Okeanis Vaou, MD, FAAN, joins us for a new episode on the Faculty Factory Podcast to walk us through ways to combat toxic workplace environments and difficult behaviors.

Interprofessional incivility is a growing problem that needs to be addressed, especially, as we learn this week, toxic individuals (when left unchecked) are very skilled at cultivating institutional power to protect themselves and bully their way to the top.

Dr. Vaou serves as Associate Professor of Neurology, Division Chief of the Movement Disorders Program, Director of the PF Comprehensive Care Center, Director of the Movement Disorders Fellowship, Bradley Dawson Endowed Chair in Movement Disorders, and Vice Chair of Faculty Development at the Joe R. and Theresa Lozano Long School of Medicine at UT Health San Antonio.

Unfortunately, high-stress, high-pressure environments within our profession mean that many of us are exposed to incivility. When these behaviors go unaddressed, they lead to a lot of festering issues.

“When it is actually happening, you should call it out,” Dr. Vaou explains.

The bottom line is that these behaviors and toxic environments must be tackled head-on and tolerating this behavior must become a thing of the past. Want to ask Dr. Vaou a question about all this? You can email her: vaou@uthscsa.edu

We are thrilled to give a tip of the cap to our friend Rachel Salas, MD, MEd, for putting us in touch with Dr. Vaou to make today’s episode possible! Please make sure to visit Dr. Salas’s rich archive of podcast episodes after you're done listening to today’s broadcast:

• Episode 216 – Advice for Making Life-Changing Decisions
• Episode 199 – Coaching and Strength-Based Approaches to Keep us Progressing
• Episode 92 – The Practical Use of Strength-Based Psychology