Wellness & Success
Wellness and success are at the forefront of the person-centered student support approach in our Office of Student Affairs. School of Medicine students are supported through access to formalized mental health support, individualized informal mental health support, wellness-based programming and events, facilitated peer support, and a comprehensive coaching program
Dr. Alana Iglewicz, the Director of Wellness Initiatives, provides informal mental health support to individual medical students through weekly office hours, provides consultation on wellness event programming and opportunities for connectedness and belonging, and is responsible for providing the direction, management and innovative growth of wellness support and initiatives in our school.
Wellness Programming
Wellness Events
Wellness events, designed for overall well-being and community building, are offered multiple times each quarter for our students. The events include a Meaning in Medicine (M in M) series, medicine-themed film nights, Wellness Wednesdays, outings both on and off-campus, wellness socials, therapy pet visits, and numerous gatherings.
Wellness Didactics, Sessions and Tools
In addition to wellness events, our medical students receive structured sessions on wellness promotion. These cover topics such as burnout, coping with grief, and staying well while preparing for the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE). Additionally, students have access to a video-testimonial based Wellness Toolkit.
Campus Wellness Offerings
University of California San Diego offers all students a variety of resources to assist in maintaining and enhancing personal wellness.
Peer Support
MAPS
The Medical Student Accessible Peer Support Program (MAPS) is a student-led initiative in collaboration with the Office of Student Affairs. MAPS provides medical students who are experiencing distress with support and education to improve satisfaction, achievement, and resilience. MAPS also promotes and fosters a healthy medical training community that normalizes personal struggle and empowers trainees to seek support when needed.
Peer Resilience Mentorship
We provide academic support to our students who may be going through the emotional toll of encountering academic difficulty. In the Peer Resilience Mentorship Program — more senior medical students who have experienced academic difficulty provide one-on-one advice, guidance and support to more junior medical students — this program is facilitated through the Office of Student Affairs.
Coaching Program
A comprehensive coaching program helps students succeed, stay well when succeeding, and flourish in medical school and beyond. The coaching program fosters emotional intelligence, self-compassion, conflict management, and professional identity formation. Through this program, students are positioned to have meaningful and sustainable careers in medicine.
Office Hours
Dr. Alana Iglewicz, the Director of Wellness Initiatives for the School of Medicine, holds office hours twice a week in which medical students can obtain informal support and assistance with common wellness matters that can contribute to medical student distress. These include stress, test-taking anxiety, relationships, health conditions, sleep, and time management.