Department of
Medicine

Wellness

WVU works to provide an environment that fosters resident wellness. There is 360° Wellness Curriculum that addresses physical health, emotional health, and social support and engagement.

Components

  • Universal Mental Health Screening – All residents are scheduled by the program for sessions at our Faculty/Staff Assistance Program. These visits take place on wellness days and the resident has the rest of the day free of clinical duty. Visits are free, off-site, confidential, and unlimited.
  • Social Events – Social events are scheduled on a monthly basis and are usually free. Events range from watch parties and trivia nights to hikes at Cooper’s Rock and ziplining.
  • Medical/Dentist Appointments – Residents are encouraged to maintain physical health. Appointments can be scheduled whenever necessary without using vacation or sick time.
  • Humanism – Monthly humanism meetings take place by year. These groups are facilitated by a faculty member. Discussion is directed by the residents. Narrative Medicine is incorporated into these sessions. 
  • Vacation – Residents choose when and how they take vacation days.
  • Schedules/Rotations –Schedules are built to minimize burnout and fatigue. There is no 24-hour call during the course of the residency. Generally, electives are rotated with inpatient months. PGY-2s have 5-6 months of elective time and PGY-3s have 6-7 months of elective time.
  • Electives – Electives are Monday through Friday from 8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. There are no weekends or nights. Residents are not pulled from electives to cover any inpatient, call, or night shifts.
  • Jeopardy – A robust jeopardy system is in place for residents who are ill or have emergencies. The resident must only notify the chief resident and they handle the coverage of the ill resident.
  • Maternity/Paternity/Adoption Leave – In addition to the institutional leave (6-8 weeks), the program will create a maternity/paternity rotation elective that is an additional 2 or 4 weeks of home assignments so residents may spend additional time with their child(ren).
  • WVU Medicine Wellness – All residents have access to the WVU Medicine Wellness Center.