Kim Nichols (MD, University of North Carolina) is an anesthesiologist turned clinician-educator at the University of North Carolina (UNC). She believes that mentorship and sponsorship are among the keys to developing young leaders in the medical profession to their highest potential. As such, she regularly coaches, mentors, and sponsors medical students, residents, and junior faculty colleagues to academic, professional, and personal success.

Dr. Nichols has held several leadership positions at her institution, and she is a relational leader who has interests in organizational culture and leadership. She strongly believes in the importance of building relationships as part of her work and that all people deserve a chance to succeed. During her time on faculty, Dr. Nichols has become a part of the leadership pathway of the Relational Leadership Institute at UNC, an inter-professional leadership development program that specializes in empowering leaders across different roles. She has provided didactics as a trainer, facilitated small groups in multiple bi-annual cohorts, and served as a member of the Executive Committee for this program.

Further, Dr. Nichols has given regional and national lectures on the importance of equity, inclusion, and diversity in occupational and educational spaces. She also regularly lectures on best practices of providing feedback and evaluating learners to the UNC Academy of Educators (AOE), to AOE’s Residents as Teachers, and to medical educators across the state of North Carolina.

In her spare time, Dr. Nichols also enjoys listening to music, dancing, writing, and thinking about how to improve work and learning environments. She currently lives in Chapel Hill, NC with her two children and can be reached at @drkimn1 on Twitter, drkimn77 on Instagram, and Kim Nichols, MD, FASA on LinkedIn