The UT Southwestern Department of Family and Community Medicine prioritizes resident well-being. We value resident wellness because being whole and healthy is critical for a resident's own growth and development, and optimal learning. We also know that residents who actively take care of themselves provide better clinical care for their patients, and are likely to have long, successful careers in Family Medicine. 

Because resident well-being is core to our mission of educating family medicine residents, we have multiple ways in which we intentionally support resident wellness. First, each resident is assigned a faculty advisor prior to beginning our program; this faculty member will guide and support the resident through all three years of training. In addition, our program uses a model of multiple resident chiefs who facilitate resident-faculty discussion and assist with resident mentoring and program troubleshooting. Additional ways we support resident wellness include: 

• Monthly confidential resident debrief groups
• Bi-monthly confidential resident Balint sessions in order to process physician-patient relationships
• Partnering with UTSW's Resident Wellness Center which offers psychotherapy, psychiatric assessment, medication management, and after-hours crisis support for residents
• Twice yearly residency retreats to bring together residents, staff and faculty for team building, wellness activities and residency updates
• Department Engagement committee, to promote equity through review and revision of department policies and procedures and active advocacy efforts
• Regular faculty and resident meetings to solicit areas for improvement and facilitate transparent communication and problem-solving regarding program issues and evolution
• UTSW and Parkland Employee Wellness Programs, which offer community referrals for psychotherapy, legal aid, and childcare support
• Active involvement of behavioral health faculty and clinician interns for on-the-spot debriefing, training regarding leadership and teamwork, and integrated clinical care for Parkland and UTSW patients

Additionally the UTSW Graduate Medical Education office maintains access to many Wellness Resources, including  anonymous/confidential, online Self-screening Tools that you may find helpful in self-assessing or tracking your own wellbeing.