[Music]
hi my name is Amin Azam I'm a
psychiatrist by training and at heart a
passionate educator of health
professional students I work at three
San Francisco Bay Area Health Science
universities and also at osmosis today
I'd like to talk to you as fellow
educators about managing your learners
mental health during times of distress
and/or crises I've got four key tips
number one explicitly acknowledged that
providing health care is stressful work
it's important to make the implicit
explicit by stating that and
acknowledging that truth none of us are
immune to the psychological realities of
providing health care to others and by
owning that in role modeling it for our
students we declare to them that none of
us are superhuman by acknowledging your
own feelings to others you also create
the space for them to own and share
their feelings even if their feelings
are not the same as yours you are
creating the space to acknowledge that
talking about feelings is actually part
of providing high quality health care to
patients number two frequent check-ins
with students you wouldn't be an
educator if you didn't care about your
students that part goes without saying
at the same time when the stress is
higher that means that the visible dose
of caring should be higher so that
students see that your you've got their
backs
additionally demonstrating an increased
attention to emotional well-being during
stressful times is quite similar to
focusing on the organ systems of
patients chief concern so we should go
to where the distress is we should go
where the signs and symptoms are and
unpackage that so that way we can
provide appropriate treatment and
recommendations number three highlight
existing resources students may not
always be aware of all the resources
your program or school has so making
students aware of them especially during
times of crises is a really good idea
for example do you have student health
services do you have a particular
well-being office dedicated exclusively
to their well-being are there student
services resources that some students
are aware of that others are not do all
of the above programs that I've
mentioned have links to additional
resources beyond your University that
may be useful or helpful sources of
information for students
additionally does your program have a
near peer mentorship program or a big
sibling program this may be the first
time
your students are experiencing a
particular distress or crisis but it is
far from the first time that any of the
people above them in the hierarchy or
further along in the Health Professions
experience continuum it's far from that
first time for those individuals so why
not leverage this near-peer of network
as ways of others who can offer advice
sometimes learners can hear advice from
their near peers far more so than they
came from us as seasoned veteran
educators so let's take advantage of
that near peer network to assure that it
falls on receptive ears number four D
stigmatize mental illness and praise
help seeking behaviors as signs of
healthy health professionals what I mean
by that two things come to mind
number one seeking help is a sign of
strength not a weakness I like to tell
my patients when you're crying it means
that we're addressing your concerns so
we want to see that emotion come out
secondly role modeling appropriate
disclosure when appropriate you have to
make sure it's appropriate can help
students see that none of us are immune
to the challenges of being health
professionals so for example you may
choose to disclose that you personally
or loved ones or people in your life our
family members who have had mental
health illness or mental health concerns
who appropriately sought care and
actually got better alright so a quick
recap to effectively manage your
learner's mental health during times of
distress and/or crises remember one
explicitly acknowledge that providing
health care to patients can be stressful
work to chuck in extra frequently with
students three highlight local available
resources and 4-d stigmatize mental
illness and praise help-seeking
behaviors as signs of healthy health
professionals I hope that was helpful if
you don't have the resources you need at
your school or if you have questions
please reach out to us at partnerships
at osmosis org
you