Resident Well-Being Initiative

Risks for physician burnout during residency training are recognized nationwide. The Resident Well-Being Initiative in our Department is designed to address this problem directly by inspiring a culture that values, prioritizes, and fosters well-being in our residency training community. Through this trainee-institution partnership, we hope to encourage our residents’ self-care and personal growth.

Goals and Objectives

For our patients, our community, our families, and ourselves, we have the responsibility to teach, model and create an environment that fosters both physical and emotional health. Through the Resident Well-Being Initiative we endeavor to foster a culture that values:
 

  • A diverse and inclusive community
  • Emotional and psychological well-being
  • Physical fitness and nutrition
  • Preventive medicine and self-care
  • Current and future financial security
  • Mindset and behavior adaptability


The Resident Well-Being Initiative seeks to accomplish these goals through the involvement of stakeholders at all levels of training, including the residency program directors, a Chief Resident of Well-Being, and junior residents who provide leadership in each of the domains above and consistent with their own interests and individual expertise. In this way the Resident Well-Being Initiative seeks to foster well-being through interventions at both the institutional and individual level.

Structure

Resources

Contact

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Psychiatry resident runners at Pittsburgh's Point State Park
Psychiatry resident runners at Pittsburgh's Point State Park

Through our efforts in establishing well-being in our everyday activities as physicians, we can combat stigma, improve transparency, engender trust, and acknowledge:
 

  • Our vulnerabilities and imperfections
  • Our self-imposed expectations
  • Our ability to make mistakes
  • Our discomfort with medical uncertainty
  • Our need for support in difficult times
  • Our humanness