Jami Simpson, MS, fellowship program manager for Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, has been honored with the 2025 Association of Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine Program Directors (APCCMPD) Award for Excellence in Fellowship Program Administration, in recognition for her life coaching work with University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (UW SMPH) graduate medical trainees.

Simpson has coached over 70 trainees in the Department of Medicine (DOM) and other clinical departments since receiving her certification in 2022.

“Jami used her passion and talent to pursue her own professional development, which in turn has helped our division, the department, and even the whole school,” notes Nizar Jarjour, MD, Ovid O. Meyer Professor of Medicine and division chief, APCC. “I think her journey is the most impressive part of this story.”

But first: what is coaching?

At its core, coaching is as simple as it is profound. Simpson explains in this video:

“My role in these sessions,” she adds, “is to ask questions about what’s stopping you from getting where you want to be. You analyze your own behaviors, actions and triggers. You are the expert. I’m just here to help you think outside this box you’ve put yourself in and find forward momentum again.”

She currently offers free coaching to all DOM residents, fellows and faculty.

The journey to coaching

Simpson’s coaching journey began in 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic when she noticed trainees losing their motivation, goals, and compassion for medical practice.

“I heard their voices change,” she recalls from weekly nighttime meetings with the APCC fellows. “Who they used to be was gone. Their dreams and ambitions and careers were abruptly, violently, put on hold.”

At that time, however, no personal wellness programs existed at the department or institutional level. And a survey of DOM trainees revealed that personal wellness was not a regular topic of their individual mentoring conversations, although many wanted it to be.

“I knew I could do more than schedule meetings or social activities,” Simpson says. “Creating a personalized wellness program became my mission.”

When she discovered professional coaching and its effectiveness in improving psychological wellbeing and reducing emotional exhaustion and burnout symptoms, she knew what her direction would be. Her division chief and division administrator agreed.

“When I share this story at national conferences, I always emphasize the need for leadership buy-in from day one,” Simpson says. “I’m so grateful to the department and my division for seeing the need that I did.”

With tuition covered by a DOM Medical Education Innovation Grant and the APCC division, she received her associate certified coaching (ACC) credential from the International Coaching Federation (ICF) in 2022. She also worked with division leadership to secure 10% protected time to coach during work hours—which is when and where trainees need coaching the most.

Since then, Simpson has spent roughly 180 hours with trainees, tackling issues ranging from testing anxiety to trouble sleeping.

Participant feedback has been unanimously positive. One trainee wrote: “Identifying the real barriers to my problem allowed me to create an action plan addressing the real issue, not the problem I thought I had.”

Looking ahead

While the APCCMPD award is a highlight and inflection point in Simpson’s journey, it is far from the conclusion.

She continues to expand her expertise, recently receiving a certification in trauma-informed coaching. Together with Jacqueline Kruser, MD, MS, assistant professor, Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine, she is also studying the impact of team coaching on groups in the intensive care unit (ICU).

“It’s been such an amazing journey,” she says. “I’m just grateful I can help the doctors who show up for everyone else.”

Learn more

Individual coaching is free and available to all DOM trainees and faculty. To learn more, contact Jami Simpson.

Banner: Jami Simpson, MS, fellowship manager for the Division of Allergy, Pulmonary and Critical Care Medicine. Credit: Clint Thayer/Department of Medicine.