Purpose

The purpose of the Resident Wellbeing Committee is to provide an ongoing forum to discuss issues on a hospital-wide basis that are perceived as affecting the health and professional satisfaction of the house staff. This committee is not intended to usurp the jurisdiction of the individual graduate medical education programs, nor does it act to address specific problems of individual residents, which should be resolved through appropriate departmental and other channels.

Structure

The Resident Wellbeing Committee will function as an advisory body to the Executive Graduate Medical Education Committee.

Membership will include:

• An attending physician — preferably not the program director — from each educational program who is interested in working on house staff wellbeing
• The officers of the Hurley House Staff Association and representatives —preferably junior staff — from any programs that do not have residents who are House Staff Association officers
• The Assistant Dean from Michigan State University College of Human Medicine - Flint Campus or the Assistant Dean’s designee
• The Academic Officer & DIO of Graduate Medical Education
• Any other interested parties with the approval of two-thirds of the Committee

Function/Duties

The function and duties of the Resident Wellbeing Committee include, but are not necessarily limited to the following:

1. Administration of the mentoring program, including:
   • Further defining the goals of the program
   • Recruiting mentors
   • Training mentors
   • Organizing ice-breaking and introductory activities at the beginning of the year
   • Troubleshooting problems that may arise
   • Evaluating and modifying the program as indicated
2. Examination of medical education as a well-rounded experience and planning for optimization of learning in the context of a balanced life; issues may include:
   • House staff esprit de corps
   • Family relations issues
   • Physical health
3. Provision of a “safe” ongoing forum for attending and resident staff interaction on issues and concerns brought forward by either group; examples may include:
   • Effectiveness of the evaluation process in the face of apathy or fear
   • Physicians attitudes toward their patients and the source of problems
   • Best practices for teaching each other and medical students
   • Potential abuses of power between members of the attending staff, residents, medical students and other health care personnel
4. Provision of a forum for discussion of institutional issues that affect both residents and attending physicians; examples may include:
   • EPIC use
   • Utilization review
   • Quality assurance
   • Medical records
5. Support for planning of programs that will educate residents on socioeconomic issues; examples of topics may include:
   • Choosing a practice
   • Medical informatics
   • How to evaluate a contract
   • Ethical considerations in dealing with patients
   • Understanding governmental programs and health care economics