Inclusion for Wellness: Fostering Wellness Through Inclusive Dialogue, Environments, and Practices

Abstract

It is well-established that medical students and practicing physicians alike continue to suffer from extreme burnout, despite growing efforts to attend more closely to wellness. This often takes the form of mindfulness practices, community activities, transparency around work expectations, mentor and support groups, and the like. However, less attention is paid to how efforts towards inclusive learning experiences can themselves support wellness. This chapter will explore how to build a truly inclusive and justice-oriented environment in the service of student wellness by looking at three key moments of the medical education journey, exploring where things often go awry, and offering possible solutions to enhance them. Specifically, the cases will leverage the didactic experience as a student, clinical encounters as a resident, and physician educator encounters with colleagues to illustrate how enhancing inclusive dialogue, environments, and practices in these spaces can also support practitioner wellness.