The Office of Resident Affairs and Physician Wellness offers a variety of education sessions and group services aimed at enhancing literacy and awareness about physician wellness, promoting self-reflection, and helping to support programs. These sessions are available to residents and their programs.
These group sessions are most commonly booked during an academic ½ day, retreat, bootcamp or orientation, allowing for most residents to attend. The sessions can be offered virtually or in person. We ask that you provide at least two months notice to allow us to schedule accordingly.
Note: There is no charge for speakers or facilitators of sessions delivered by the Office of Resident Affairs and Physician Wellness. There may be a speaker or facilitator fee associated with sessions delivered by an external third party. Incidental costs such as travel or accommodations may be required depending on the location of the session. We strive to keep the costs of all sessions to be as economical as possible. Any fees will be discussed at the time of booking
If you are interested in a physician wellness topic that is not listed here, please email residentwellness@ucalgary.ca to discuss with our team.
Facilitator: Medical Learner Support Specialist (Registered Psychologist / Registered Social Worker) or Accommodations Therapist (Registered Occupational Therapist)
Suitable for: Medical Residents of All Levels
Duration: 1.5 hours
Delivery: In-person only
Additional cost/ resources required: None
Ice Cream Rounds are a non-mandatory forum for residents to connect and discuss the unique challenges of residency, facilitated by a registered social worker or registered psychologist. Ice Cream Rounds intend to create connections, build resilience, and improve personal and professional wellbeing during a uniquely demanding time of medical learner’s lives.
Our facilitators aim to create a confidential space that can be experienced as non-judgmental, open, and relaxed throughout semi-structured discussions. Other Canadian universities implementing these forums have found Ice Cream Rounds to help normalize the challenges of residency, decrease feelings of stress and burnout, and increase collegiality. Some topics that Ice Cream Rounds may explore include managing compassionate patient and self-care, burnout, financial stress, learning and unlearning within a fast-paced medical system, isolation, and imposter syndrome.
The Office of Resident Affairs and Physician Wellness will provide a small snack for those in attendance.
Facilitator: Office of Resident Affairs and Physician Wellness Representative
Suitable for: Learners of all levels
Duration: 1-3 hours.
Additional cost/resources required: None
In the CMA 2021 Physician Health survey, 58% of medical learners reported high levels of burnout symptoms. In this interactive session, learners will discuss the importance of burnout in physicians, considering the impact on the individual, the patient and the healthcare system. They will reflect on individual and systemic contributors to their own risk of developing burnout, and to the barriers to seeking help. They will discuss domains of physician wellbeing, and in longer sessions be introduced to practical skills and strategies to mitigate burnout.
Facilitator: Office of Resident Affairs and Physician Wellness Representative
Suitable for: Learners at any transition point – to residency, subspecialty training, fellowship, or those about to transition to practice.
Duration: 1.5-2 hours
Additional cost/resources required: None
Transitions in medical practice occur throughout the spectrum of a physician’s career and may be accompanied by major life changes including physical relocation, new financial commitments, and changing relationships with self and others as well as changes in responsibility and expectations. These can present emotional challenges and difficulties in work-life balance.
In this interactive session, learners are introduced to the “Three Stages of Transition” model and are invited to reflect on the anticipated impact of their career transition, what strategies they may have used in the past, and discuss other strategies for wellness at times of change.
Facilitator: Learning and Education Resource Specialist (Erin Weir)
Suitable for: Learners of all levels
Duration: 1-1.5 hours.
Additional cost/resources required: None
This workshop dives deep into Cognitive Load Theory, exploring how the brain processes information and how cognitive overload occurs when demands exceed our mental capacity. Participants will learn to differentiate between intrinsic, extraneous, and germane cognitive load and discover practical strategies for reducing mental strain. Through practical exercises such as schema-building, task switching practice, and managing the extraneous load, learners will gain actionable strategies to organize information, manage tasks efficiently, and reduce mental strain.
Facilitator: Office of Resident Affairs and Physician Wellness Representative
Suitable for: Senior residents and fellows
Duration: 1.5-3 hours.
Additional cost/resources required: $25 per attendee for the purchase of the Thomas-Kilman Conflict Mode Instrument.
Concerns about new responsibilities in negotiating and managing conflict are a common cause of anxiety in learners ready to transition to independent practice. Prior this session, learners will complete the Thomas-Kilman Conflict Mode Instrument. During this interactive session, learners will discuss the principles of conflict resolution and the underlying dimensions of conflict management: assertiveness and cooperativeness. They will reflect on their TKI results, regarding five conflict-handling modes: competing, collaborating, compromising, avoiding, and accommodating and role play a negotiation exercise.
