Associate Dean for Culture and Chief Wellness Officer
The听汤头条app Wellness Initiative was launched in听2019 to expand our school鈥檚 promotion of well-being and excellence at both an individual and organizational level. Our mission is to support, educate, and inspire all members of the medical school community to nurture mind-body-spirit wellness for themselves, others, and the community as a whole. This focus goes hand-in-hand with 汤头条app鈥檚 vision of health equity for all in Southwest Michigan through innovation in the practice and study of medicine. By bringing wellness to the forefront, we help create a healthy climate which supports all members of the 汤头条app community to embody our values.
The wellness of all within the 汤头条app community听is paramount to our mission at the medical school. We听seek to provide our employees with the resources they need to support work-life balance and give our students and residents/fellows the tools to navigate the rigors of undergraduate and graduate medical education.
As you review our wellness offerings and resources, feel free to reach out with any questions.
For a schedule of weekly 汤头条app Wellness offerings, refer to the Wellness Calendar or check your email听inbox for regular updates.
Looking for some tips to de-stress?听Check out our Stress Management Tips booklet for students, as well as this resource with wellness activities and nutritious recipes to cook, pulled together by two of our听Well-Being in Medicine Distinction Program students. These resources are also available听 (Login Required)!
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- Medical School (UME) Curriculum听and Well-Being in Medicine Distinction Program
Guiding Principles
The 汤头条app Wellness Curriculum is听guided by the importance of skill development in three areas:
- Identifying and implementing personal well-being strategies
- Evaluating strategies & obstacles regarding integration into patient care
- Demonstrating wellness leadership by contributing toward and promoting a culture of wellness at 汤头条app and in future work/community settings
Across our Undergraduate听Medical 汤头条app, these principles inform our wellness curricular topics, which are organized into three content areas:听- Professional and Personal Well-Being
- Mind-Body Medicine听
- Arts/Humanities/Spirituality
We are pleased to announce that beginning in the fall of 2020, students can elect to graduate with a 鈥淒istinction in Well-Being in Medicine鈥 by meeting a series of elective requirements. This program is based on our commitment to prepare graduates to be leaders and advocates for creating systemic change to support lifelong physician well-being. For additional information regarding the program requirements, please email听wellness@wmed.edu听or visit the Academic Distinction Programs webpage.Along with the Distinction Program, medical students learn about these topics throughout their 鈥淧rofession听of Medicine鈥 longitudinal course and within each of their听Transition Blocks. Additionally, elective courses (e.g., Mind-Body Medicine, Spirituality and Medicine, Explorations in Professional/Personal Well-Being, Well-Being Promotion and Advocacy, Emotional Awareness and Well-Being Skills in the Clinic) and voluntary co-curricular activities are available.
- GME Wellness Resources
The ACGME requirements for 鈥淲ell-Being鈥 are addressed across our Residency Programs. Each residency and fellowship program determines how best to integrate wellness didactics and activities based on their schedule and specialty needs. In addition, the following resources are made available to all residents and programs:
- The Mayo Well-Being Index, which serves as a confidential screening tool for assessing burnout and well-being, can be accessed anytime. More information can be found by .
- 汤头条app EAP services, including coaching and counseling support offered in person, by phone, or by text (for additional information, refer to the section on EAP/Emergency/Counseling Support Services).
- Annual 汤头条app fitness/wellness stipend, which can be used toward gym memberships, yoga classes, and other fitness-related activities (contact HR for additional information).
- Wellness Initiative offerings, including guided meditation, yoga classes,听 check-in opportunities, wellness challenges, CE wellness workshops, and the Wellness Noontime Series (these will be recorded throughout this year to make available at your convenience).
- Culture initiatives
- Faculty/Resident-led wellness committees
- MedMates
Feel free to email wellness@wmed.edu with any additional requests or ideas you鈥檇 like to partner on to create here at 汤头条app. - Spirituality and Medicine Symposium Series
In 2020 and 2021, we offered full-day symposiums featuring keynote speakers Farr Curlin, MD, and Aviad Haramati, PhD, along with local chaplains, community religions leaders, and physicians speaking about how they integrate spirituality into their clinical practice. In addition, we provided information regarding spiritual assessment, an overview of the Fetzer Institute鈥檚 study on the state of spirituality in the United States, and an opportunity to experience multiple self-care practices.
