The Development and Implementation of a Longitudinal Wellness Curriculum for McGill University’s Undergraduate Medical Program

Abstract

<jats:p>Medical students report high rates of psychological distress and morbidity throughout their training. Poor psychological well-being among medical students can interfere with learning and success in medical school, decrease quality of life, and negatively impact quality patient care. Education may be a promising tool to enhance medical students’ resilience, well-being, and mental health. The WELL Office in the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University has developed a novel, 4-year Longitudinal Wellness Curriculum to promote medical students’ personal and professional well-being, and foster a culture of resilience within the learning environment. We present a description of the design, development, and implementation of our Wellness Curriculum. We discuss future directions related to Wellness Curriculum research, evaluation, and application. The present Wellness Curriculum may provide an approach to wellness education for other medical programs. </jats:p>

The organic formation of a&nbsp;wellness committee: A&nbsp;unique, student-led approach to implementing a&nbsp;wellness program in medical school

“…The concept of wellness programs is not entirely new: the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine in Missouri designed a wellness program in 1991 [ 3 ]. Wellness programs are also not exclusively in American medical schools; McGill University in Canada recently detailed their novel implementation of a longitudinal wellness curriculum [ 4 ]. Many other wellness programs have since arisen, the most published of which has been Vanderbilt Medical School’s Wellness Program [ 5 , 6 ].…”

How can we help all students RISE?

“…One possible institutional intervention is to braid wellness curricula into the fabric of undergraduate education. Longitudinal wellness curricula are being embedded into undergraduate medical programs across North America (Agarwal & Lake, 2016;Drolet & Rodgers, 2010;Velez et al, 2019). There is much to be learned from these student wellness initiatives.…”

Medical student wellness in Canada: time for a national curriculum framework

“…[10][11][12][13] These standards have prompted medical faculties across Canada to incorporate wellness into their undergraduate programming. 7,[14][15][16] For example, McGill University's longitudinal wellness curriculum utilizes lectures, small group sessions, and workshops to enhance learner resilience and mental health. 16 Notwithstanding these programming efforts, the authors have experienced inconsistent approaches to wellness promotion across Canada, varying from periodic student-led initiatives to full-fledged curricula.…”

“…7,[14][15][16] For example, McGill University's longitudinal wellness curriculum utilizes lectures, small group sessions, and workshops to enhance learner resilience and mental health. 16 Notwithstanding these programming efforts, the authors have experienced inconsistent approaches to wellness promotion across Canada, varying from periodic student-led initiatives to full-fledged curricula. 16 With no consistent scale or singular definition of "wellness" for medical students, it is unclear which interventions have had the most significant impact.…”

“…16 Notwithstanding these programming efforts, the authors have experienced inconsistent approaches to wellness promotion across Canada, varying from periodic student-led initiatives to full-fledged curricula. 16 With no consistent scale or singular definition of "wellness" for medical students, it is unclear which interventions have had the most significant impact. 17 As a result, little guidance is available for those looking to establish an evidence-based medical school wellness curriculum.…”