ACGME Well-Being Podcasts

In this episode, Dr. Stuart Slavin and Dr. Greg Guldner discuss mental health and well-being in graduate medical education (GME). They highlight the reduced stigma among current residents/fellows but note the persistent underutilization of mental health services. Dr. Guldner explains barriers such as time constraints, prioritization issues, and the impact of depression on seeking help. He emphasizes the importance of addressing these barriers, especially during stressful periods of transition in GME. Despite advancements like teletherapy, many residents and fellows still do not seek the help they need, often due to internal and external stigmas and logistical challenges.

Mukta Panda, a Professor of Medicine and Assistant Dean at the University of Tennessee, emphasizes the crucial link between belonging and well-being. She shares her personal struggles and truths about the pressures faced in healthcare. The discussion highlights the impact of authenticity on professional fulfillment and critiques the barriers posed by perfectionism. Strategies for fostering inclusive communities and relational trust in clinical environments are offered, showcasing how genuine support can enhance overall well-being and patient outcomes.

In this episode of the AWARE Podcast's Cognition and Well-Being series, Stuart Slavin, MD, MEd, ACGME's Senior Scholar for Well-Being, discusses the concept and experience of shame with Dr. Will Bynum, MD, Associate Professor of Family Medicine at the Duke School of Medicine. Dr. Bynum speaks to his own relationship with shame over the course of medical school and residency. He then explores the ways in which his experience allowed him—and those of us working in graduate medical education to rethink the standard approaches to working through shame at both the personal and institutional levels. Additionally, they discuss the role of self-conscious emotions such as shame, guilt, and pride from the perspective of residents striving for excellence in graduate medical education.

In this discussion, ACGME Senior Scholar for Well-Being Stuart Slavin checks in on the mental health and emotional wellness of residents, faculty and others at institutions that sponsor training programs across the US. Well-Being scholars Mukta Panda (University of Tennessee-Chattanooga), Jonathan Ripp (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai), and Larissa Thomas (University of California—San Francisco) join him to examine the multiple impacts Omicron has left in its wake, including implications for reimagining graduate medical education for the future. The team explores some system and individual strategies the GME community can cultivate in response to these impacts, while acknowledging the ongoing need to be creative, resourceful and supportive in unprecedented times.

In this new episode of the Aware Well-Being Podcast Systems and Research series, Lyuba Konopasek, MD, Senior Associate Dean for Education at the Frank Netter School of Medicine at Quinnipiac University, discusses her efforts to develop a comprehensive approach to addressing issues that impact resident and faculty well-being. As the former DIO at New York Presbyterian Hospital, Dr. Konopasek drew on business literature, as well as her lived experiences in the GME community, to construct her “Recognize, Respond and Refer” model for mitigating and responding to burnout, anxiety and other forms of distress among clinicians.

This month Dr. Stuart Slavin, ACGME Senior Scholar for Well-Being, joins pediatric hospitalist Dr. Anu Gorukanti and neurologist Dr. Jeffrey Dewey, who launched their careers as specialists during the pandemic, for this AWARE episode on the common challenges presented in the transition from residency to fellowship or practice. Together they explore what impact these challenges have on graduates, how the pandemic has amplified them, and share their personal stories and insights on how residents and fellows can prepare for these challenges.

Pathologist Suzanne Powell and Neurologist Crystal Yeo share the results of their study of burnout, resilience and well-being with residents at Houston Methodist Hospital upon the advent of Hurricane Harvey. We discuss their results, which show the surprising impact that volunteerism can have on clinician well-being.

Dr. Stuart Slavin, ACGME Senior Scholar for Well-being, talks with a group of residents about how COVID-19 has impacted their well-being during training. They discuss how the practices of Psychological First Aid, an approach developed by a group of international non-profits to train people to help others experiencing trauma, has the potential to equip residents with strategies for managing the many challenges faced by their community members in crisis. Pediatric hospitalist Anu Gorukanti, a recent graduate of Santa Clara Valley Medical Center; Clare Brady, a second-year family medicine resident at Northwestern in Chicago, and Shivani Parikh, a third-year OB/Gyn resident at TriHealth in Chicago join us for this conversation. 

In this episode, Stuart Slavin, MD, MEd, ACGME's Senior Scholar for Well-Being, discusses the role of Psychological First Aid (PFA) in providing support for individuals who have suffered some kind of trauma or other devastating event. We discuss the relevance of the approach to supporting to clinicians, patients and others managing the stressors of the pandemic, as well as the specific strategies used in PFA, which was collaboratively developed by a coalition of international military and non-governmental organizations as a response to victims of war, natural disasters and other traumatic events.

Dr. Stuart Slavin, ACGME Senior Scholar for Well-Being, returns to discuss how the transition from medical school to residency and from residency/fellowship to practice--already a vulnerable time for physicians--has been impacted by COVID-19. Using William Bridges' tripartite model of transitions as a framework, Dr. Gravel Sullivan and Dr. Slavin explore the implications of the many changes brought about by the pandemic on well-being--particularly for physicians undergoing transitions. They discuss measures individuals and programs can take to mitigate the negative effects of the pandemic on the well-being of incoming and graduating residents.