Wellness

Wellness: A Core Value of Our Residency Program

Our Resident Wellness Committee takes a multi-faceted approach to wellness, with an institutional well-being initiative with which residents are actively engaged. From social gatherings and retreats to professional development activities and more, we offer a range of opportunities to enhance resident wellness.

Emotional Well-being

Mental Health – Seeking mental health support is strongly encouraged for all residents. All residents are scheduled for "opt-out" mental health sessions with our residency program's psychologist. Additionally, six free counseling sessions are offered through the Employee Assistance Program, five free sessions are offered through the George Washington Psychiatry Program, and “drop in” counseling or stress management skill-building sessions are offered through Children’s National Psychology and Behavioral Health. All sessions are 100 percent confidential.
Wellness Wednesdays – At least one Wednesday per month, we have a noon conference session devoted to wellness including mindfulness exercises, skill-building sessions, personal goal-setting, yoga, and pet therapy.
Resilience Rounds – Every other month, each class of residents is welcome to a facilitated discussion with the hospital chaplains and chief residents. This creates opportunities for each cohort to reflect on and find meaning in our work as physicians and to foster resilience.
Senior Resident Wellness Retreats (annual, small group) – There is an annual PL2 day and an annual PL3 day, where each of these group of residents receives one day free of clinical duties to spend with one another.
Rotation and Incident Debriefing – There is a group of trained providers that are available for residents to debrief with at any time they are needed. Structured rotation debriefs are scheduled for the last week of our Hospitalist, ICU and Hematology-Oncology rotations.

Social Well-being

Bear Dens – Residents are divided into four bear families (Grizzly, Koala, Panda, Polar), each of which is led by a member of the pediatric leadership team and chief resident. These social groups gather frequently throughout the year and are a great way for residents to spend time together outside of the hospital.
Holidays – Guaranteed 4 full days off during one of the three “major” holidays or an alternate of your choice.
Intern Retreat (annual, large group) – Annually, the entire intern class is relieved from clinical duties to spend 3 days and 2 nights together with program leadership at a resort in Pennsylvania. This retreat is filled with a mix of professional development sessions as well as team-building and wellness activities.
Resident Appreciation Week – Annually, a week in the fall or spring are devoted to activities to promote resident wellness. This has included a range of activities including outdoor outings, meditation, dance classes and happy hours.
Resident Appreciation Day – Program leadership and hospital administration honor the hard work of our residents on this day annually.
Protected Holiday Party – Each December, fellows and attendings cover the floors so that all residents can attend the annual holiday party that is organized by the resident union (CIR).
Intern Beach Week – All interns have vacation for a week each June to commemorate the end of intern year at the beach.
PL-2 Day Off – All second year residents have a day off together in the second half of the year. Our resident union helps to fund the day which has included a baseball game, barbeque in the park, boat rides or group dinner in recent years.
PL-3 Day Off – All third year residents have a day off together in the second half of the year. Our resident union helps to fund the day which has included theme park trips, wine tasting and a chartered dinner cruise on the Potomac River in the recent past.
Resident Spirit Week: This week of festivities is run by residents and has included activities such as costume contests, bake-offs and a friendly game of assassin.
Resident Roast – At the end of the year, we have a resident-written, resident-run Roast. Each class typically creates a video or performs. It is always a highlight of the year for residents and faculty!
Bear Bowl – This Jeopardy-style trivia game is a friendly competition between resident, fellow, and faculty teams. Banter between teams is highly encouraged and supplies much entertainment for all!

Intellectual Well-being

Professional and Educational Development (PED) Advisors – Each resident is assigned a personal advisor at the start of residency who meets with them routinely throughout residency to help with self-assessment and goal planning.
Semi-annual self-assessment – Residents are prompted to reflect and complete a self-assessment to discuss with their portfolio advisor. It offers time for reflection and goal-setting half-way through each year.
Conferences and Clinical Curriculum – Opportunities are woven throughout our curriculum including standing conferences and each rotation which are created to support intellectual curiosity.
Protected Learning Time – Resident phone and pagers are held during conferences to promote full engagement in learning activities.
Scholarly Focus – Weekly half days are protected throughout the year for PL2 and PL3 residents who apply for and are granted time to pursue research through REACH. Approximately 95 percent of residents participate. Additionally, residents receive seven educational days per year that they can use to attend conferences as a part of their scholarly development.

Physical Well-being

Schedule – Each resident’s schedule is hand-written by the Chief Residents, taking into account their annual and monthly requests for time off. Requests are solicited at the start of the year and throughout as block schedules are constructed.
Time off – Platinum weekends and less intense “float” weeks are included for every intern inpatient rotation.
Sick Days – 12 sick days are accrued each year that can be rolled over from year to year.
Personal Days – Three personal days per year are provided and residents may work with Chief Residents to find additional times available in order to ensure that residents are able to care for their personal needs and routine medical and dental care.
Fitness – We have a designated residency workout bike and an elliptical machine in the resident call rooms that are open for any interested residents to use.

Environmental Well-being

Call Rooms and Resident Lounge – Residents have 24-hr access to individual call rooms and our resident on call center (ROCC) that is stocked with snacks and coffee. The ROCC serves as residents’ central hang-out location on weekend and night shifts.
Trainee workload – Trainee workload is addressed by having a wide-variety of supports available so that residents can focus on clinical work. We have a robust team of case managers, scheduling assistants, social workers, pharmacists and patient educators.
Faculty Support – Our residents are never alone! There are in-house fellows and attendings 24/7 on acute care and ICU units.
Comfort Corner – Weekly session led by hospital chaplains for all staff to take a moment to relax, refresh and recharge. Nurses, technicians, unit clerks, residents, fellows and attendings come together to enjoy aromatherapy, music, adult coloring, snacks and coffee.