Wellness
The Pediatric Residency Program at SUNY Upstate is committed to providing trainees with a robust clinical experience while also helping them to maintain a sense of balance and well-being. We aim to cultivate an inclusive and supportive environment for everyone on their journeys through residency.
Resident Wellness
The program has a variety of activities over the course of the year to help bring residents (and faculty!) together. Some examples include:
• Breakfast at all Thursday morning academic half-day sessions
• Weekly Lunch and Learn sessions with chief residents
• Off-site intern retreat
• Second- and third-year retreats that are planned and organized by each individual class
• Picnic to welcome new interns in June
• Mid-winter departmental party (pandemic permitting)
• Resident graduation and awards ceremony in June
Resident Health
All of our residents have access to both primary care and mental health resources.
We have partnered with the SUNY Upstate Department of Family Medicine's residency program to create an opt-out primary care doctor program. This enables residents to establish care with a family medicine doctor if they choose. Residents can choose from a resident or attending provider. They offer a wide variety of services, including integrative medicine and obstetrics and gynecological care. Their offices are conveniently located, and residents are allowed to take time away from work without needing to use sick time to attend appointments.
Residents have access to confidential mental health services.
We have partnered with the Center for Stress Reduction to provide telehealth therapy for our pediatric residents. They offer day, evening, and Saturday appointments and they accept Empire Plan, which is the health insurance carried by the majority of residents.
Upstate's GME office has partnered with Psychological HealthCare to provide a single point of contact to access counseling services to residents as well. It is a local agency, and they offer in-person and telemedicine appointments. They also accept Empire Plan.
Many of our faculty, especially those on the inpatient services and in the PICU, offer structured debriefing sessions after poor outcomes and difficult events.
Upstate University Hospital offers wellbeing and mental health resources for all students, faculty, and staff via this website. The hospital's Wellbeing Council is led by a Chief Wellness Officer and the Assistant Dean for Wellness, and includes representation from many departments including Pediatrics.
Curriculum
Our program's wellbeing curriculum is spearheaded by Dr. Caitlin Sgarlat Deluca, who uses her expertise in integrative medicine to guide residents through the different aspects of wellness, resilience, and self-care.
Topics covered during the series include:
• Aromatherapy
• Acupuncture
• Nutrition
• Integrative approach to stress
• Integrative approach to sleep
• Energy Medicine-overview
• Energy Medicine- tapping
• Wellness in COVID
• Integrative approach to pain
