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Wellness
Wellness is a core value of our residency program and hospital system to which we take a multi-faceted approach. Children’s National Hospital also offers an institutional well-being initiative with which residents are actively engaged. As a residency program, we have a Resident Wellness Committee which focuses on well-being.
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- Mental Health – Seeking mental health support is strongly encouraged for all residents. Six free counseling sessions are offered through the Employee Assistance Program, five free sessions are offered through the George Washington Psychiatry Program, and “drop in” counseling or stress management skill building sessions are offered through CNH Psychology Department. All sessions are 100 percent confidential.
- Wellness Wednesdays – Two Wednesdays per month, our noon conference is devoted to wellness including mindfulness exercises, skill-building sessions, personal goal-setting, yoga and pet therapy.
- Resilience Rounds – Every other month, each class of residents is welcome to a facilitated discussion with the hospital chaplains and chief residents. This creates opportunities for each cohort to reflect on and find meaning in our work as physicians and to foster resilience.
- Senior Resident Wellness Retreats (annual, small group) – Each senior resident receives one day free of clinical duties per year to spend at a local retreat center where our chaplains coordinate group and individual activities.
- Rotation and Incident Debriefing – There is a group of trained providers that are available for residents to debrief with at any time they are needed. Structured rotation debriefs are scheduled for the last week of our Hospitalist, ICU and Hematology-Oncology rotations.
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- Holidays – Guaranteed 4 full days off during one of the three “major” holidays or an alternate of your choice.
- Intern Retreat (annual, large group) – The entire intern class is relieved from clinical duties to spend 3 days and 2 nights together with program leadership at a resort in Pennsylvania. This retreat is filled with team-building activities including a ropes course as well as educational sessions regarding topics such as career development, personality types, cultural humility, implicit bias, and work-life balance. With a few months of residency under their belt, it’s a great opportunity for our interns to relax, bond and spend some time together with program leadership outside the hospital.
- Resident Wellness Week – Annually, a week in the fall or spring are devoted to activities to promote resident wellness. This has included a range of activities including outdoor outings, meditation, dance classes and happy hours.
- Resident Appreciation Day – Program leadership and hospital administration honor the hard work of our residents on this day annually.
- Protected End-of-the-year and Holiday Parties – Each June and December, fellows and attendings cover the floors so all residents can attend a party to celebrate the end of the year and the holidays observed by our residents, respectively. The night includes dinner at a fun location in the city.
- Intern Beach Week – All interns have vacation for a week each June to commemorate the end of intern year at the beach.
- PL-2 Day Off – All second year residents have a day off together in the second half of the year. Our resident union helps to fund the day which has included a baseball game, barbeque in the park, boat rides or group dinner in recent years.
- PL-3 Day Off – All third year residents have a day off together in the second half of the year. Our resident union helps to fund the day which has included theme park trips, wine tasting and a chartered dinner cruise on the Potomac River in the recent past.
- Pediatric International Morale Promoting Organization (PIMPO) Week: This week of festivities is run by residents and has included activities such as costume contests, bake-offs and a friendly game of assassin.
- Resident Roast – At the end of the year, we have a resident-written, resident-run Roast. Each class typically creates a video or performs. It is always a highlight of the year for residents and faculty!
- Bear Bowl – This Jeopardy-style trivia game is a friendly competition between resident, fellow, and faculty teams. Banter between teams is highly encouraged and supplies much entertainment for all!
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- Portfolio Advisor – Each resident is assigned a personal advisor at the start of residency who meets with them routinely throughout residency to help with self-assessment and goal planning.
- Semi-annual self-assessment – Residents are prompted to reflect and complete a self-assessment to discuss with their portfolio advisor. It offers time for reflection and goal-setting half-way through each year.
- Conferences and Clinical Curriculum – Opportunities are woven throughout our curriculum including standing conferences and each rotation which are created to support intellectual curiosity.
- Protected Learning Time – Resident phone and pagers are held during conferences to promote full engagement in learning activities.
- Scholarly Focus – Weekly half days are protected throughout the year for PL2 and PL3 residents who apply for and are granted time to pursue research through REACH. Approximately 95 percent of residents participate.
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- Schedule – Each resident’s schedule is hand-written by the Chief Residents, taking into account their annual and monthly requests for time off. Requests are solicited at the start of the year and throughout as block schedules are constructed.
- Time off – Platinum weekends and less intense “float” weeks are included for every intern inpatient rotation.
- Sick Days – 12 sick days per year that can be rolled over to the next year.
- Personal Days – Three personal days per year are provided and residents may work with Chief Residents to find additional times available in order to ensure that residents are able to care for their personal needs and routine medical and dental care.
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- Call Rooms and Resident Lounge – Residents have 24-hr access to individual call rooms and our resident on call center (ROCC) that is stocked with snacks and coffee. The ROCC serves as residents’ central hang-out location on weekend and night shifts.
- Trainee workload – Trainee workload is addressed by having a wide-variety of supports available so that residents can focus on clinical work. We have a robust team of case managers, scheduling assistants, social workers, pharmacists and patient educators.
- Faculty Support – Our residents are never alone! There are in-house fellows and attendings 24/7 on acute care and ICU units.
- Comfort Corner – Weekly session led by hospital chaplains for all staff to take a moment to relax, refresh and recharge. Nurses, technicians, unit clerks, residents, fellows and attendings come together to enjoy aromatherapy, music, adult coloring, snacks and coffee.