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The Academy’s highest honor is presented to an individual for outstanding achievement in C-L Psychiatry
This year’s ACLP Eleanor and Thomas P. Hackett Memorial Award has been awarded to Linda Worley MD, FACLP, DFAPA.
The Academy’s highest honor is presented to an individual for outstanding achievement in C-L Psychiatry—a member who has demonstrated distinctive achievements in C-L Psychiatry training, research, clinical practice, and leadership.
Dr. Worley, a past president of the Academy (2013-2014), completed her BS in Biology at the University of Puget Sound, her MD at the University of Oklahoma (OU) College of Medicine and her residency in Psychiatry at OU.
She joined faculty at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS), led the General Hospital Psychiatry Consultation Service, and established the Student and Faculty Wellness programs.
Dr. Worley served as medical director of Arkansas CARES, a residential program recognized with an APA Gold Award for being a model program for dually diagnosed pregnant and parenting women. She founded the ANGELS Women’s Mental Health Consultation Service providing care for obstetrical patients via telemedicine. She was faculty of the Vanderbilt Distressed Physicians’ Course and the Regional Associate Dean of the UAMS Northwest College of Medicine before becoming the Chief Wellness Officer of the College of Medicine.
Dr. Worley retired from her academic position in April this year and is currently “loving life, writing, speaking, coaching and traveling!” She is an inspirational leader who takes great pleasure in seeing others thrive.
“My current passion is to help others understand how to flourish and to unleash their gifts in this world,” says Dr. Worley. “I’ve been teaching a nautical metaphor for decades and at one point the medical students referred to me as the ‘sailboat lady.’ It’s been a really handy way to explain how all of the pieces fit together…our physical health, our emotions, our mental health, trauma, etc.”
Among nominees, Catherine Crone, MD, FACLP, herself a past recipient of the Thomas P. Hackett Memorial Award, writes: “In the past 20+ years, I have known Linda well and had the opportunity to work with her closely through educational and leadership activities in the ACLP, APA and ABPN. As you review her extensive CV, you soon note accomplishments in academic and C-L Psychiatry at local, regional, and national levels, with a focus on perinatal mental health, student and physician wellness, career development and coaching, as well as working with disruptive physicians.”
Through her involvement with the APA, Dr. Worley helped to develop the APA Resource Document on Physician Wellness and later the Charter on Physician Well-Being: Collaboration for Healing and Renewal. Her combined desire to promote health care provider wellness and help guide professional development among physicians is also reflected in many of her presentations and eventually led to her becoming a certified physician’s development coach.
Early on, with both the Association for Academic Psychiatry and the ACLP, she demonstrated a commitment to C-L Psychiatry through committee and subcommittee work. Within ACLP, her initial focus was on C-L Psychiatry training, before becoming a member and then chair of the Academy’s Education Committee.
“When we first achieved formal ABPN recognition, our organization was encouraged to develop our own core competencies to guide fellowship training,” says Dr. Crone. “At the time, this seemed a daunting task even to seasoned C-L Psychiatry educators as it was still a very new construct. Linda was the first one to jump into the task and helped to lead the group to the goal of developing these first core competencies.
“It was with similar determination that when she became president in 2013, she helped to foster the work of reshaping the annual meeting through the Annual Meeting Redesign Task Force.”
Through her involvement within the APA, Dr. Worley also served as a member and then vice-chair of the Council on C-L Psychiatry, fostering ties with ACLP, and promoting the visibility and importance of our subspecialty.
“Always gracious, energetic, creative, humble and kind, Dr. Worley is highly deserving of this capstone award for her outstanding contributions, leadership, mentorship and friendship to so many in the ACLP”
Another nominee, Academy past president (2022-2023) Maryland Pao, MD, FACLP, describes how Dr. Worley has been a “remarkably engaged member” of ACLP (previously APM) for more than 30 years. “A visionary executive leader and coach, Dr. Worley has been dedicated to the mission and expansion of ACLP and has always had her pulse on areas of exploration and the future of C-L as a field… Dr. Worley is an inspiring personification of the qualities we all aspire to within the ACLP…
“What I appreciate most about Dr. Worley is her exemplary manifestation of her humanistic and work-life values throughout her outreach to others which is extensive. Always gracious, energetic, creative, humble and kind, Dr. Worley is highly deserving of this capstone award for her outstanding contributions, leadership, mentorship, and friendship to so many in the ACLP.”