HEALTHIER MEDICAL STUDENTS, HEALTHIER PATIENTS

What is the primary factor determining patient wellness in today's healthcare system?
 
Certainly there are many yet we cannot deny that our system is only as good as the healthcare professionals who serve in it. Physicians are at the very forefront of healthcare delivery and as such they play an integral role in determining patient outcomes. Undoubtedly, the technical resources they use in guiding the diagnosis and treatment of their patients are essential; however, we often place far more importance on these resources than those that we provide for communicating with and counselling our patients on healthy lifestyles. Yet if we think of overall patient wellness, we come to realize that counselling on a wellness lifestyle and providing supportive resources are just as important as the tests and machines we use in to improve patients' health.
 
Wellness is both a decision and a process. Being and feeling well requires a mindset and a conscious effort to make informed choices on a daily basis in order to stay physically, mentally, and socially fit towards a range of challenges. Habits relating to stress management, sleep, exercise, nutrition, relationship, and work-life balance are essential to determining a person's level of wellness. As key healthcare information providers and counselors, physicians need to be able to not just communicate this information but to also serve as models of its practice. Yet knowledge of wellness and habits of wellbeing don't just become activated upon getting licensed; rather, they need to be cultivated far earlier, in the medical school years.

Individual medical schools have student affairs offices, some have several days dedicated to student wellness, and all have some forms of 
crisis resources. However, wellness  has only come to the forefront with passing importance, only to be washed aside by the stresses of upcoming deadlines and exams. In the absence of a concerted effort to centralize and communicate wellness resources to physicians-in-training, should we be surprised that the conditions of our stressed healthcare system have compromised the health of our patients?
 
We are the Canadian Federation of Medical Students, and, this year we are launching our campaign "Healthy Medical Students for a Healthy Healthcare System". As leaders in the front line of patient care, doctors owe it to themselves and their patients to embrace, practice, and promote a healthy wellness lifestyle. We aim to bring the education and engagement of medical student wellness front and centre. Working in partnership with provincial and federal medical organizations, we are changing the focus of wellness from a luxury to a necessity -- for both the wellbeing of future physicians and that of their patients. 

The primary factor determining patient health and wellness in today's healthcare system is the human factor -- the element of care that links the health and knowledge of healthcare providers to that of their patients. Join us as we strive to create a healthier healthcare system. 

Sincerely,

Ali Okhowat,
National Wellness Officer,
Canadian Federation of Medical Students