We invited positive psychology practitioner, Jordyn Feingold, MAPP to share her tips on improving well-being while in medical school. Jordyn, in a week-long series, will explore the concepts of REVAMP—a novel approach to well-being. Here, she discusses the first element of the model: relationships.
My path to medical school has been guided by one, overwhelming, and unrelenting desire: improve health and well-being in our world. About a year ago, this quest lead me to spend a year at the University of Pennsylvania after graduating from the College of Arts and Sciences in the Master’s of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program, studying the science of human flourishing. While transitioning to medical school, I researched and explored the vast opportunities for positive psychology to make medicine a more positive, thriving, efficient, and effective practice.
As first-year medical students, in 2015 Jessica Rizzuto and Mimi Smith were selected to become co-leaders of the Student Wellness Committee—a student-run organization at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS). While the groups’ commitment to every students’ well-being was reinforced through a variety of initiatives and social events created to reduce burnout, Jessica and Mimi felt that there was a significant opportunity to enhance existing resources and make well-being a key priority supported by the Department of Medical Education.
Mohammad Hissourou, Class of 2018, discusses the format of Structures, the first course in the ISMMS MD curriculum.
Mohammad Hissourou III, is an MD Candidate, Class of 2018
Jillian Nickerson on PORTAL (Patient Oriented Research Training And Leadership)
Jillian Nickerson is in ISMMS’s PORTAL program, as a MD/MSCR Candidate, Class of 2015.
Kamini Doobay, Class of 2017, wrote this mix of poetry and prose after joining the treatment team for a 10-year-old boy with cancer.
His parents called.
They called every now and then –
to share new stories, to ask about fundraising events
they could attend, or simply to say thank you again
and again for saving their son.
They often sent fruit baskets, holiday cards and photos
of Joe playing ball, winning awards or just giving us
that innocent smile – one we know so well,
one that barely left his face,
even when he was going through hell.
