The University of Michigan Medical School Office of Graduate Medical Education (GME) has recognized Rebecca Nause-Osthoff, MD, with its annual Faculty Equity and Inclusion Award. The award recognizes a faculty member who has fostered an environment of equity and inclusion within their training program in an effort to improve disparities.

“I feel very grateful for the opportunity to work on these sorts of initiatives,” Nause-Osthoff said when receiving the award. 

“I feel so grateful for the support of my department, the leadership in my department who are committed to building and supporting diversity, equity and inclusivity within anesthesiology. Everything that I’ve been able to do is because of what I’ve learned from the incredible colleagues that I’m surrounded by within our department and within the Michigan community.”

Nause-Osthoff was named director of medical student education within the Department of Anesthesiology in November 2023; she previously served as assistant director of medical student education. In these roles, nominators say she has been a “staunch and effective advocate for learners and team members with differential ability.” 

Nominators noted that when Nause-Osthoff recognized an increase in learners with self-reported disabilities, she collaborated with the institution’s Learning & Accessibility team to ensure an inclusive, educational and adaptable clinical learning environment. This included advocating for inclusive and accessible measures within learning environments, including operating rooms, and developing inclusive and adaptable medical student programs and curriculum.

Passionate about creating inclusive spaces for all learners, she has become a leading voice in anesthesiology for learners with disabilities. She has developed best practices that highlight the value of diversity in all forms within perioperative practice and has presented her work institutionally and nationally.

Nause-Osthoff is "critically rethinking the workflows and practice patterns in anesthesiology and perioperative care, with the goal of broad accessibility for learners and other team members," one nominator wrote. “She has moved the needle within the field of anesthesiology with her thoughtful and deliberate scholarship.”