Illinois Medicine

I L L I N O I S M E D I C I N E | 15 feedback shows that we are making progress as we work together to build a community of competent and caring future physicians who demonstrate self-compassion and have a sense of work-life balance. This will help them to provide high-quality, compassionate care for their patients while caring for themselves as well," she says. Kathleen Kashima, PhD, senior associate dean of students in Chicago, sees the teaching of wellness as self-perpetuating. "If our students learn the fundamentals of personal well-being during medical school, they will pass on that knowledge when they become residents and faculty and start teaching the next class of medical students," she says. Student-led support EACH CAMPUS IS ALSO DEVELOPING its own extracurricular wellness programs, an endeavor that has benefited greatly from the commitment and enthusiasm of a committed corps of student leaders. One of these leaders is Cory Reiter, an MD/PhD candidate in the Medical Scientist Training Program in Chicago. Reiter, who helped develop the new curriculum as member of both the Student Curricular Board and the Student Wellness and Resilience Committee, is now helping to expand extracurricular wellness programs as chair of the latter. A passionate advocate for student wellness, Reiter's sense of mission grew out of personal experience. "When I was a pre-med student, I had a sick mom, and that was a priority that I couldn't compromise on," she confides. "So I compromised on other things, such as going out with friends, or going to the gym, or cooking healthy food. What I learned is that you can only push yourself like that for so long before it begins to have an impact on your cognitive acuity or your emotional stability." Reiter and her fellow wellness committee members continue to support the well-being of their peers in a variety of ways, from bringing in massage therapists, to organizing events to relieve student stress, to advocating for the installation of a Farmer's Fridge vending machine on the medical campus, which fuels students around the clock with salads, fruits and other healthy offerings. A new culture of well-being ALTHOUGH IT REMAINS A WORK IN PROGRESS, the holistic wellness and resilience program is already sparking a culture change. "We need to promote and empower wellness in our patients," says Connie Vitali, MD, assistant dean for medical education and evaluation in Rockford. "But, to do this, shouldn't physicians be well themselves? By intentionally teaching our students how to take care of themselves, we are laying the groundwork for a culture change that will profoundly affect not only physicians but also their patients. There's some hidden gold here that we are not going to see until these students hit their third and fourth years and move into their internships." "We know that stress is inevitable in medical school," reflects Terri Blevins, MA, EdD, Rockford assistant dean for student and alumni affairs. "But we are already seeing signs that we are helping our students learn how to deal with this stress in a healthy way. The students love the small group discussions about different aspects of well-being and report that they feel very supported and connected to the faculty and one another. They've already orchestrated a number of extracurricular activities amongst themselves, from a murder mystery dinner to a potluck night and a barn dance. As I watch this class, I'm seeing some real moments of joy." Bhatti credits the new culture of wellness with helping her maintain a better school/life balance. "The new curriculum not only facilitates learning and makes the first-year experience less stressful, but gives me some time to engage in pursuits that help me recharge," she says. Cory Reiter, an MD/PhD candidate in the Medical Scientist Training Program, has helped lead efforts to survey students on their wellness going into board exams, organize peer-to-peer support, launch an online mental health screening tool with the Counseling Center, and bring mental health to the west campus by making a counselor available weekly to medical students. But most important, she says, have been efforts to encourage students to talk about wellness, both to remove stigma and to underscore the fact that caring for oneself is a skill set that requires training and persistence to refine. P H O T O : D I A N E S M U T N Y

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