FoMD Well Lab

Integrated, strategic, efforts aimed at changing the culture of medicine have been challenging to develop and adopt. The Okanagan Charter on Health Promoting Universities and Colleges is a widely-adopted international framework focused on health-promoting learning environments (HPLEs). HPLEs infuse health principles into all aspects of operations, practices, mandates, and business. Our study sought to elucidate factors that could foster an HPLE within medical education as the University of Alberta (UA) seeks to develop an HPLE strategic plan.

Imposter Syndrome (IS), a phenomenon where individuals attribute successes to external factors aside from themselves, is reported to be high amongst medical students, with correlations to decreased wellbeing. Despite significant discussion on imposter syndrome, little work has been done to understand how medical students experience IS, the interplay of IS with how vulnerability is perceived in the learning environment and how IS may shape individuals’ experiences/perceptions of failure.  

Between championship games, Olympic trials, code responses, and crucial conversations, high performance sports and residency training share many parallels. Which mental skills are needed for each circumstance?  Performance mental skills (PerMS) refer to the cognitive, behavioural and emotional regulation skills required to promote healthy and adaptive mental and physical states prior to, during, and after performance-oriented tasks. These skills include systematic and effective goal setting practices, promoting a mastery-based learning approach, adapting an intrinsic motivational model, and self-regulation skills. There is a significant role for these skills to foster growth mindsets and help learners achieve their greatest potential, complementing the Competence-by-Design approach? Evidence to date for PerMS in medical education supports improved performance in technical skills and high stress situations. The gap is that residency education lacks a comprehensive approach to developing these skills. 

Medical students enter medical school with similar or even better well-being than their age matched peers in other educational programs; however, there is predictable erosion of their wellbeing following matriculation. The growth in learner affairs offices have been welcome given the significant research demonstrating learner and physician distress. Despite this growth, there is limited data to describe the impact of these offices’ on learner wellbeing and their overall experience in medical school.