Wellness

Our Internal Medicine Resident Wellness Committee intentionally and actively pursues ways to preserve a balanced lifestyle and avoid burnout.

Spring Party

The Resident Wellness Committee aims to create a healthy learning environment that facilitates resident development both personally and professionally.

The committee's vision is inspired by our residency's namesake, Dr. Tinsley Harrison (think, Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine). He emphasized the importance of the heart of medicine in his equation for medical education: E=hH². The small "h" represents the head, or knowledge, and the large "H" represents the heart. We believe that promoting wellness protects that "Heart."

The Wellness Committee was created by residents for residents, and it is supported by our program and institutional leadership. The group works to accomplish its aim through five key focuses:

Peer Support

Resident Burnout Panel

The Resident Wellness Committee organizes an annual panel to address the topic of burnout prevention and wellness. This time provides a secure venue for open conversation, thoughtful dialogue, and meaningful support from colleagues. Upper-level residents share personal experiences of difficult moments, including encounters with depression, anxiety, grief, apathy, and other forms of burnout. The panel then focuses on methods of coping, active ways to promote wellness on both a daily and long-term basis, and resources available for when extra help is needed. This is a time that really highlights the openness and support within our residency family.

Close-knit Community

Social Gatherings

Throughout the year, the Wellness Committee organizes social events to allow for residents to enjoy time together outside of the hospital. These events include causal happy hours, crawfish boils, holiday parties, a fellowship match party and many others. This encourages and fosters connections between residents while also giving everyone a chance to meet friends, families, and other loved ones, including pets!

Self-Reflection

The Memorable Patient Lecture Series

Biannually, as part of the noon conference curriculum, the Wellness Committee invites faculty members and senior residents to speak about their most memorable and meaningful interactions with a patient. It is a time of inspiration and encouragement, for both the audience and the speakers. This provides an opportunity for residents to hear the emotional perspective of faculty, reflect on the challenges and rewards of medicine, and gain perspective amidst the busy days of residency. Previous speakers include the Chair of Medicine and the Residency Program Director.

It was an honor to participate in the Memorable Patient series, as I was deeply humbled and thrilled to share the story of my favorite clinic patient. So often we seem to lose focus on the true reason for this amazing career: the patient-physician relationship. What a joy it was to cap off my third year of residency by sharing the journey of this incredible, friendly, and inspiring patient. Darryl Outlaw, Class of 2018

Community Outreach

Aside from supporting our fellow residents and the patient’s we serve, the Wellness Committee strives to give back to the community through service. UAB residents volunteer at a local farmers market to package healthy food for nursing home residents that may not be able to get it on their own as well as contribute towards the annual Toy Drive in conjunction with the surgery and pediatrics departments. This displays how UAB and our residents value serving the community not only through our contributions in health care.

Response to Feedback

The Internal Medicine Resident Wellness Committee has also responded to resident feedback to implement measure that keep trainees happier, healthier, and safer, such as:

Food is provided at noon conference every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday.
Residents receive a 60% discount in the cafeteria for additional food purchases.
Ubers are provided to transport residents after 24-hour hospital shifts, unexpected car issues or if driving feels unsafe due to fatigue.

It is our hope that through resident feedback, we will continue to improve the program in a way that emphasizes and promotes resident well-being.

Wellness Efforts Across UAB Graduate Medical Education

Here at UAB, our internal medicine residency program is committed to the well-being of every trainee. At the program level, we have numerous events to stay connected to each other and to the community, and we are actively involved in solving problems that contribute to frustration and burnout.

At the Department of Medicine level, our Wellness Council promotes weel-being in a holistic fashion, focusing attention on physical, psychological and professional factors that promote well-being and resilience and mitigate burnout. The group, comprised of faculty and staff, also liaises with other campus offices and organizations to help emphasize the importance of wellness.

One of the most important wellness initiatives in the School of Medicine is the Well-Being Index, a periodic survey to help faculty and trainees both monitor and improve their daily well-being. This subscription is made possible through the leadership of UAB's inaugural Chief Wellness Officer, Dr. David Rogers, and is administrated through his office. Other online and in-person support resources are also available:

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Tinsley Harrison Internal Medicine Residency Program