Message from the URochester Medicine Chief Wellbeing Officer, Craig Rooney, PhD

Image of Dr. Rooney, standing in a suit and tie.

The Wellbeing Symposium allows us to come together as a community to explore ways to make University of Rochester Medicine the best place to work, innovate, and learn. During the Symposium, participants can meet the current cohort of the Wellbeing Fellowship and learn about their projects, be inspired by our keynote speaker, and take part in a breakout session most relevant to where they work. This year, we welcome Jillian Horton, MD, to explore how relational strategies and storytelling enhance our work. Dr. Horton’s best-selling book recounts her time at an internationally acclaimed program created by University of Rochester Medicine’s Ron Epstein and Mick Krasner (the first 200 to show at Class of 62 will receive a free copy for her book signing event). We curated a half-day of engaging opportunities to learn and grow together with continuing educational credits available. Please join us! 

Keynote Speaker Jillian Horton, MD

Dr. Jillian Horton is an award-winning medical educator, writer, musician and podcaster. Dr. Horton is a general internist who serves in multiple leadership positions at University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine. This includes inaugural director of Rady Faculty of Health Science’s programs in physician and learner wellness, director of the Alan Klass Health Humanities Program and associate chair of the department of internal medicine.

Her writing on medicine and medical culture appears regularly in the LA Times, the Globe and Mail, The Toronto Star, Maclean’s, and a variety of American news outlets by syndication. She hosts the novel series Arts, Medicine, Life at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

In 2020, Dr. Horton was awarded the Gold Humanism award by the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada for her national contributions to compassion in clinical care and her leadership in the field of humanities in medical education. Her first full-length book, “We Are All Perfectly Fine: A Memoir of Love, Medicine and Healing,” was released by HarperCollins Canada in February 2021 to critical acclaim, and is a national bestseller.

Image of Dr. Rooney, standing in a suit and tie.

Purpose of Symposium

This symposium is designed to provide learners with knowledge and tools: to improve professional satisfaction and communication in their teams, to meet our Wellbeing Fellows and engage them in dialogue about their wellbeing projects, and to consider ways to initiate wellbeing projects in their own environments.

Workplace Wellbeing

Workplace Wellbeing Graphic from Office of Wellbeing

URochester Medicine Office of Wellbeing modified the Stanford Model of Occupational Well-Being to guide our work. It emphasizes that wellbeing is shaped not only by individual wellness, but also by creating a culture of wellbeing and improving how we work. Oftentimes, the biggest drivers to occupational distress - administrative burdens, ineffective workflows, and effort that does not add value - require a collective problem-solving framework. The Office of Wellbeing attempts to fill gaps in all three parts of this model: we became the new administrative home for the Mindful Practice in Medicine program, enhanced our Wellbeing Fellowship and Mini-Grant programs, and worked to collaboratively solve problems in workflows, technology, workplace culture, and other system barriers to wellbeing.

Questions

For questions about the event, please email the Office of Wellbeing.

For questions about the registration site or process, please email cmeregistration@urmc.rochester.edu