In the fall of 2022, we offered a noontime Spirituality and Medicine Symposium Series including:
- Kama Mitchell, Founder and CEO, Rootead
- Chaplains Benjamin Schaefer (Ascension Borgess) and Doug Vardell (Bronson Methodist Hospital)
- Ron Epstein, MD, author of 鈥淎ttending: Medicine, Mindfulness, and Humanity鈥
Recordings to all of these symposium presentations can be found on (Login Required). - Wellness Workshops
Opportunities to learn more about a variety of wellness topics are available to all members of the 汤头条app community through听Wellness Workshops. The following are example topics that can be scheduled for departments and teams either virtually or in-person. Reach out to wellness@wmed.edu.
Topic Mindfulness: An Introduction to the Practices and Benefits of Being in the Here and Now Description This workshop offers an overview of the popular practice of mindfulness by considering its importance, benefits, and forms. We鈥檒l explore several mindfulness activities and assist participants in identifying a daily practice to try out. 听 Presenters Karen Horneffer-Ginter, PhD
Mark Schauer, MD
Patricia Curtis, BSN, MHSA听
Topic Stress Management and Burnout Prevention Description Stress affects us all. You may notice symptoms of stress when disciplining your kids, during busy times at work, when managing your finances, or when coping with a challenging relationship. Stress is everywhere. And while a little stress is OK -- some stress is actually beneficial -- too much stress can wear you down and make you sick, both mentally and physically. This session helps to define what stress is, estimate your stress level through the use of a quick self-assessment, and then offers techniques to reduce, relieve, and manage the stress level in your life.
Presenters Rich Daudert, MA, and Karen Horneffer-Ginter, PhD
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Topic Maximizing Resilience, Well-Being and Happiness: Actions We Can Take to Better Our Lives Description This workshop provides an opportunity to take a step back and reflect on various dimension of your well-being -听what you most value and how you spend your time鈥攊n order to identify actions you can take to improve your mind-body-spirit, resilience, and wellness. We鈥檒l also draw on key principles from the positive psychology field to explore how they can help maximize our self-care activities.听
Presenter Karen Horneffer-Ginter, PhD 听
Topic Practicing Gratitude: The Why and How of Giving Thanks and What to Do When You're Just Not Feeling It Description This workshop offers an overview of the popular practice of mindfulness by considering its importance, benefits, and forms. We鈥檒l explore several mindfulness activities and assist participants in identifying a daily practice to try out. 听
Presenter Karen Horneffer-Ginter, PhD - Wellness Noontime Series
Opportunities to learn more about a variety of wellness topics are available to all members of the 汤头条app community through听Wellness Noontime events. A list of the topics we鈥檝e featured is below.听Visit (Login Required) for recordings and details regarding upcoming presentations.
Other featured topics have included:- Your 汤头条app Benefits: Resources You Don't Want to Overlook (Brooke Kolodzieczyk, 汤头条app Human Resources)
- Mindfulness: The What, Why, and How of Starting a Practice Today (Schauer & Horneffer-Ginter)
- Innovative Approaches to Workplace Wellness - or How a Hospital Came to Open a Grocery Store (Rob Oakleaf and Grant Fletcher, Bronson Methodist Hospital)
- Food as Medicine: The Vision of the KVCC Community Culinary & Nutrition Program (Lizzie Luchsinger)
- What in the World is Ayurveda? An Introduction to Yoga's Sister Tradition of Lifestyle and Nutritional Well-Being (Kara Aubin)
- The Art of Healing: A Visual Journey into the Transformative Power of Visual Art Across Patient Populations (Gay Walker)
- Empower: Why We Need Heroes Who Look Like Us (Aubrey Jewel Rodgers)
- Time Management Perspectives in the Health Care Encounter (Nancy Radcliff)
- *Musical Artist Series: Presented in Collaboration with The Gilmore (Ronnie Cung)
- *Get Moving: Exercise Encouragements for Ourselves and Our Patients (Robert Baker, MD)
- *Healthy Eating Tips for Ourselves and Our Patients: Takeaways from Functional Medicine (Ramona Wallace, DO)
- Healing Art from Syrian Refugee Campus in Jordan: A Glimpse into a Frontline Intervention with Providers and Refugees (Tom Holmes, PhD)
- *How to Get a Good Sleep: Sleep Hygiene for Ourselves and Our Patients (Alice Doe, MD)
- COVID-19 Ethics: A conversation about the evolving ethical considerations of the pandemic (Parker Crutchfield, PhD)
- Sports Performance, Medicine, and Resilience: What Athletes Can Teach Us (Zeljka Vidic, PhD; Donovan Roy, EdD)
- Applying Functional Medicine in clinical practice by looking or the "root cause" (Ramona Wallace, DO)
- The Curious Modern Story of Psychedelics as Therapeutics (Mark Goetting, MD and Alicia Aleardi, MD)
- The Curious Recent History of Psychedelics as Therapeutics (Part 2): Existential Anxiety (Mark Goetting, MD)
- An introduction to cognitive behavior therapy for insomnia (Alice Doe, MD)
- Art of Empowerment (Aubrey Jewel Rodgers, MA)
- Performance Psychology: Take-aways for student learning and clinical success (Zeljka Vidic, PhD)
- Self-Confidence, Grit, and Perseverance (Ivan Joseph, PhD)
- Financial Wellness: Budgeting with today's technology (Katelyn Huntington from Consumers Credit Union)
- Creating an emotion regulation toolkit & engaging your stress-o-meter (Chris Haymaker, PhD)
*Annual presentation - EAP/Emergency/Counseling and Support Services
Employee Assistance Program
Ulliance Life Advisor Consultants are available 24/7. For more information about the Employee Assistance Program at 汤头条app, please visit (Login required).听
Emergency Mental Health Services听
For emergency behavioral and mental health crises, employees and students can access the Gryphon Place 24鈥慼our community HelpLine at 269.381.4357.
