Fellow Well-Being

We understand the importance of well-being during training and beyond. In order to help our fellows learn professional and personal skills that will keep them engaged and resilient throughout their careers, we offer a variety of well-being activities. These include divisional activities and holiday celebrations.

Holiday Observances

We offer each fellow time to enjoy the holidays with their families and friends. Each fellow receives up to 7 days of non-clinical time in addition to their 4 weeks of vacation time in observance of holidays.

At the institutional level, we have implemented a self-assessment tool for fellows to monitor their level of stress/burnout. Free, confidential counseling/mental health services are provided to any fellow who feels they are in need.

The fellowship programs at Connecticut Children's also participate in a Reflective Practice and Leadership series, through the Pediatric Subspecialty Fellows' Core Curriculum. This is a longitudinal initiative in which once monthly fellows will meet with a group of facilitators, including faculty mentors to discuss clinical, psycho-social, career, personal, and ethical challenges that they face as professionals. The model is designed to help trainees analyze and manage complex professional problems through collaborative team discussions/mentoring by faculty and peers.

The Pediatric Subspecialty Fellowship Administrative team seeks to aid fellows in reducing stress in many areas of their program. Recent initiatives include:

• Snack boxes which are restocked regularly to ensure proper nutrition during shifts/rotations
• “Study kit” provided to fellows during board prep. Complete with food, highlighters, comfy socks and more!
• A retreat for all fellows across all 12 pediatric programs, at minimum, once a year during the day, which includes lunch and a team building exercise or activity

UConn School of Medicine Graduate Medical Education is committed to supporting the well-being of all our residents and fellows during their training program. For a full list of resources offered through UConn Health, the Capital Area Health Consortium and the broader community, please visit the Graduate Medical Education Office Well-Being website.