in the future! 

What's your favorite moment of your career so far?

I was invited to speak and emcee a medical student event discussing choosing a specialty and the residency application and interview process. It was having the medical students come up to me after and email me saying how much they learned. I was also nominated for the AAIM Young Leader to Watch award and it meant a lot to me that I was recognized for the work I’m doing. 

What was your childhood dream job?

I am one of these cliché types and always wanted to be a physician. In first grade I drew a picture of me delivering a baby with the word “Surgeon” below. I do still want to be an ESPN sports broadcaster if medicine ends up not working out.

How do you spend your free time?

I have a 3 and 5 year old. My husband is a physician who works me with me. I don’t have a lot of free time but love to spend any with my family. We are big sports fans and love travel and the outdoors. We also love adventure eating and cooking and are always looking out for the newest restaurants and breweries to try.

What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you?

My husband works two doors down from me in the same department and it’s great for a number of reasons including that if one of our kids is sick we can cover for each other.

I also successfully finished the Porsche Sports Driving School and was the Connect Four® champion in fifth grade.