• Home
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Project Portfolio
  • Archive
  • Resources
  • Contact Us
WREN
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Project Portfolio
  • Archive
  • Resources
  • Contact Us
Picture
Picture
Dr Tom Cromarty
Editor
Interests: Paediatric Emergency Medicine, Medical Engagement and Leadership, Simulation, Quality Improvement, Research 
Twitter: 
@Tomcromarty
Welsh Research and Education Network

WREN Blog

Hot topics in research and medical education, in Wales and beyond
Picture
​Dr Celyn Kenny
​Editor
Interests: Neonates, Neurodevelopment, Sepsis, Media and Broadcasting
Twitter: @Celynkenny
Picture
Dr Annabel Greenwood
Editor
Interests: Neonatology, Paediatric Emergency Medicine, Medical Education, Research, Quality Improvement
​Twitter: @an_greenwood

Archives
​

April 2021
March 2021
January 2021
December 2020
November 2020
June 2020
May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
August 2019
July 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019
December 2018
November 2018
October 2018
September 2018
August 2018
July 2018
June 2018
May 2018
April 2018
March 2018
February 2018
January 2018
December 2017
November 2017

Categories

All
A Day In The Life Of ...
Conference
Education
General
Global Health
Journal Club
Medical Leadership
News
Public Health
Research
Simulation
Trials
Wales

Looking after you

1/3/2018

0 Comments

 

Wellbeing and Resilience 

Picture
​In the Wales Deanery Paediatric trainees change rotation in September and March so this seemed a good opportunity to have an article about a current hot topic within medicine, wellbeing.

The GMC have noted a rise in foundation doctors citing burnout as their reason for taking an F3 year or time out before applying to specialty training, what can we do about this as a profession? . We deal with life and death situations, we lack sleep through shift work, make large volumes of decisions and balance work life with time away from our families. All of these conditions can lead to increased levels of stress, depression and anxiety. With winter pressures and the ever growing demands on juniors combined with the widely discussed Dr Bawa-Garba case, we need to find ways protect our own mental health and our colleagues, supporting ourselves to manage our work-life balance.

What can we focus on?



Sleep
Picture
No article on wellbeing should neglect the important role of sleep to maintaining a positive status quo. And no mention of sleep would be complete without mentioning the work being done by Dr Michael Farquhar. 

I was planning on providing a summary of his advice in this blog post however I feel the whole article published in Archives is valuable, really easy to read and very short. So rather than provide a truncated summary I direct you to the reference below and encourage you to take a few minutes to read this. 

Sleep matters, and we are only just scratching the surface of this topic.

​Farquhar M Fifteen-minute consultation: problems in the healthy paediatrician—managing the effects of shift work on your health Archives of Disease in Childhood - Education and Practice 2017;102:127-132.

Exercise
Picture
Personally this is my main go to wellbeing option. I run. It's not fast, I don't do it to come first, and I don't look pretty doing it, but running 3 times a week enables me to keep on top of everything. Now I accept running is not for everybody, although I would encourage anybody to try it and there are plenty of coach to 5km programs that are freely available to download, exercise is achievable. 

Pick an exercise which is sustainable and you enjoy. Fit it into your routine and prioritise it. You don't need to run marathons but get your body moving or make it a social event. Meet up with friends, or making new ones.


Mindfulness
What is mindfulness?

Professor Mark Williams, former director of the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, says that mindfulness means knowing directly what is going on inside and outside ourselves, moment by moment.

I personally use the Headspace App (@Headspace) to practice mindfulness but there are plenty of other options available. There are plenty of free blog posts on mindfulness on the Headspace website that cover a wide variety of topics. They also have links to published journal articles on the benefits of mindful practice. 

Action for happiness is a good twitter feed to follow if you are interested. @actionhappiness They have been producing a calendar for each month with daily ideas to improve wellbeing and their focus for March is Mindfulness. 
Picture
Mindfulness doesn't have to be meditation however, it can simply be taking the time to give yourself some space, take notice of your surroundings and stop being so busy. It can mean going to a certain place, taking time to listen to your favorite music or read a book.  As with all these suggestions - make them work for you. 

Support
Remember you are not alone. 

​Ask for help.

​This seems like a simple statement of fact but sometimes it can be hard to remember that you are not a silo. We work in teams, especially in Paediatrics. There will always be somebody around to talk to, to give you support and to bounce ideas off of. If you don't know who these people are for you then go and find them! I have needed to call on my support network recently and without fail they stepped up to the plate. During this time, I also called on my friends outside of medicine. Find your network, what makes you able to bounce back from set backs and be the best you can. 

Places to look
Picture
​https://www.yougotthiswellness.com/

You Got This is the UK's first programme designed to promote Wellness and support the wellbeing of staff working in emergency medicine. However, don't feel that you have to be an emergency medical trainee in order to access this. It is a fantastic resource and worth checking in with.  

See them on Twitter as well @yougotthiswell 


  • Don't forget the bubbles:  ​https://dontforgetthebubbles.com/two-new-wellness-resources/ - Don't forget the bubbles is a fantastic FOAMed blog which along with other topics, often highlights a focus on wellbeing. This is the link for their most recent blog post highlighting new resources. ​​
​
  • Wellness, Resilience and Performance EM  (WRaPEm) https://wrapem.org/blog/
​
  • https://www.mind.org.uk/media/2976123/how-to-improve-your-wellbeing-through-physical-activity-and-sport.pdf - Leaflet from MIND on the benefits of exercise on mental health. 
 
  • https://www.headspace.com/blog/ - blog posts on accessing mindfulness and it's benefits. 

  • www.oxfordmindfulness.org 

​
Locally in Cardiff and Vale The Child Health Psychology team run drop in Mindfulness sessions for staff on alternate Tuesdays 13:00-13:30 in Seminar room B, Noah's Ark Hospital. The March sessions are on 6th March and 20th March. 

​Any other good resources which you think would benefit other readers of this post, feel free to comment below. 

Dr Rebecca Broomfield
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Editors

    Dr Annabel Greenwood
    Dr Tom Cromarty
    ​Dr Celyn Kenny
    Dr Davide Paccagnella

    Archives

    April 2021
    March 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017

    Categories

    All
    A Day In The Life Of ...
    Conference
    Education
    General
    Global Health
    Journal Club
    Medical Leadership
    News
    Public Health
    Research
    Simulation
    Trials
    Wales

    RSS Feed

Last Updated 29th March 2021
​@WRENpaeds

Picture
Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Events
  • Project Portfolio
  • Archive
  • Resources
  • Contact Us