Joshua N. Khalili, MD Appointed to DoM Chief Wellness Officer
The UCLA Department of Medicine has appointed Joshua N. Khalili, MD to chief wellness officer (CWO) effective April 1. The appointment builds on Dr. Khalili’s outstanding work as associate chief wellness officer and physician wellness director under departing CWO Sun M. Yoo, MD, MPH. Dr. Khalili has served in these roles since the founding of the DoM Office of Wellness in 2024.
“I am truly honored and humbled to be asked to serve as chief wellness officer. I am so grateful to have worked with and learned so much from Dr. Yoo and have big shoes to fill,” Dr. Khalili said. “Physician and healthcare worker well-being has been a passion of mine since residency, so in many ways this role feels like a full-circle moment.”
As associate chief wellness officer, Dr. Khalili advanced both the wider reputation and the internal growth of the DoM wellness program. Among his achievements are a randomized controlled trial (RCT) on the outcomes of professional coaching. The results were published last July in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. He was also a co-author for an RCT examining the impact of ambient artificial intelligence scribes on physician burnout. The study was conducted in collaboration with John N. Mafi, MD, MPH and other UCLA Health faculty. Those findings were published November 2025 in NEJM AI. Additionally, Dr. Khalili presented the results of the DoM wellness office’s post-wildfire faculty and staff support efforts at the inaugural L.A. Fires Research Conference
With the support of DoM leadership, Dr. Khalili used the findings from his first RCT to expand the DoM professional coaching program, which has enrolled an additional 55 DoM faculty in the last year. In total, more than 130 faculty have either completed or started professional coaching thus far. He also oversees the UCLA DoM Office of Wellness Division Wellness Champions in their work on division-based wellness and community-building initiatives. Dr. Khalili is also spearheading the wellness program’s prospective participation in a national, multi-institutional collaboration to evaluate and attempt to reduce gender inequalities in burnout among health care workers, pending grant approval.
As CWO, Dr. Khalili’s vision is to continue to strengthen a culture of well-being and professional fulfillment across the department of medicine, as well as to deepen collaborations across the DoM, UCLA Health and with partners beyond UCLA to further innovative, effective approaches to health care worker well-being. He is most excited to listen and learn from those who make up the DoM community.
“I’m deeply interested in understanding how our faculty, trainees, and staff are doing and identifying ways we can better support their well-being,” Dr. Khalili said. “By working together, I believe we can continue building an impactful DoM Office of Wellness where we prioritize creating an environment where we all feel supported, connected, and thrive both professionally and personally.”
Please join us in welcoming Dr. Khalili to this new leadership role!
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