Kristina serves in the Office of Undergraduate Medical Education (UME) within the UAB School of Medicine Department of Medical Education (DoME). In her primary role, Kristina collaborates with other faculty and staff at the medical school and with the DoME team in continuous quality improvement in the areas of faculty and curriculum development.
Kristina has 20 years’ experience in medical education within the UAB School of Medicine medical school, specifically in curriculum development and management, faculty development, and educational technologies to support teaching. Kristina's journey has included roles of student, program coordinator, education support services specialist, instructional design specialist senior, team leader and supervisor, accreditation manager, program director, and faculty member -- providing her with a myriad of knowledge, expertise, and experience. Kristina has been honored as UAB Employee of the Month and has been recognized by medical students for excellence and outstanding service during Argus Award ceremonies. Kristina earned her masters and doctorate while working full time and earned a faculty appointment in October 2014 within the newly established Department of Medical Education.
During her faculty appointment, Kristina has been selected as a SOM Dean’s Research Award recipient, with a focus on educator enrichment, and was awarded 1 of 13 university HSF-GEF grants (1 of 4 in Medical Education, to establish the PROSPER Educator Enrichment Program). Kristina was a member of a collaborative team from the UAB Departments of Pediatrics, Medicine, Medical Education, and the UAB Center for Teaching and Learning in establishing a pilot monthly Medical Educators Certificate Series. Kristina has presented at the UAB School of Medicine "Research and Innovations in Medical Education" annual education summit, most recently with 3 abstracts accepted and poster presentations in September 2019.
Kristina serves as a standing ad hoc member of the Medical Education Curriculum Committee and its advisory committees in the preclinical and clerkship curricula. She is also a member of the Medical Education Research Interest Group (Med Ed RIG) in the UAB Department of Medical Education. Most recently, Kristina has served on university committees including the UAB Benevolent Fund Council and the Ellen Gregg Ingalls/UAB National Alumni Society Award for Lifetime Achievement in Teaching university selection committee.
With former SOM dean Dr. Robert Rich, Kristina managed the successful LCME SOM re-accreditation process while completing her doctoral dissertation. The accreditation materials submitted in the 2014 LCME site visit for the UAB School of Medicine were commended verbally for their thoroughness during the site visit by the site team chair and former Secretariat. Additionally, the site team included in their team report that "The team expresses its sincere appreciation to Dean Selwyn Vickers and the staff, faculty, and students of the University Of Alabama School Of Medicine for their many courtesies and accommodations during the survey visit. Dr. Robert Rich and Dr. Kristina Woodley [Blackwell] merit special recognition and commendation for their thoughtful visit preparations, cooperation, and generous support during the conduct of the survey." Kristina has been responsible for collaboration, assembly, and timely submission of the LCME accreditation status reports from the 2014 site visit to date, with the most recent status report in August 2019. Kristina continues to serve in DoME as part of the continuous quality improvement team.
Kristina's passions involve animals, art, poetry, writing, and children. Kristina's artwork was once selected by the Birmingham Sister Cities Commission and Birmingham Mayor’s Office as a “gift of friendship” to Huangshi City, Hubei province, China.
Kristina's interests are in educational leadership, faculty and curriculum development, empathy, doctor-patient communication, mindfulness and resilience, and community service.
