Students gain tools and are supported in recognizing a range of thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to build resiliency, effective stress management, and personal agency.
Although medical school is fun, exciting and rewarding, it also can be stressful. One of our highest priorities is supporting your mental health as you make your way through medical school. The school offers a range of events, resources and professional services, addressing everything from learning stress management skills to handling major life crises.
- Student Health Services physicians and psychologists are available to help students cope with any mental health issue. For details of services and insurance coverage, please contact Student Health Services.
- A Mental Health Panel Discussion is introduced to students in Phase 1 of the Gateway Curriculum. Campus psychologists present information about support available through Student Health Services, and a panel of students and faculty discuss their first-hand experiences with mental and emotional health in a medical school setting. This has been a powerful and well-received session for first-year students.
- The Anatomy Dialogue Session during Module 2 addresses students’ experiences of working with their “first patient.” The anatomy lab can be a source of anxiety and reflection for students who encounter human cadavers for the first time. Although human dissection can be psychologically stressful, most students ultimately report the course to be a uniquely fulfilling experience in which students learn empathy, coping skills and professionalism. This session allows students to discuss their questions, concerns, and coping strategies.
- Mind–Body Stress Reduction (MBSR) is a 4-week, Phase 3 elective that uses intensive training in mindfulness meditation to teach people how to reduce stress and anxiety; increase focus and concentration; manage health problems; and live more fully productive lives. MBSR utilizes both formal and informal mindfulness meditation practices. Mindfulness can be described as non-judgmental, non-striving, moment-by-moment attention. It is often called present-centered awareness, a state of consciousness that has been shown to have health benefits for the autonomic nervous system, to increase immune function, and to increase alpha and theta brain waves, which are present in deep states of relaxation.
- The Well-Being Index is an online self-assessment tool invented by researchers at Mayo Clinic that evaluates fatigue, depression, burnout, anxiety/stress, and mental/physical quality of life in medical students. Students are encouraged to complete the screening at least twice a year but are welcome to do so as often as they’d like.