NYU Grossman School of Medicine is committed to providing resources to help our residents and fellows manage the daily demands of being a physician in training. We are proud to offer residents and fellows at NYU Langone access to the following programs to support their wellbeing:

• an Ombuds Program to facilitate fair and equitable resolutions to work- and training-related questions, concerns, and complaints
• a Peer Support Program, a network of clinicians who are trained to provide emotional support during times of crisis, particularly after adverse medical events or critical incidents
• the option to participate in Resilience Rounds, a space for medical students, house staff, and faculty to engage in authentic reflection on the emotional and mental challenges of practicing medicine

We encourage residents and fellows to access information for house staff to learn more about mental health benefits, psychiatric consultation and referrals, and how to get involved with our House Staff Wellness Committee.

We also offer several additional initiatives that focus on resident and fellow wellbeing.

Mental Health Consultation and Referral for Program Directors and House Staff

The house staff mental health service at NYU Langone provides confidential and free short-term psychotherapy, group psychotherapy, and psychiatric consultations and treatment. Our team maintains an electronic medical record that is not visible to other providers outside of our service in order to ensure privacy. When needed, we assist house staff with finding in-network and/or low-cost providers in the community. We are also available to consult with program directors who have questions or concerns about supporting the wellbeing of house staff members. Our offices are located on the eighth floor of One Park Avenue, and we offer both virtual and in-person visits.

To schedule an appointment, please call our intake line at 646-754-4559 on weekdays from 8:00AM to 5:00PM to complete a brief phone screening. You will then be contacted by one of our team members to discuss treatment options.

For consultation or assistance with connecting to our service, please reach out to our director, Kathleen S. Isaac, PhD, at Kathleen.Issac@NYULangone.org and our medical director, Bronwyn N. Huggins, MD, at Bronwyn.Huggins@NYULangone.org.

If you have an urgent need outside of business hours, please go to the nearest emergency department or call the Corporate Counseling Associates crisis helpline at 1-800-833-8707. The helpline is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Helping Healers Heal Program

The Helping Healers Heal Program, also called the H3 Program, is the foundational infrastructure for enhanced wellness programing to address the emotional and psychological needs of all house staff working at NYC Health + Hospitals locations. The program assists house staff in establishing peer support groups and creating safe spaces to conduct team debriefings. Our aim is to help residents and fellows decompress and share personal and professional experiences on topics including reactions to stress and trauma, compassion fatigue, and burnout.

To organize a support group or team debriefing, contact Natalie Kramer, LCSW, program director, at 212-562-4659 or at natalie.kramer@nychhc.org, or Anne Rugova, program coordinator, at 212-562-7691 or at anne.rugova@nychhc.org.

Physician Wellbeing Committee

Residents and fellows from all specialties, either self-selected or elected by their departments, foster interdepartmental connectedness as part of the Physician Wellbeing Committee. Members join subcommittee groups to work collaboratively toward achieving different goals. Past initiatives have included creating and distributing a monthly wellbeing newsletter, planning and hosting semiannual social events, and identifying and resolving structural challenges, for example creating more work spaces in the hospital for house staff.

The committee conducts an annual house staff survey to assess how residents and fellows feel about training in their respective program, as well as about culture and the overall health system. The committee also coordinates NYU Grossman School of Medicine’s participation in the annual Gold Foundation Thank a Resident Day.

For more information about the Physician Wellbeing Committee, please contact Annie Robinson, senior manager of professional fulfillment and wellbeing for graduate medical education, at annie.robinson@nyulangone.org, or Emily Renkin, graduate medical education specialist, at emily.renkin@nyulangone.org.

Wellbeing Education for Residents and Fellows

We believe wellbeing education should be embedded into the protected time house staff have for didactic learning. To help our residents and fellows develop resilience skills, a number of graduate medical education programs devote time for Resilience Rounds, narrative medicine curriculum, wellbeing skill-building workshops, and process groups.

Past topics have included making mistakes, time management, coping with uncertainty, navigating transitions, compassion fatigue, cultivating a growth mindset, maintaining hope, work–life integration, honing healthy habits, managing conflict, and facing loss, death, and dying. For more information on wellbeing educational initiatives, including a list of best practices, contact Annie Robinson, senior manager of professional fulfillment and wellbeing for graduate medical education, at annie.robinson@nyulangone.org.

Narrative Medicine Elective

Storytelling and close listening are core elements of medicine—clinical practice is the art of exchanging accounts of the human condition. Rarely, however, is the imperative role of narrative intentionally performed by trainees in the form of close reading, reflective writing, and story sharing. The narrative medicine elective offers residents and fellows from any program the unique opportunity to explore various genres of writing, empowering them to hold new models for interpreting and articulating ethical challenges, emotional turmoil, and patient stories.

The ultimate goal is to examine the role of reflection in physician wellbeing and clinical practice, as a therapeutic experience and as a tool. Readings are selected at the beginning of the elective, along with personalized writing goals and reflection themes. Residents and fellows from all specialties are welcome to participate. For more information or to sign up for the elective, please contact Annie Robinson, senior manager of professional fulfillment and wellbeing for graduate medical education, at annie.robinson@nyulangone.org.

Coaching Sessions

During medical training, a trainee may experience emotional exhaustion, disconnection from the meaning of their work, interpersonal conflict with colleagues, blurred boundaries between professional and personal life, insufficient emotional coping skills, and confusion about their purpose and direction. House staff experiencing any of these challenges can set up individual coaching sessions to discuss the challenges arising in their professional life, identify values and desired outcomes, and develop a plan with concrete steps forward. For more information or to schedule a session, please contact Annie Robinson, senior manager of professional fulfillment and wellbeing for graduate medical education, at annie.robinson@nyulangone.org.

Contact Us

For more information about wellbeing resources for residents and fellows at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, contact Jeffrey A. Manko, MD, faculty advisor, at jeffrey.manko@nyulangone.org, or Annie Robinson, senior manager of professional fulfillment and wellbeing for graduate medical education, at annie.robinson@nyulangone.org.