Pitt Pediatrics congratulates Vildan Tas, MD, FAAP for recently being named the Overall Best Innovation Award Winner at UPMC’s 2026 GME Connect Conference. Tas is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics in our Division of General Academic Pediatrics, as well as the Director of the Pediatric Clerkship Outpatient Experience at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.
Tas’ project, titled, “TRUST: Team Reflection to Unite and Strengthen Together – A Curriculum to Foster Psychological Safety and Communication Within a Pediatric Leadership Team,” is a longitudinal, team-based leadership curriculum embedded within a pediatric residency leadership team to strengthen psychological safety, communication, and conflict management.
Delivered through recurring sessions integrated into existing leadership meetings, TRUST creates a shared communication language and shifts leadership development from an individual to a team-based model. The curriculum addresses key gaps in GME leadership training by promoting psychological safety, radical candor and healthy conflict in high-stakes decision-making, resulting in improved team functioning, openness, and cohesion within the leadership group.
On recognition of the award, Tas quoted, “I am deeply grateful to work with an incredible residency leadership team who did not hesitate to be vulnerable and fully engaged in this work. TRUST was truly a collective effort; we did the hard work together. I want to give full credit to our program directors team: [Drs.] Andy Nowalk, Kate Watson, Katie Polak, Matt Valente, Jen Wolford, and Rhett Lieberman, whose openness, commitment, and support made this curriculum possible.”
Join us in celebrating this fantastic achievement for Dr. Tas and her collaborators. And follow Pitt Pediatrics on Bluesky for future updates on faculty awards and recognition.