Obstetrics & Gynecology Resident Wellness

At our program, we embrace the importance of resident wellness for ourselves and for our patients. The Resident Wellness Committee, run by residents and a faculty liaison, is dedicated to organizing wellness activities and providing appropriate resources to help residents remain physically and emotionally healthy, both now and in the future.

Preventing Burnout

In order to prevent burnout, our Wellness Plan includes many facets:

• Free Friday lunch every 4 weeks along with a wellness topic
• Scheduled Group Activities (bowling, kickboxing, paintball, or painting) or dinner every 4-6 weeks
• Formal mentoring
• Scheduled assessments of resident stress/burnout levels
• Snack hub in the L&D boardroom
• A Birthday bulletin
• 5th Friday Free Time: for any month with 5 Fridays, the 5th Friday’s morning didactics are cancelled and resident time protected to handle life – going to the dentist, getting an oil change, or just going out for brunch!

Other Formal Activities

July Welcome Party: This annual event hosted by a resident welcomes our new crop of interns and their families to our family!

USA Game Day: This annual event occurs in the fall where each USA Health employee will be eligible to receive 2 free game tickets and 2 passes to a tailgate event and game. Attendings, residents, and nurses all show up to have a great time!

GO Run!: Every year in September, the annual GO Run is held to benefit Gynecologic Oncology research at the Mitchell Cancer Institute and our residents, Attendings, staff, and medical students make sure to show up and support!

Halloween Party: This annual event is hosted by a resident and includes L&D staff and spouses/significant others.

Department Thanksgiving Luncheon: A potluck event for faculty, nurses, and staff to enjoy and give thanks for our work family.

Resident Christmas Party: This annual event is either a Dirty Santa party hosted by a resident and includes L&D nurses and spouses/significant others or is a Secret Santa party among the residents during the day.

Department Holiday Party: This annual event in December is hosted by the Department and is a fun night of wine, dinner, and socializing with the residents, faculty, staff, and their families.

Dr. Varner Dinner Party: Dr. Varner, who is our Top Chef, hosts this annual event! He caters an incredible dinner for the residents and we cannot eat enough!

ACOG Wellness Week: During ACOG wellness week, five days of programming are scheduled for our residents to all come together and enjoy all aspects of wellness. Last year, we had a scavenger hunt, pottery class, yoga class, community service project, and a grill out party!

Match Day: Our residents love to support our medical students each year on their Match Day by showing up to cheer for them as they open their envelopes and announce their future residencies!

Alabama ACOG: Each May, all PGY3s attend the Alabama ACOG conference in Destin, FL to learn, network, and enjoy Destin!

Senior Graduation/Resident Awards Ceremony: While we are sad to see our seniors go, we enjoy our final farewell with annual awards handed out and it is always a blast!

Annual Roast: At the end of each PGY year, an attending will host a party to “roast” the out-going PGY4s!

Monthly Gyn Service Outing with Medical Students: The Gyn service coordinates a time for our residents to relax with our medical students on service at a local restaurant.

Informal Activities

• Grabbing dinner!
• Casino Time!
• Fun during down time!
• Fun at festivals!
• Disney trips!
• Holiday On-Call Bonding!
• L&D Boardroom Exercise Time!
• Fun at Conferences!
• Hanging out with our L&D nurses!

Physical Wellness

Vacations: All residents get 4 weeks of vacation, in addition to half major holidays, including either Christmas or New Year’s off.

Elective: PGY4 residents have a 4 week block of an elective and can choose whatever they would like to pursue.

Paid Moonlighting: As an option, residents with their full license who will not go over their 80 hour work week limit can volunteer to be paid for covering 8 hours of the call intern's tasks (the triage service and the postpartum service) from 10pm to 6am on a Friday night to Saturday morning or a Saturday night to Sunday morning.

Gym: Our administrative offices adjacent to the hospital include a gym with free 24/7 access with our badge and key (see below). The Recreation Center at the University of South Alabama main campus in West Mobile is $10/month for residents and includes free classes, an indoor and outdoor pool, rock climbing wall, racquetball courts, spinning room, and basketball courts.

Call rooms: There are 5 call rooms with single beds for taking naps/sleeping.

Side room: There is a resident-only lounge area connected to the L&D Boardroom with a television, day bed, loveseat, and massaging recliner to rest or just hang out with other residents during your shift.

Free food: Physician lounge of the cafeteria has free continental breakfast and a soup/salad lunch on weekdays.

Convenient locations: Parking and clinics are all walking distance to the hospital so that there are no long commutes to get to other locations!