Leading WISER: A Values-Based Framework for Leadership in Graduate Medical Education

The resident is sitting across from you, struggling. The faculty member is burned out and snapping at trainees. The ACGME site visit is six weeks away. The institution wants positive outcomes. And no one taught you how to hold all of this at once.If you lead in Graduate Medical Education, you already know: the job isn't what your residency prepared you for. Program Directors and faculty leaders are asked to balance accreditation, resident well-being, professionalism, faculty development, and institutional pressure. They often carry the weight of leadership alone and without a clear framework for the hard decisions.Leading WISER is the framework.Built on five principles, Well-being, Integrity, Service, Empathy, and Respect, the WISER approach gives GME leaders a clear, values-based lens for the decisions that matter most: how to support struggling learners, how to build culture, and how to lead when no one is watching.Dr. David Della-Giustina writes from rare ground. He is a residency program director, academic Vice Chair, ICF-credentialed coach, retired U.S. Army Colonel, and combat veteran emergency physician. He has spent over three decades training residents, mentoring faculty, and developing future leaders in academic medicine. He is a recipient of the ACGME Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Award. He has spent decades observing what separates the leaders who develop people from the ones who burn them out.Inside, you'll learn how to:Hold a values-based remediation conversation with a struggling residentBuild psychological safety on a service where mistakes can cost patientsAddress professionalism concerns without damaging trustLead through ACGME site visits, faculty turnover, and institutional changeIdentify and develop the next generation of program leadersSustain your own well-being while carrying the weight of the program This book is written for Program Directors, Associate Program Directors, fellowship directors, faculty leaders, chief residents, and DIOs. It is for anyone who has ever closed their office door and wondered, "How am I supposed to handle this?"If you lead physicians in training, Leading WISER gives you the framework you've been improvising. Read more