WELLNESS

Physician Wellness

We have a responsibility to take the necessary steps, for the wellbeing of our residents, to change the culture of medicine that prizes stoic perfectionism and stigmatizes asking for help. We provide our residents time and space to share and build a community that normalizes the impact of this profession.

“Every time we share, it erodes the toxic stoicism and perfectionism that fuel these problems.” - T. D. RILEY, J. A. RADICO

The wellness of our physicians here at St. Ann’s Family Medicine is a priority and we work to intentionally and responsibly support the mental health of our physicians.

Prioritizing Physician Health

We are committed to addressing burnout, prioritizing well-being, expanding knowledge, empowering one another, and fostering community amongst our Residents.

Through evidence-based strategies, open dialogue, and community-building events, we aim to create a supportive environment that promotes psychological, emotional, and physical health and cultivates social, intellectual, occupational, spiritual wellness.

  • Workshops

    Residents participate in mindfulness-based stress reduction workshops throughout the year to help prepare for ITE’s, develop healthy coping strategies, and mitigate stress. Our GME wellness committee provides quarterly community focused opportunities, in addition to our FM activities.

  • Retreats

    Residents participate in professionally focused, team building and wellness related retreats, throughout each of the three years in residency. We intentionally provide our residents with the opportunity to grow personally and professionally during residency.

  • Groups

    Residents participate in small, PGY specific monthly process groups. These groups are confidential and focus on normalizing the challenges faced by physicians. Residents are provided with a safe space to share thoughts, feelings and ideas.

  • Fun

    We believe that having fun is useful, necessary and vital to the wellbeing of our residents. We spend time doing things we enjoy on Wellness Wednesdays and play games during didactics. We potluck our favorite foods, cook smores and discuss books, play kickball, go hiking, explore, and have family dinners.

Wellness is many things…

From hockey games to multicultural potlucks, yoga in the park, smores, and taking the time to look up, it is important that our Residents have time, space, and resources to engage in wellness in all of its forms.

COUNSELING

Residents have access to both internal and external supports from licensed mental health professionals. Our Director of Behavioral Sciences, Katie Wille, is a Licensed Professional Clinical Counselor. She provides confidential, solution focused, cognitive behavioral and single session therapies to family medicine residents.

Katie is a certified anxiety treatment professional and has extensive experience working with high achieving individuals, in high stress environments, maintain wellness, resolve barriers, and achieve educational and professional goals.