Surgery

Surgery Resident Wellness Committee

The General Surgery Resident Wellness Committee was first formed in 2017. Intent on transforming the culture of the residency program, previous residents Dr. Audra Clark and Dr. Caitlin Hester partnered with residency program director Dr. Kareem AbdelFattah to create a program dedicated to preventing burnout among residents and providing the self-care tools needed to succeed in the future. Recognizing the rates of burnout and depression are alarmingly high for both attending physicians and residents, the wellness committee aims to address this issue by adopting and promoting wellness strategies with the hope that they will be carried forward into our future practices and contribute to improved patient care, job satisfaction, and personal fulfillment.

Our Wellness Initiatives

During the COVID-19 pandemic, wellness became increasingly important. The committee continued to adopt new initiatives as well as hold regular events such as book clubs, movie nights, and exercise classes through an online or physically distanced format. As we continue to recover through the pandemic and vaccinations have been made available to residents, we are excited to be reuniting in-person for a diversity of wellness initiatives.

Current initiatives include:

  • Weekly healthy snacks program
  • Monthly Events
    • Final Friday Happy Hour
    • Running and Dog Walking Club
    • Book Club
    • Movie Nights
  • Annual Fun and Volunteer Events
    • Intern Welcome Party
    • Doggie Day Date 
    • Resident vs Faculty Kickball
    • Thanksgiving Giving Event
    • Holiday Party with Giving Tree
    • Dallas Marathon
    • Post Absite Celebration
    • Sand Volleyball Spring Tournament
    • Family Day
  • Mentorship modeling
  • Wellness assessments
  • Doctor’s day excuse policies
  • Holiday schedule
  • Access to on-campus mental health providers and other professional resources

Follow Us

Please follow along with us on Twitter and Instagram.

Events