COACHING PHILOSOPHY
My goal is to help clients grow and achieve their individual goals, both professionally and personally. I guide clients to clarify their thinking about what’s important to them; identify values, strengths and weaknesses to navigate challenges and find opportunities; develop strategies for success; and promote the process of reflection and positive change. My practice is based on the fundamental principles of coaching: (1) establishing a trusting and confidential relationship (2) active, compassionate listening (3) asking thoughtful questions to assist in considering options and strategies, and (4) partnering with my clients to facilitate growth.
Working with physician and faculty colleagues as a coach is a privilege and an extension of my faculty development work and mentoring over my career. During this time when our profession is grappling with challenges brought on by enormous and rapid changes in the practice and business of medicine, it is more essential than ever to take time to envision one’s path for an exciting future. Societal changes in work and families, diversity and pandemic reckonings, distressing social determinants of health, and rapidly changing technologic demands are just a few of the significant forces requiring physicians, and all health care workers, to adapt and grow. All of us are evolving leaders – of our clinical practices, research teams, organizations, communities, families – and, perhaps most importantly, of our own lives. Leadership at all levels benefits from thoughtful and deliberate conversation. In sum, my clients and I work together to sort through the opportunities and challenges they are facing to develop meaningful pathways to meet their goals and fulfill their potential.
SERVICES
Clients can approach coaching with short-term goals that involve just a few sessions or may decide they want to enter into a longer partnership where we might meet over many months, or even years. Most coaching sessions are between 30-90 minutes, determined by our scheduling constraints and/or the goals, urgency, and complexity of the issues we are discussing.
To explore a coaching opportunity, please fill out the contact form below. I will get back to you to arrange a brief meeting to explore the process further, answer any questions, and discuss my fee schedule. There is no charge for this initial meeting.
ABOUT ME
Stephanie Abbuhl MD is Emeritus Professor in the department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine. She is board certified in both emergency medicine and internal medicine and completed the ELAM (Executive Leadership in Academic Medicine) fellowship in 2005. Dr. Abbuhl played a key role in the evolution of Emergency Medicine into a full academic department at Penn and over the years served in several leadership positions including Interim (Founding) Chair, Medical Director from 1989-2004, and Vice Chair from 2004-2020. She continued to actively practice and teach emergency medicine for 38 years until her transition to emeritus in 2021.
Dr. Abbuhl’s primary research interests include establishing evidence-based best practices for faculty development (men and women) and investigating causal factors contributing to successful and sustainable careers in medicine. She served from 2001-2021 as the Executive Director of FOCUS on Health & Leadership for Women, a unique faculty development and leadership program funded by the Dean to recruit, retain and advance women faculty and to promote women’s health research. Dr. Abbuhl’s experience with numerous innovative FOCUS initiatives led to the unique RO1-funded NIH-TAC (Transforming Academic Culture) trial. This 4-year trial studied a multi-faced intervention in a cluster-randomized design across the entire school of medicine aimed at improving the academic productivity and job satisfaction of women faculty.
Since 2013, along with a team of multidisciplinary Penn colleagues, Dr. Abbuhl has developed and continues to lead the Penn Pathways career-leadership program for men and women assistant professors in the STEM fields. In 2021, Dr. Abbuhl completed the Telos Coach Development Program and is a member of the International Coaching Federation. She currently runs career leadership workshops and has a coaching practice for women and men in medicine. She works with junior, mid and later career physicians, academic faculty, and healthcare professionals.
Dr. Abbuhl’s awards have included the 2012 AAMC Group on Women in Medicine and Science Leadership Development Award; the 2013 Trustee’s Council of Penn Women-Provost Award at Penn for her leadership in advancing women at the University of Pennsylvania; the 2015 Arthur Asbury Outstanding Mentoring Award at the Perelman School of Medicine, 2021 FOCUS Lifetime Achievement Award and the 2022 Elizabeth Kirk Rose Award from the Perelman School of Medicine and Penn Alumni.
Dr. Abbuhl lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband and they have 3 grown sons. In addition to her continued professional activities in faculty development and coaching, she is an avid home cook/foodie, reader, hiker, nature enthusiast, and sits on the board of the Pine Hollow Arboretum.