Resident Wellness

The goal of the wellness program is to provide residents with practical stress coping strategies that involve one-on-one, small group, or large group experiences. The following are components of the Resident Wellness Program:

• Leadership and Wellness Coaching
• Well-being Index
• Educational Groups
• Residents and Fellows Association (RAFA)
• After-hours Counseling Services
• Support U EVMS
• Counseling Services (Employee Assistance Program)

For more information on our Resident Wellness Program, please contact the Director of Leadership and Wellness Couching Program, Cory Gerwe, PhD, LPC at 757.446.6190 or gerwecd@evms.edu.

Leadership and Wellness Coaching

We aim to provide residents and fellows with effective personal and professional coping strategies while they manage the range of responsibilities within their training experiences. Residency and Fellowship training years are often described as the most stressful for even the most resilient trainees.

Coaching is NOT therapy or counseling. The focus of coaching is to improve current performance by helping a person learn how to do things better to reach their desired outcome. The goal of coaching is to help trainees reach their peak potential, personally and professionally while in training.

The EVMS Leadership and Wellness Coaching Program began in 2013 as a pilot program. The program was a success and expanded as a result of residents overwhelming indicating they would recommend coaching to other residents.  From 2015 to August 2022, approximately 1,012 coaching sessions have been provided to 664 trainees at EVMS. There is no cost/fee associated with the coaching program. Trainees can self-refer for one-session or unlimited sessions, which can be in-person, telephonic and/or virtual (video/audio) via a secure Zoom platform. Due to the hectic schedules of residents and fellows, off-hour sessions are very popular and available to meet their scheduling demands.

Several EVMS programs at EVMS utilize the coaching program as a part of their required well-being program for their trainees. On average, residents and fellows meet with their coach for five sessions and work on goals that are important to the trainee. There are future plans to expand the coaching program to GME faculty.

If you desire to take part in the coaching program or want more information about leadership coaching, contact the Director of the Leadership and Wellness Coaching Program, Corey Gerwe, PhD, LPC at 757.446.6190 or gerwecd@evms.edu.

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Well-being Index

The ACGME requires GME programs to teach trainees how to self-monitor their own well-being. At EVMS, we do this by the use of the Well-being Index, which is a validated self-assessment tool (https://www.mywellbeingindex.org/about). It takes about 1-minute to complete and provides immediate interpretation of their Well-being Index Score and its meaning. It also provides access to national and local well-being and self-care resources.

EVMS trainees are required to complete the Well-being Index twice each year while in their training program. During resident/fellow semi-annual review meetings with their Program Director, one of the topics for discussion will be the trainee’s self-care and completion of the Well-being Index.

Annually, Dr. Gerwe will provide a report to the GMEC (program director’s meeting) on the current Well-being Index scores as they relate to each EVMS program, as an institution and comparison to the national Well-being Index data.

For more information about how the Well-being Index is used at EVMS, contact the Director of the Leadership and Wellness Coaching Program, Corey Gerwe, PhD, LPC at 757.446.6190 or gerwecd@evms.edu.

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Educational Groups

The resident and fellow educational groups have been developed to offer additional well-being resources. The groups are facilitated by experienced GME faculty, Director of the Leadership and Wellness Coaching Program and/or coaching interns from Old Dominion University’s PhD Counselor Education and Supervision program.

Couples in Medicine

The Couples in Medicine group helps to build community and support for spouses/partners that have a loved one who is a resident or fellow trainee at EVMS. The group is co-facilitated by a spouse/partner of a resident or fellow. They work on pulling together the activities and social events for this group annually. The current faculty sponsor for the group is Anke Hacker, MD (Department of Medicine Community Faculty). For more information, contact the Director of the Leadership and Wellness Coaching Program, Cory Gerwe, PhD, LPC at 757.446.6190 or gerweCD@evms.edu

Final Rounds

Final Rounds is a monthly gathering (first Thursday of the month) for residents and fellows to explore challenges related to loss of patients and other difficult challenges. ONLY residents and fellows are invited to attend. If you have questions about this group, please contact the group facilitator, Marissa Galicia-Castillo, MD (Professor, Department of Medicine) galicimc@evms.edu.

International Medical Graduates (IMGS)

This group focuses on helping residents and fellows develop coping skills related to acculturation stress as international medical graduates training in the United States. Resources available for our IMG trainees include the following:

• Pre-Arrival Focus Groups are aimed to help IMG trainees prepare for training at EVMS.
• Required 1-day “IMG Boot Camp” for all incoming IMGs (typically in June). The goal of this session is to prepare IMGs for working with the population of patients served at EVMS.
• “The Right Direction” is the IMG Ambassador Program which is a network of professionals at EVMS dedicated to serve as a direct resource to IMGs.

For more information regarding EVMS IMG resources, contact Sharon Pitney, MSEd, at 757.446.6190 or pitneySB@evms.edu.

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Residents and Fellows Association (RAFA)

The Residents and Fellows Association (RAFA) is dedicated to the academic success, professional enrichment, community service, and strengthened camaraderie of EVMS' residents and fellows. The primary goal of RAFA is to enhance residents/fellow “life”, connecting across residency programs and addressing issues relevant to academic and clinical environments.

The July 01, 2022-June 30, 2023 elected RAFA Co-Chairs are:

• Garrison Glavich, MD PGY-5 Radiology glavicgj@evms.edu
• Dhanveer Singh, MD PGY-3 Internal Medicine singhd@evms.edu

The GME Faculty Advisor to RAFA is Renee Morales, MD (Assistant Professor, OB/GYN). For more information, contact the Director of the Leadership and Wellness Coaching Program, Cory Gerwe, PhD, LPC at 757.446.6190 or gerwecd@evms.edu

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Support U

Even the most experienced professionals can be affected by traumatic events or become overwhelmed by the ongoing daily stress of doing their jobs.  The “Support U” team is made up of EVMS peers who are available to offer reassurance and support to residents, fellows and other providers that may need help.  The service is free, confidential, and available when you need it.

If you are experiencing emotional stress from a traumatic event or unexpected outcome and need help, contact  the Director of the Leadership and Wellness Coaching Program, Cory Gerwe, PhD, LPC at 757.446.6190 or gerwecd@evms.edu

If you are interested in becoming a trained peer supporter, contact Dr. Gerwe to learn more about the process.

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Counseling Services

EVMS is sensitive to the personal issues that affect our employees. That is why we are happy to provide employees with an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) that can help you and your family with work-life concerns at no cost to you. To access EAP counseling services, call 757.363.6777.

For additional counseling resources, we suggest you contact member services located on your insurance card for guidance on available mental health providers in the area. This will require insurance verification, co-payments and/or self-pay options.

For more information, go to the EVMS Human Resources website https://www.evms.edu/about_evms/administrative_offices/human_resources/

In addition, EVMS Human Resources offers Wellness Works resources that are available to all residents and fellows.

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