The first day of our 22nd annual meeting is packed with workshops, seminars and speakers. Saturday’s activities will cover a variety of topics including writing engaging cases, an introduction to lifestyle medicine and mind-body physiology. IAMSE April Member of the month, Michael Lumpkin, along with co-presenter Emily Ratner, will host an engaging and insightful workshop on resident and medical faculty burnout and the steps to bringing positive changes to the fore.
Using Mind-Body Physiology to Gain Acceptance for Wellness/Resiliency Programs
Numerous studies have shown that hospital residents and medical school faculty suffer from a disproportionate amount of stress, burnout, and loss of empathy compared to the general population. This situation has negative ramifications for workforce retention, proper patient care, costs to health systems, and individual happiness.
Their stressors are increasing due to mounting institutional and regulatory demands. Often, in the culture of modern allopathic medicine, individuals are encouraged to deny or ignore their ongoing distress so that they may soldier on.
To address the challenge of introducing mind-body stress management skills to science-oriented residents and faculty who may have reservations, we will outline a paradigm that we have used to link the scientific basis of stress and stress-related diseases to the productive and accepted practice of mind-body skills to promote wellness and resiliency. In doing so, it is hoped that improved coping skills will enhance the longevity of and satisfaction with the work life and careers of medical faculty.
Objectives:
• To understand the physiology and pathophysiology of stress and burnout in residents and medical faculty.
• To learn how to construct and gain acceptance for a Mind-Body/Wellness/Resiliency program for residents and faculty who may have reservations about these practices.
• To actively participate in an experiential learning exercise used to teach and demonstrate the underlying scientific and biologic underpinnings of stress management with a mind-body skills session that employs a physiological monitoring device.

How you can help: Please consider donating items that would be appealing to our members. Even if you are unable to attend the meeting this year in Vermont, you can still participate! Please contact our office regarding the items you would like to donate.
IAMSE has been a crucial part of my medical education journey. I started as an academic nephrologist at UC Davis, then transitioned from research to education in the late 1990s. I knew little about this, teaching instinctually, but I started going to IAMSE meetings annually around 2000 and immediately found a curious and knowledgeable peer group, eager to help me. There were not a lot of MDs in IAMSE then, but I felt very welcome. As I was later given responsibility for faculty development, I simply copied excellent IAMSE focus sessions…education is often the art of customized imitation.
TBL in a Day’s first three hour session, titled “Fundamental Principles and Practices of TBL,” is followed by an hour-long lunch break and then a second three hour session titled “Creating an Effective TBL Module.” The goal of the activity is for participants to demonstrate a thorough understanding of the fundamental components, the sequence of components, and the benefits of TBL, building on the knowledge and skills from the first session in the second.