Women in Medicine Wellness Workshop: Work-Life Integration

Abstract

OPEN ACCESSOctober 4, 2012Women in Medicine Wellness Workshop: Work-Life Integration Julie Welch, MD Julie Welch, MD Indiana University School of Medicine Google Scholar More articles by this author https://doi.org/10.15766/mep_2374-8265.9248 SectionsAbout ToolsDownload Citations ShareFacebookTwitterEmail AbstractAbstract Introduction: Women in medicine face the challenge of balancing and integrating their personal and professional lives. The purpose of this resource is to provide a unique session for faculty, residents, and students focusing on the topics of personal wellness (via a yoga session), career goal setting, and work-life integration. The structure of the workshop is designed to facilitate networking and mentoring in a relaxed setting utilizing a mosaic of peer mentoring, vertical mentoring, and small-group break-out sessions with one senior mentor with multiple junior mentees. A faculty facilitator guides participants through the development of an individual plan, or work-life integration strategy, using a tool for planning professional and personal goals. Methods: This session has been successfully deployed in an academic emergency medicine (EM) department and residency for women faculty, residents, and students in EM. It was a voluntary event held as part of the EM Women's Mentoring Group.. The session is typically facilitated by a female faculty member who hosts the 4-hour session in her home. The session is scheduled 6 months in advance and participants register online. The first hour of the session consists of a welcoming discussion and networking opportunities. The second hour provides a wellness session typically led by a yoga instructor. The final 2 hours consist of a workshop where participants engage in an inclusive group mentoring activity with small-group break-out sessions involving a facilitated practical exercise of creating an individual development plan and strategy. To assist the facilitator, workshop guidelines and instructions are provided. Results: The workshop was evaluated with pre- and posttest surveys. There were 18 women in attendance with 16 completing the evaluation forms (the yoga instructor and the faculty facilitator were omitted). There were five faculty members, 10 residents, and one student. The surveys used a 5-point Likert Scale (1 = strongly disagree, 5 = strongly agree). For each question, averages were calculated and the Mann-Whitney Test was applied to report statistical significance as defined by p < 0.01. To the item “I regularly evaluate the steps I need to take for work-life integration,” the level of participant agreement significantly increased (pre = 3.19, post = 4.54). Overall, results showed that each participant's subjective reaction, behavior, competence, and attitude about goal setting, creating an individual work-life strategy, and work-life integration improved on the postworkshop evaluation. Discussion: The workshop, and the resources provided, were effective in facilitating a very interactive session between faculty, residents, and students. From the faculty facilitator's perspective, the group structure, relaxed environment, yoga session, and fellowship were subjectively very successful in setting the stage for an open, interactive workshop. Educational Objectives By the end of this session, facilitators will be able to: Provide a unique session for faculty, residents, and students focusing on wellness and work-life integration for women in medicine.Provide a personal wellness activity through a facilitated yoga session.Guide each participant through the development of an individual plan, or work-life integration strategy, utilizing a tool for planning professional and personal goals.Engage participants in the thoughtful process of defining “work” and “life” for themselves.Encourage each participant to examine their core values, passions, and vision for both personal and professional domains.Facilitate mentoring in a group structured environment utilizing a mosaic of peer mentoring, vertical mentoring, and group mentoring (i.e., one senior mentor with multiple junior mentees). By the end of this session, learners will be able to: Gain an awareness and appreciation for the importance of personal wellness, work-life balance, and integration.Develop a personalized individual development plan and work-life integration strategy.Apply their personalized individual development plan to in their personal and professional lives.Analyze and prioritize their core values, passions, and visions for both personal and professional domains.Understand the dynamics of mentoring in a structured environment and utilize different types of mentoring: peer, vertical, and group.Effectively communicate and utilize feedback in a mosaic mentoring structure. Sign up for the latest publications from MedEdPORTAL Add your email below FILES INCLUDEDReferencesRelatedDetails FILES INCLUDED Included in this publication: Instructor's Guide.doc Post evaluation form.doc Pre evaluation form.doc Work Life Definitions.doc Work Life Integration Strategy.doc Work Life Integration Tips.doc To view all publication components, extract (i.e., unzip) them from the downloaded .zip file. Download editor’s noteThis publication may contain technology or a display format that is no longer in use. Copyright & Permissions© 2012 Welch. This is an open-access publication distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license.KeywordsIndividual Development PlanGoal SettingPersonal WellnessWork-life Balance Disclosures None to report. Funding/Support None to report. Loading ...