Wednesday, August 27, 2025

Smith promoted to director of health and wellness at Whiddon COM

Becky Smith, Ph.D.
When Becky Smith, Ph.D., joined the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine in early 2021 as its first full-time health and wellness counselor, students were still navigating the uncertainty and strain of the pandemic. In just a few years, she has helped strengthen and expand wellness initiatives across the college — work that has now led to her promotion as director of health and wellness.

For Smith, wellness is more than a program; it’s an essential part of medical education.

“I firmly believe you cannot give what you do not have,” she said. “What you learn and practice now will become your disciplines in the future. Equipping our students to foster their own wellness is critical to helping them find greater life satisfaction, success, and enjoyment in their work, both now as physicians in training and later as full providers in the community.”

Medical school is inherently rigorous and demanding, Smith said, and without a foundation in wellness, students can easily become overwhelmed. By teaching them how to balance the pressures of training with personal needs and life stressors, she hopes to prepare future physicians to thrive not only in their careers but also in their personal lives.

As she steps into her new role, Smith is expanding initiatives that emphasize wellness as a collective effort across the college. 

“One initiative is shifting the focus of wellness being one office to a shared responsibility at the Whiddon COM and the important contributions of our interdisciplinary team,” she said. “We already have so many faculty and staff supporting and encouraging the wellness programming in place. I hope to highlight those contributions and increase opportunities for more collaboration.”

This year, the M1 and M2 Lunch & Learn curriculum grew to include sessions led by faculty such as LoRen Modisa, Ed.D., MPA, and Tiquera Hall, Ph.D., MPA, from the Office of Health Advancement, who spoke on professional identity formation, and Peyton McElroy, Ph.D., from the Division of Medical Education, who shared on the humanities and medicine.

Collaboration has also extended into the M3 Rx for Resilience curriculum, in which McElroy facilitated a neurology session on the ethics of wellness, and Modisa led a psychiatry session on fostering healthy team dynamics. “I hope to continue inviting key faculty into this curriculum to model to our students that wellness is a shared goal and how different members of the Whiddon COM team contribute and support their wellness,” Smith said.

Laventrice Ridgeway, Ed.D., associate dean of student affairs at the Whiddon COM, said Smith is well-versed in the nuances of counseling medical students, having worked directly in a medical program since 2019. “This experience lends to her vision for mental health and wellness at the Whiddon COM and her ability to expand our programming in a meaningful way,” he said. “Given her significant contributions to not only wellness efforts but the Whiddon COM as a whole, Dr. Smith's leadership is undeniable and will continue bringing distinction with her new title.”

The Whiddon COM wellness program has earned attention beyond campus, with other medical schools reaching out to learn from its approach. For Smith, this is both gratifying and motivating.

“We have a unique, innovative, and robust wellness program that we are continually improving and expanding,” she said. “I am proud of the program that I have been able to build and collaborate with my colleagues at the Whiddon COM and be leaders in the field.”

Smith holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Georgia and a Master of Education in clinical mental health counseling from Auburn University. She went on to earn her Ph.D. in counselor education and supervision from Ohio University. She is a Licensed Professional Counselor by the Alabama Board of Examiners in Counseling and a National Certified Counselor by the National Board for Certified Counselors.