Wellness
LCME, ACGME and Joint Commission are increasingly concerned about well-being. It is important that anyone including resident, student or colleague who needs time off for health care is neither implicitly nor explicitly discouraged. If we don’t take care of ourselves, studies have shown we can’t take care of our patients.
Read our series, "Welcome to Wellness."
Learn more about well-being at The University of Toledo College of Medicine and Life Sciences.
Prevent Burnout
Many strategies are touted and all can help. Mindfulness, exercise, yoga, and adequate rest all work. Play or learn a musical instrument, read a nontechnical book, go on a mission trip, or play a game with your family are all recommended. The key is self-awareness and a willingness to admit that we are fallible and need to take a breather. We also need to be forthright with our colleagues to offer gentle advice and offer to help.
Signs of burnout
- Feeling of dread – going to work, before a procedure, etc.
- Increased complaining – often or daily
- Irritability – short fuse, temper outbursts
- Lapse in confidentiality
- Loosening boundaries – complaining to patients, sharing personal anecdotes
- These all happen on a bad day but if the frequency is increasing, ask for help or offer to help a colleague
Well-Being Tips
- Remember that good health habits apply to providers as well as patients. Do for yourself what you recommend for others!
- Do you have a personal physician?
- Treating yourself (or your family) is neither objective nor smart.
- Have you had screening lab work appropriate to your health, age and gender?
- Mammogram, Pap smear, sigmoidoscopy, Blood pressure check, DXA scan?
- A dental checkup in the last 6 months.
- Adult immunizations
- Tetanus, pertussis, Shingrex, HPV and DPT if you are to be around a newborn.
- Advanced Healthcare directive.
- Preconception counseling if appropriate.
- Physical fitness assessment and plan.
- Weight and dietary assessment.
- Calcium, iron, saturated fats, fluid volume and vitamins appropriate to age and gender.
- CARE FOR YOURSELF SO YOU CAN CARE FOR OTHERS
See Something, Say Something
As physicians, we are taught confidentiality and boundaries constantly. When we see a colleague in trouble, we tend to turn away unless he/she asks for help. As a result, suicides and burnout are more prevalent than ever. We must help each other. Ask for help, offer to help, or alert someone who can help. Save a career or maybe even a life.
Student Health And Wellness Group
The Student Health and Wellness organization hosts events including Wellness Wednesdays with various student organizations as well as other activities including intramural sports and dance workshops.
Resources
Impact Solutions Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a well-being service provider available through Human Resources. They offer confidential counseling for health, mental health, finances, and marriage issues. It’s available to all UT employees and is much underused. Local referrals are available if the issues exceed the capability of telephone counseling. Don’t suffer silently – call and get help: 1-800-227-6007.
Worried that you may be approaching burnout, depression, or anxiety? You can take an individual survey through Well MD. The results and advice are confidential. The survey is validated and widely used. Residents are strongly urged to take it as a baseline or to detect early or impending burnout. Knowledge is prevention. Know yourself.
Student Mental Health and Wellness Resources
Students have access to mental health and counseling services at Kobacker Center on the Health Science Campus. Services are confidential and no information or records are ever released without a patient's signed consent.