In this column, Dr. Gillian Hawker discusses how to promote wellness among school faculty and medical students at the University of Toronto. She presents specific tactics the university has undertaken to prioritize the health and well-being of its students and employees.
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Establishing a wellness mindset Burnout Organizational wellness Stress
This article discusses Stanford Medicine’s program to prevent and reduce burnout and promote wellness among neurology residents. The program takes a three-pronged approach: creating mentorship teams, hosting monthly lunch conferences and promoting social activities.
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Mentorship in health care Burnout Psychologically safe learning Establishing a wellness mindset Relationships
This article frames the experiences of a resident suffering from burnout, depression and suicidality. It aims to highlight modifiable barriers to wellness for residents to create a culture change.
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Psychologically safe learning Establishing a wellness mindset Burnout Organizational wellness
The University of British Columbia’s Resident Wellness Office’s (RWO) website provides resources and support for navigating residency. The page features a list of group services, confidential support services, RWO events, resources, frequently asked questions and a wellness blog.
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Establishing a wellness mindset Psychologically safe learning Career transitions
This paper addresses how programs and instructors can better support the well-being of medical students. It explores the impact of student perceptions of instructor support for student autonomy and how it affects their motivation and well-being. It also offers a framework instructors can use to support student autonomy and well-being.
Note: There is a fee to access this article.
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Psychologically safe learning Establishing a wellness mindset Relationships
This article underlines the multiple influences that can contribute to medical students’ well-being and identity formation. It speaks to resilience, empathy, self-care, culture, stress and depression, and provides examples of wellness programs targeting the medical school environment.
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Psychologically safe learning Establishing a wellness mindset Self-care Stress Depression Resilience
Queen’s University’s resident health and wellness program website outlines the causes of stress that can occur during residency and encourages residents to seek help at the first sign of difficulty. The website provides information on counselling, regional learner advocates, resources for resident health and wellness, the mindfulness training program, and more.
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Establishing a wellness mindset Psychologically safe learning Career transitions
The Northern Ontario School of Medicine (NOSM) resident wellness program provides postgraduates with the knowledge and skills to develop healthy and productive professional identities. The program team is available to support residents with sourcing and coordinating health resources. Residents are also encouraged to download the NOSM Well mobile app, which features a resident section.
Topics
Establishing a wellness mindset Psychologically safe learning Career transitions
This literature review, published in the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, demonstrates that mentorships positively influence relationships, networking and other aspects of personal health and well-being among physicians. Specifically, mentorship is shown to improve personal well-being among physicians through improved confidence and stress management.
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Mentorship in health care Relationships Establishing a wellness mindset
Medical Teacher is a leading international journal that publishes research on medical education for teachers and trainers in the health professions. The journal’s easy-to-search database offers open access to a wide range of articles on topics such as burnout, wellness, medical culture and more.
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Psychologically safe learning Establishing a wellness mindset Organizational wellness
Recent literature has highlighted the alarming prevalence of burnout, depression and illness during residency training, all of which are linked to suboptimal patient care. This article examines the need for a dedicated resident wellness curriculum.
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Dedicated wellness training can help improve resident wellness. Establishing this mindset early in a physician’s career can have long-term effects on both physician health and patient care by preventing future wellness issues.
How medical educators support student wellness
Medical educators have an important role to play in fostering a wellness mindset among medical students, residents, mentees and anyone else involved in the learning process.