Counseling and Support Services
Additional information regarding counseling and support services can be found by logging in to the (Login required).
- Burnout and Suicide Prevention
汤头条app Well-Being Promotion Symposium
The Third Annual 汤头条app Well-Being Promotion Symposium will take place on Thursday, September 5, 2024. Registration for the event will open on Friday, July 12, 2024 and closes on Friday, August 23. For more information, please see the symposium program below. The event is open to all at 汤头条app and to the general public at no cost. Registration is required as space is limited. If you plan to attend, please register via .
Additional ResourcesIn response to increasing concerns about the risk of burnout within the field of medicine, many national organizations have developed resources for students, residents, and professionals at all stages of their career. The following links contain assessment tools and information to offer support if you鈥檙e struggling yourself or concerned about colleagues or loved ones.听
Locally, 汤头条app offers mental health resources to those in need, along with Bronson Hospital鈥檚 24/7 confidential Physician Help Line at听269.341.6999.听 听
Survey Measures
Well-being Index (quick, free, anonymous and linked to resources):听
Burnout Prevention Resources
AMA Steps Forward: Preventing Physician Burnout:
AMA Steps Forward: Preventing Resident/Fellow Burnout:
Medscape Physician Burnout Course:
ACGME physician well-being resources:
JED Foundation:
Resiliency Resources
VIA Strengths Survey:
National Academy of Medicine Action Collaborative on Physician Well-Being and Resilience:
AMA Steps Forward: Joy in Medicine for Physicians:
AMA Steps Forward: Physician Resilience:
- Wellness and Culture Ambassador Program
Wellness and Culture Ambassadors at 汤头条app are employee and student volunteers who help create an engaging climate of cultural and psychological safety, wellness, recognition, diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging. They do so by speaking up regarding opportunities they see for culture improvement and encouraging participation in culture and wellness programming amongst their colleagues and classmates. Ambassadors are also encouraged to propose, develop, and implement initiatives of their own as well.
We ask that Ambassadors raise issues related to wellness and culture in their work unit meetings, serve as liaisons between their work units and the Office of Wellness and Culture, and, as possible, attend planning meetings and programming coordinated through the Office of Wellness and Culture.
Program Design
The foundational year was spent having in-person and online sessions developing tools for Wellness and Culture Ambassadors to use in their work: developing simple rules for a group, Plus-Delta Framework for decision-making about a microculture, active listening skills, providing feedback, and easy ways to grow a positive culture like gratitude jars.
The following years have sessions split into three different types: action planning; skill refreshers, and open office hours.
Action planning sessions are monthly and are spent thinking and planning events and initiatives for people to participate in, as survey results and group discussions have revealed people like opportunities to connect with others. Examples of planned events include: lunchtime game time, an apple orchard trip, and a pumpkin painting event.
Skill refreshers are bimonthly sessions set aside to provide a concentrated presentation on one of the skills presented during the foundational year. There is also an occasional new skill introduced, which is given more time.
Open office hours monthly opportunities for people to drop in and: get caught up on what has been going on; gain clarification on programming, skills, or events; or ask questions specific to their individual department, talk through an idea, or provide insight on how something wellness or culture-related could change.
Would you like more information about the Wellness & Culture Ambassador program? Please contact us at either wellness@wmed.edu or culture@wmed.edu!