Facilitator: Office of Resident Affairs and Physician Wellness Representative
Suitable for: Learners of all levels
Duration: 1.5-2 hours
Additional cost/resources required: None
Impostor phenomenon refers to a collection of behaviors and negative feelings around the fear that you are not as good as others think you are. This experience is common in medicine, and it is correlated with a number of poor physician wellness outcomes. During this interactive session, residents will learn more about the concept of imposter phenomenon while also being invited to reflect on and share their own experiences of imposter phenomenon and how it may impact their career progression. More senior trainees can learn strategies to use when mentoring junior learners with imposter feelings.
Facilitator: Office of Resident Affairs and Physician Wellness Representative
Suitable for: Senior residents and fellows
Duration: 1.5-3 hours.
Additional cost/resources required: $28 per attendee for purchase of StrengthsFinder or Strengths Based Leadership resource.
Concerns about new leadership responsibilities are a common cause of anxiety in learners ready to transition to independent practice. Prior this session, learners will complete the Clifton Strengths StrengthsFinder on-line tool to identify their personal strengths and receive a personalized report. During the session, learners will be guided through a series of reflective exercises around their recognition of their strengths, and how they may harness them in their developing leadership role. Longer sessions give the opportunity for participation in a simulated teamwork exercise following which participants will reflect on how their strengths were demonstrated.
Facilitator: Learning and Education Resource Specialist (Erin Weir)
Suitable for: Learners of all levels
Duration: 1-1.5 hours.
Additional cost/resources required: None
During your residency, you will encounter an ongoing series of conflicting priorities. You will be required to balance full-time work, family, social, and societal obligations, all while being in charge of your own learning. The learning skills that you develop during residency will be used for the rest of your professional practice. Lifelong learning, the means by which you will upgrade, renew, and engage with your knowledge to meet the shifting demands of your work, is the cornerstone of CanMEDS roles such as Scholar, Health Advocate, and Medical Expert. In this interactive session, learners and teaching staff will identify learning goals, implement strategies to improve motivation, scheduling, and most of all, to get more done in less time.
Facilitator: Learning and Education Resource Specialist (Erin Weir)
Suitable for: Junior Residents
Duration: 1.5-2 hours (can be expanded to 3 hours)
Additional cost/resources required: None
Studying during residency is a unique experience. For the first time you are a truly self-directed learner, with every trainee’s journey looking slightly different, all while you are managing full-time work and personal obligations. The process of becoming an efficient independent learner involves developing skills in both studying and personal efficiency. In this interactive session, residents will learn about study skills topics including effective reading, note taking systems, ways to practice retrieval and studying while exploring their personal development in areas including motivation, goal setting, scheduling, and productivity.
Facilitator: Office of Resident Affairs and Physician Wellness Representative
Suitable for: Learners of all levels, especially those in high-risk specialties (eg anaesthesia)
Duration: 1.5-2 hours
Additional cost/resources required: None
In the CMA 2021 Physician Health survey, physicians and medical learners reported less substance use than the general employed Canadian population, although fear of discovery may have led to significant under-reporting. However medical learners reported more substance use than practicing physicians.
During this interactive session, learners will discuss the risk factors for, and consequences of, substance use in physicians, discuss how they may recognize a colleague in distress, and reflect on how they may respond and support such a colleague.
Facilitator: Learning and Education Resource Specialist (Erin Weir)
Suitable for: Learners of all levels
Duration: 1-1.5 hours.
Additional cost/resources required: None
Do you struggle with an overly long To Do List? Or so many tasks that you do not even know where to start? This workshop focuses on mastering task prioritization to enhance productivity and efficiency in demanding environments. Participants will learn practical techniques for organizing to do lists, setting priorities, and managing time effectively using tools like Covey's Time Matrix and the Eisenhower Matrix. By engaging in exercises, attendees will develop skills to identify and focus on high-impact activities, reduce overwhelm, and improve overall task management. This workshop can be customized to address the specific types of tasks and challenges relevant to your program (ie: email management, To Do list prioritization, etc)
Facilitator: Office of Resident Affairs and Physician Wellness Representative
Suitable for: Senior residents and fellows
Duration: 1.5-2 hours.
Additional cost/resources required: None
Although residency is a time of intense workload and long hours, the transition to staff life is often accompanied by the new requirement to juggle multiple competing longitudinal demands. Managing one’s own schedule comes with control and flexibility, but also provides challenges around organization and planning. In this interactive session, residents will reflect on their barriers to good time management, on their distractors and time wasters, and review their own schedules though a lens of time budgeting.