NYU Grossman Long Island School of Medicine’s Wellness Ambassador Program was designed as part of a strategic plan to ensure that wellness initiatives were rolled out departmentally throughout our institution. As the program evolved, departments identified dedicated wellness ambassadors for trainees in graduate medical education and faculty. Ambassadors were tasked with attending 50 percent of the meetings of the Committee for Professional Health and Wellbeing and documenting initiatives for their departments in written form.

Setting the tone early for our trainees to understand that wellness is important and deserves time and attention creates a ripple effect of benefits that extends to the faculty and their departments. The program provides ambassadors with opportunities to share ideas and engage in conversations that they might not have otherwise.

Wellness Activities

Wellness ambassadors play a pivotal role in fostering a supportive and engaging work environment. By selecting tailored burnout prevention strategies, wellness ambassadors not only enhance colleague connectivity but also reignite a profound sense of purpose and fulfillment in their respective departments. Understanding that faculty engagement is at the core of wellbeing, the executive committee members have encouraged wellness ambassadors to share wellbeing initiatives that have become replicated in different departments, including the following.

Annual Wellness Week

The Annual Wellness Week coordinated by various departments focuses on a different emotional, physical, environmental, or mental component of wellness each day.

Annual Departmental Retreats and Gatherings

Annual departmental retreats and social gatherings promote faculty and trainee engagement, with activities centered on stress reduction therapy and mindfulness. Examples of these activities include the following:

• participation in retreats organized by the Departments of Pathology, Pediatrics, and Obstetrics and Gynecology
• monthly departmental “infinity” walks in a local park to promote a sense of camaraderie coordinated by the Department of Foundations of Medicine

Wellness Wednesday and Other Activities

The Department of Radiology hosts Wellness Wednesday events the include outdoor activities, lectures on financial planning, and wellness boxes (delivering large boxes of snacks and treats to the resident call room every six weeks). Summer socials have been organized for residents and faculty.

Other activities include weekly check-ins and debriefings during individual division meetings, such as the Divisions of Maternal–Fetal Medicine and Gynecologic Oncology, as well as collective individual participation in the “Three Good Things Exercise,” which involves a gratitude journal.