Resident Well Being
Kaiser Permanente, Southern California has a large, coordinated infrastructure to support the well-being and resiliency of their physician workforce. The infrastructure supports and promotes preventative care, healthy living, mental health, second-victim support, work-life balance, and peer-peer counseling and mentoring. We have representatives from each resident class serving on the San Diego-wide Wellness Committee to better integrate and leverage resources available to staff physicians for the residents.
In addition, our residency program has developed a multi-pronged approach to support resident well-being. There are didactics and workshops focused on well-being and resilience training. At each of our monthly resident-attending meetings, we discuss stressors, life events, and approaches to coping with stress and the rigors of EM and residency life. We encourage open dialogue and communication between residents and faculty. We have quarterly resident-council meetings led by our chief residents. This allows residents to discuss issues, concerns and ideas that they might not bring directly to the faculty. Moreover, we have assigned faculty advisors and mentors who help navigate the waters of life and residency, aid with professional development and enhance the residents’ opportunities to succeed in the training program and in their subsequent careers in EM. Lastly, “Residency Families” have been created to support peer-peer mentoring and bonding, linking PGY-1, 2 and 3 residents in families that care for and support each other.