Didactic: Reframing Wellness: The Transition From Individual to Organizational Well-being (AAAEM Sponsored)

You cannot “yoga” yourself into wellness. There is more to it. Research shows departmental and institutional wellness significantly impact individual wellness. Being well in emergency medicine is optimized if we support: 1.) wellness at the personal level; 2.) wellness at the departmental/institutional level; and 3.) wellness in our national emergency medicine organizations. All three elements contribute to the overall well-being of emergency physicians but the current National Academy of Medicine’s conceptual model of physician resilience and well-being clearly points out that the well-being of each and every physician is dependent more on organizational and system issues than on personal practices. Many studies have examined individual practitioner wellness and identified approaches that contribute to wellness and resilience. However, the role of the department or institution in promoting wellness has not been closely examined. Institutional wellness has a broad potential applicability, from departmental policies that prevent workplace violence or ED crowding to organizational-level policies that champion physician wellness at the national level.