New well-being resource website created specifically for house officers

Approximately a 2-minute read

Key Takeaways:

• The Office of Graduate Medical Education (GMR) and Michigan Medicine Wellness Office has a new well-being resource website for house officers.
• It was determined that house officers are a unique population, but touch many areas of the organization, thus required a specific resource site for their well-being.
• Additionally, a complementary resource for resident program directors and program administrators was also created to foster training programs that support well-being of residents and provides resources, policies and best practices.

Story:

The Office of Graduate Medical Education and the Michigan Medicine Wellness Office have unveiled a fresh set of well-being resources for house officers.

Michigan Medicine is committed to supporting the well-being of its residents. As such, a new webpage was created to encourage optimal resident and fellow well-being. There are approximately 1,250 employees who are house officers.

“Residents will experience different levels of well-being throughout their training,” said Gurjit Sandhu, Ph.D., associate professor and vice chair, resident life in the Department of Surgery “Events and interactions, in their singularity or as an accumulation, may enhance one’s joy in training or deplete their well-being.”

Falling into their own unique category, leaders recognized that house officers need specific and tailored resources. A new website joins a portfolio of well-being sites in other areas at Michigan Medicine. Already existing sites include ones for Learner Well-Being, Faculty & Staff Well-Being and Leadership & Department Resources.

Earlier this year, an email went out to house officers from J. Sybil Biermann, M.D., the associate dean of Graduate Medical Education, and Sandy Goel, Pharm.D., interim chief wellness officer, announcing the launch of the website.

The goal of the website is to provide resources for the following:

• Physical well-being
• Mental and emotional health resources
• Benefits and policies
• Financial resources
• Work resources
• Pregnancy and parenting
• Professional development
• Safety training and data

On the page, there are links for immediate help as well as an anonymous and confidential self-screening tool.

“House officers play an important role at Michigan Medicine,” said Goel. “The psychological, emotional and physical well-being is critical to the development of a competent, caring and resilient physician.”

Additionally, a complementary resource for resident program directors and program administrators was also created to foster training programs that support well-being of residents and provides resources, policies and best practices.

“Supporting our residents is vital to a thriving academic medical center like Michigan Medicine,” Biermann said. “Through support from the Wellness Office, we can better meet the needs of our residents and prepare them for the next steps in their careers in a healthy manner.”