As Senior Fellowship Coordinator in WashU Medicine’s Department of Anesthesiology, Amira Hodzic excels at navigating the many moving parts of fellowship program management and their meaningful impact on trainees across the department and school. Hodzic, who started her career with WashU in 2022, understands how important her work is at both the department and individual level.
“My daily work involves managing multiple fellowship programs and ensuring everything runs smoothly behind the scenes. In doing so, I support WashU’s mission by cultivating an environment where clinical trainees feel welcome and supported. I’m motivated by a deeply rooted desire to create a space where staff feel a genuine sense of equity and belonging.”
As a people manager, Hodzic believes that transparency and open communication are essential to fostering an engaged and effective team. She has found these practices build trust and camaraderie, which have been helpful for her team’s overall job satisfaction and motivation. Hodzic’s belief in the culture of her team, and of WashU more broadly, is also what keeps her at the university.
“The culture at WashU, and more specifically within my team, is what keeps me here. We’ve managed to build a space that allows us to show up as our authentic selves every day.”
For Hodzic, living out WashU’s mission and vision isn’t abstract. It shows up in the daily effort she puts into making her corner of the Department of Anesthesiology a place where colleagues feel they belong, work many of them notice even when it happens quietly.
“Much of Amira’s best work happens quietly, behind the scenes, making the Department of Anesthesiology a more welcoming place for everyone in it,” one of Hodzic’s colleagues who asked to remain anonymous said. “She doesn’t wait to be asked, she notices what’s needed and finds a way to build it. One example is a staff-centered curriculum she created from scratch to teach communication skills and give colleagues real, practical tools for navigating difficult conversations. It’s the kind of resource that doesn’t exist unless someone cares enough to build it, and Amira did, because she genuinely wants her colleagues to feel equipped and supported, not just at work but in the harder moments that come with it.”
For those considering a career at WashU, Hodzic’s advice is simple: “I would confidently recommend WashU to anyone considering their next career move.”
When she isn’t supporting her team or her fellowship programs, you may find Hodzic spending time with friends and family, her dog, Julie, and trying new restaurants in the area.