The Louisville Programme for medical student health awareness

Abstract: Doctors are notoriously negligent in caring for their own emotional and physical health, despite widely recognised job stresses. A variety of factors contribute to this, including deficits in medical education, a work ethic commonly requiring excessively long hours, and limited education in psychological awareness and interventions.A remarkable programme has been available at the University of Louisville Medical School since 1980. It introduces entering first-year medical students to concepts and approaches which, surprisingly, are not presented in many conventional medical school curricula. Included are nutrition; exercise; relaxations - with muscle relaxation, music, art, song, Tai Chi and other methods; social support systems with peers, upper classpersons and faculty; health maintenance and disease prevention; time management and specific study skills for medical school; awareness of professionals' liability to substance abuse, burnout, and more. The focus is on self-care as a way of heightening awareness to holistic, preventive medicine.These methods hold the promise of enhancing quality of life for doctors, a much-needed preventive to high job dissatisfaction and very high rates as a profession for depression, alcohol and substance abuse and suicide.

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