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Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Department of Medicine

Resident Wellness

Resident well-being is one of our utmost priorities. We have a dedicated Associate Program Director for wellness and wellbeing, Dr. Maria Theodorou, who partners with our Chief Resident for Wellbeing and the Residency Wellness Committee to explore and implement ways to cultivate resident wellbeing holistically and authentically. We understand that this effort requires constant attention, adaptability, leadership and keeping the residents at the center of the conversation.

  • Residency Professional Development is a large component of wellness and the themes of our full day Intern Retreat and half-day PGY2 Retreat. Topics in these sessions include finding work-life balance, self-awareness, dealing with imposter syndrome, developing resilience and more. In addition to our retreats, we have a longitudinal curriculum in conferences and during rotations  under this theme. Finally, women in our program have a unique set of retreats as part of our Women’s Professional Development (WPD) series that have been ongoing since 2016.
  • Social Bonding is in the fabric of our residency. Our residents and faculty love to spend time together. Our retreats, intern academic half-days, recruitment season events and WPD series all have meals and social events attached to them. It is intentional to help us get to know each other and have fun! Outside of formal events, our chief residents host numerous social gatherings including monthly gatherings, trivia nights, intramural sports (kickball, volleyball, etc), and faculty v resident basketball games. We assign each resident to a "firm" that consists of PGY1, PGY2, and PGY3 residents, one chief resident, and several attendings of various specialties. We have friendly competitions between the firms as well as firm dinners to help facilitate relationships between different classes as well as with their firm staff for further mentorship and community.
    To see more of our residents, check out our instagram @northwestern_im or twitter @NU_IntMed, @NUIM_Chiefs
  • Mental Health and General Health Resources are well supported by the McGaw/GME benefits plan. There are multiple free mental health support options offered for acute and long term needs. Residents are supported for any personal needs. Additionally, we have a robust policy and process for Parental leave that has been highlighted and presented at national conferences. See the McGaw website for further details.
  • Program Improvement with Resident Leadership is critical to resident wellness. Our program leadership, chief residents and coordinators promote a culture of openness and seek feedback through surveys, focus groups, and townhalls. The residency has four key committees (wellness, curriculum, health equity and advocacy, and quality improvement / patient safety) that serve as cornerstones for feedback.