Wellness Curriculum in the Pediatric Clerkship

Psychological distress leading to burnout is an important issue during medical school. While studies have researched interventions in the pre-clerkship years, very few have targeted the clerkship years. To improve the wellness of third year medical students, the following interventions were implemented: (1) prompted students to identify two wellness goals in the areas of personal and physical well-being and (2) encouraged students to participate in meditation and chair yoga sessions during their pediatrics clerkship. Students completed pre- and post-clerkship wellness surveys. The interventions led to a small but significant improvement in the wellness of students, particularly in mental, physical, emotional, social, and spiritual well-being.Further expansion of a wellness curriculum to all clerkships during the entire third and fourth years may result in reduced burnout and sustained improvements in wellness during post graduate training and practice.