Dr. Erika Rangel

Principal Investigator

Dr. Erika Rangel is an MGH surgeon and a nationally recognized health-services researcher whose work has transformed understanding of gender equity and physician parent well-being. Her research focuses on the unique challenges faced by childbearing physicians, particularly trainees, and on designing evidence-based interventions that meaningfully improve their clinical, personal, and professional trajectories. She has received national awards for her scholarship and leadership, and her work has influenced policy across surgical boards and professional societies.

As principal investigator of the 4th Trimester Initiative (NCT06014892), Dr. Rangel led a multicenter, multispecialty randomized trial that developed and evaluated a parental support program with faculty mentorship as a key component. Preliminary findings from this study demonstrated that structured support interventions successfully prevented the typical rise in burnout between pregnancy and six months postpartum—findings that provided the foundation for redefining how training programs support expectant and new parent physicians.

The PREGNANT Coaching Trial builds directly on this body of work, integrating lessons learned, participant feedback, and gaps in existing mentorship models to create a novel, evidence-based coaching program tailored to the needs of childbearing trainees. By leveraging a rigorously trained cohort of certified physician coaches, this initiative extends Dr. Rangel’s commitment to developing scalable, high-impact solutions that promote equity, mitigate burnout, and support the next generation of physician parents.

Dr. Kerri Palamara McGrath

Co-Investigator

Dr. Kerri Palamara McGrath is a nationally recognized leader in physician coaching, professional development, and clinician well-being.

As an internist at Massachusetts General Hospital and Assistant Medical Director for Well-being for the AMC Department of Medicine at Mass General Brigham, she has pioneered some of the most widely adopted coaching programs in graduate medical education. Her work has earned accolades for teaching and mentorship from MGH, Harvard Medical School, the American College of Physicians, and the Society of General Internal Medicine, reflecting her exceptional impact on trainee growth and physician support.

Dr. Palamara designed and launched the MGH Professional Development Coaching Program—the first large-scale coaching model integrated into residency training—and has since trained hundreds of faculty coaches across the country. Her coach-training curriculum, grounded in positive psychology and evidence-based coaching methods, has been disseminated to more than 40 institutions nationally and is now considered a benchmark for high-quality physician coaching.

Her expertise directly shapes the PREGNANT Coaching Initiative: all certified coaches in the trial are trained through Dr. Palamara’s program, ensuring a consistent framework of reflective practice, goal setting, and strengths-based development tailored to the needs of childbearing trainees. Her leadership in physician coaching provides the foundation for this trial’s innovative approach to supporting trainee well-being during pregnancy and postpartum.