Wellness Resources

Duke Pathology prioritizes the well-being of our team, trainees, and patients.

We believe that programs to boost happiness and connection with others, decrease burnout, and foster resilience are important to maintain a thriving work culture.

Small Wins Corner

  • Vice Chair of Faculty Sarah Bean, MD, shares that ending each day by jotting down an entry in her self-reflection journal is a way she unwinds and feels centered. 
  • Assistant Director of Marketing and Communications Jamie Botta likes to write down three things she’s grateful for each night in a small notebook she keeps on her nightstand. Plus, making her bed first thing every morning is definitely a small win! 
     

Books, Podcasts, and Apps

Books

Podcasts: 

Apps: 

Quick Tips when you only have a few minutes


*Thanks to Karen Kingsolver, PhD, and Jullia Rosdahl, MD, PhD, for providing the following tips & resources

Take a breath.  2-minute meditation with Karen Kingsolver PhD


Notice one of your senses.  For example:

  • Vision: Pick a color and notice all of the things in your space with that color.
     
  • Hearing: Listen to the sounds in your environment, the traffic outside, people talking in the hallway, maybe the noises of the building.
     
  • Smell: What do you smell in your environment? Perhaps your morning coffee or a co-worker's shampoo.
     
  • Taste: When you are eating, take one bite mindfully.  Consider where the food came from, the farm where it was grown, the person who prepared it, the smell and texture of the food in your mouth, the flavors, the sensations of the food as you chew and swallow.  How was it?
     
  • Touch: Some of the things that we can notice are the cool smooth metal door knob that we open to enter an exam room, or the slick wet hand sanitizing gel before and after patient encounters.

Skills for Well-Being

Working through these eight areas can help to identify strengths and develop strategies for enhancing your well-being and your personal and professional effectiveness.

Mindfulness: Being present.  Paying attention on purpose.

Boundaries: Maintaining healthy boundaries.  Knowing and protecting your values.

Strengths: Knowing and using your strengths to overcome challenges.

Positivity: Heartfelt positivity, for open-mindedness and creativity.

Reality: Letting go and letting be, when it cannot be changed.

Activation: Acting effectively, to respond instead of react.

Effectiveness: Being aware of vulnerabilities, triggers, and stressors, to understand patterns and habits.

Commitment: to personal and professional growth, and finding and accessing meaning in your life & work.