Dr. Peggy Scallon Takes the Helm

For Scallon — who began a two-year term as president of the Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association (WMAA) Board of Directors on July 1, 2024 — staying active through various types of sports has been a driving force throughout her life. Even a bicycling mishap at age 18 had a “silver lining” that helped shape her future.

Recalling the accident, which occurred shortly after she graduated from high school in Madison, Wisconsin, she said, “I got pretty banged up, and my broken jaw had to be wired shut. It was difficult and painful, but it also was inspirational. The compassionate and skilled medical care I received when I was injured and scared has always stayed with me.”

That fall, she started college and later received a bachelor’s degree in zoology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Next, she earned a medical degree from the UW School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) and completed a psychiatry residency at University of Colorado–Denver and a child and adolescent psychiatry residency at UW Health.

“I knew I wanted to have a mission-driven career in a helping profession,” Scallon said. “My observations as a patient in the hospital sparked my interest in medicine.”

Scallon first worked in private practice and later became a clinical associate professor in the SMPH Department of Psychiatry’s Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. There, she provided psychiatric care to children, adolescents, adults and families; taught and supervised medical students; led the SMPH consultation service to Madison public schools; facilitated the medical student elective, Healer’s Art, in which students explored issues like grief, death and dying; and served as the training director of the Child and Adolescent Psychiatry Residency Program.

Meanwhile, Scallon and her husband, Mark Redsten, raised their two children: Oliver, now an attorney in Chicago, and Genevieve, now a reporter in Milwaukee. For 20 years, their home’s front window overlooked the frequently visited playground at the kids’ grade school, Shorewood Hills Elementary.

Today, Scallon and Redsten — a fellow Badger and the longtime president and CEO of Clean Wisconsin, a statewide non-profit organization that focuses on clean water and air — live on Lake Mendota near UW–Madison. They enjoy kayaking, water skiing, spending time with friends on their pontoon boat, and walking past the beloved playground in Shorewood Hills.

In 2016, while continuing her role as an SMPH clinical associate professor but leaving her practice in Madison, Scallon moved her career 63 miles east to Rogers Behavioral Health, which offers outpatient, inpatient, and residential care for patients of all ages. Initially serving as the medical director of an adolescent-residential-care unit, she was promoted in April 2024 to the role of senior medical director of Rogers’ Oconomowoc Campus. While overseeing 16 programs, she continues to serve as an attending psychiatrist on a 24-bed unit for adolescents with mood disorders. Generally, her patients have had multiple inpatient stays elsewhere before coming to Rogers for approximately eight weeks.

“Rogers’ Oconomowoc setting is on a beautiful, wooded campus situated on a lake. We offer outdoor lake activities, games and walking paths. It is a lovely, restorative place,” Scallon said, adding that the indoor facilities are equally inviting.

“Residential care is a great model. The kids are fully immersed in skills-based therapies, including cognitive and dialectical behavioral therapy, and behavioral activation aimed at developing coping skills to deal with depression and other mood disorders,” she explained.

In describing behavioral activation, Scallon said, “It is like our grandmothers used to tell us: if we are feeling down, we should get active or do something meaningful, such as helping someone. Rather than waiting to get ‘un-depressed’ to change our behavior, we change our behavior, and our mood will follow.”

This process involves routine tasks like maintaining hygiene and keeping a schedule; valued activities such as getting exercise or doing homework; and enjoyable activities such as listening to music or creating artwork.

“Small actions can result in micro mood improvements. If you take a shower or brush your teeth, you feel better than if you don’t. Through a series of micro mood improvements, eventually you say, ‘Today was a pretty good day.’ Your mood is often the last thing to get better, but you can start to feel good about your productivity,” Scallon explained. “We incorporate these activities into plans as the teens transition home.”

Residents’ structured days at Rogers often start with mindfulness practices, schoolwork, and recreation therapy. They may work in an on-site greenhouse, experience the ropes course, and engage in activities in the community, such as playing mini golf, going bowling, exploring museums, or visiting parks or an apple orchard.

About the unit’s no-screen policy other than for homework and group movies, Scallon said, “Screens are so compelling — they overtake their schoolwork, sleep schedule, socialization, family interactions, and exercise. Kids often say they are glad for the break from their phones and other screens. And it is fun to see them do old-fashioned things like playing board games, reading books, knitting and doing Rubik’s cubes.”

Reflecting on the most rewarding part of her career, Scallon said, “We change the trajectory of kids’ lives here. It is dramatic and positive. We hear from kids later that they are doing so much better and have gotten re-engaged in their lives.”

She elaborated, “They often come in resistant, and they don’t want to be here, but most of them get a lot better. By the end of their time here, they talk about how meaningful it has been, and you can see the difference. This is super rewarding.”

The multidisciplinary team that influences this transformation — including physicians, nurses, dietitians, teachers, recreation therapists and other health care professionals — creates a buoyant atmosphere for the kids. For instance, they encourage “spirit” activities, such as talent shows and dress-up days. Skills-based therapies and therapeutic activities are woven in with diagnostic evaluation and medication management, using evidence-based practices.

As part of this team, Scallon includes medical students from the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) and residents from SMPH and MCW. She also teaches on the UW–Madison campus in the Department of Psychiatry.

“I believe training others is an important part of being a doctor, so when I got to Rogers, I set up rotations for medical students and psychiatry residents,” said Scallon, recalling how she felt well-supported by the SMPH faculty, staff, and alumni when she was a medical student, and she aims to foster a collegial environment to inspire future physicians.

“I was fearful going into medical school because I had heard how demanding it was, and I thought that might mean it was going to be unfriendly. Instead, it was very positive and supportive,” she noted.

“The UW School of Medicine and Public Health has been transformative in my life. Through my role in WMAA, I want to make sure students know they are joining a warm, supportive community where we teach and inspire each other,” said Scallon. “As alumni, we also can help guide students toward careers that are a good fit for them.”

Another source of her support during medical school came from her family, including her dad, who worked as an aircraft mechanic in the Air National Guard at Truax Field, and her mom, who was a secretary in the UW College of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

“My mom worked across the street from the Medical Sciences Center, where I trained in my first two years of medical school. Every day, she packed me a lunch and dropped it off in a secret hiding place in the hallway,” recalled Scallon. “My parents didn’t have the opportunity to attend college, but they were incredibly supportive of my education.”

Scallon has five siblings — three in Madison, one in Spain, and one in the Twin Cities in Minnesota — whom she considers her best friends.

“I love spending time with them, and also with my husband, Genevieve, Oliver and [Oliver’s] girlfriend, who is doing a medical residency,” she said.

Thinking of the era when her kids were young, Scallon recalled feeling stretched as a working mom, but — like her bicycle accident — that had a silver lining.

“Although I had many late nights preparing for teaching the next day, I did my best not to miss activities that my kids were involved in. We had a lot of fun together, and we still do,” she said. “My kids say their lives have been enhanced by my career. They both have mission-driven professions, and they realize you can balance life and a meaningful career.”

Reflecting on her volunteer roles with WMAA, including serving on the Quarterly Editorial Board and Healer’s Journey Committee, Scallon exclaimed, “I love this medical school, and it is a great privilege to be the new president of WMAA. We want students, residents, and young faculty members to know that we support them and want them to succeed. Being a Badger doctor means you always belong here.”