Have you experienced/witnessed unacceptable behaviour or a harmful incident as a resident? Consider your safe reporting options.

Do you want the opportunity to acknowledge a person who has provided exemplary teaching, created a positive learning environment, has a great attitude, is a great co-worker, or has gone over and above to make a difference in your life or the life of others? Give the gift of gratitude here!

About Us

The Resident Resource Office is responsible for providing non-academic support throughout postgraduate medical education. The office supports residents who may be coping with professional or personal challenges, and the Resident Wellness Coordinators help individuals develop proactive strategies around health and wellness issues specific for physicians. The office provides a safe and confidential space.

Strategic Plan:

Vision: We provide resources and support to develop healthy and resilient physicians.

Mission: We will become a national leader for enhancing and maintaining the health and wellness of residents. We will provide support services that ensures a healthy and positive learning environment for residents by integrating a multi-level framework for prevention and focused interventions. A holistic approach focusing on the eight wellness domains (physical, emotional, intellectual, financial, spiritual, occupational, social, and environmental) will form the basis of the design and development of RRO wellness programs and initiatives.

Read the Document

Services

  • Information and Support: Provide information about policy, procedures, and offers confidential support during career and personal difficulties.
  • Assessment and Referral: Provide assistance to residents in difficulty and facilitate referrals to on and off campus resources.
  • Crisis Management and Intervention Services: Provide mediation and conflict resolution for a safe and respectful clinical learning environment.
  • Workshops and Educational Programs: Provide education and training opportunities to develop proactive strategies around health and wellness issues.
  • Wellness Program and Resources: Provide online resources and delivers wellness programs designed to enhance resilience and well-being.

Workshops and Educational Programs

To book a workshop, please contact John Dyck

Resources and Services for Residents

This workshop focuses on increasing awareness around support services and resources available to residents. Residents have a unique role as both employee and student, giving them access to a wide variety of support both on and off campus. The format is education based with some group discussion.

Intimidation and Harassment in Residency Training

The participants are introduced to the University of Saskatchewan policy and PGME Guidelines on Intimidation and Harassment. The workshop also offers a brief overview of conflict and disruptive behavior and demonstrates how unmanaged negative behaviors can lead to more significant problems. The emphasis is on group discussion and learning, reflective of needs specific to the program, and exploring various resources available across the campus.

Ice Cream Rounds/Finding Meaning in Residency (FMR) Sessions

An FMR group is a group of like-minded resident physicians who come together in a warm and supportive environment to explore the personal meaning and values which are inherent in the practice of medicine. An FMR meeting offers a rare opportunity to talk about experiences not usually shared among colleagues. Residents who attend report finding the kind of support, understanding, and insight only possible within a group of other doctors.

Previous sessions focused on grief and loss, gratitude, maternal/fetal loss, conflict, and work-life balance. It is an opportunity for the residents to share their experiences related to the topic and how it relates to their practice and to support each other.

Conflict Management

This workshop offers an overview of conflict and disruptive behavior, demonstrates how unmanaged negative behaviors can lead to more significant problems, and the common pathways that escalated conflict goes when not addressed. Participants are also given the opportunity to explore the differences between conflict and disruptive behaviour.

Resident Doctors of Canada (RDoC) Resilience Curriculum

RDoC’s Resiliency Curriculum is a practical, skills-based program that is designed to help residents mitigate stress, optimize performance, and overcome both the anticipated and the unexpected adversities of medical training. It promotes the importance of fostering supportive learning environments and advocates for a systematic approach to understanding and addressing stressors. Resiliency training prepares residents to transition to rewarding and sustainable careers − which yields benefits for patients and Canada’s healthcare system. For more information about the curriculum, please visit residentdoctors.ca/areas-of-focus/resiliency/.  

There are two different modules that programs can request at any time:

  • Resident Module: Includes the importance of burnout, the relationship between stress and performance, practical tools based on cognitive behavioural therapy, performance psychology and mindfulness (Tactical Breathing, Goal Setting, Visualization, Positive Self-talk), discussion on barriers to care and the importance of seeking help, the barriers that residents in particular may face – e.g. stigma, H.E.L.P.: A quick tool to support a peer/colleague in distress, and The Mental Health Continuum: a colour-coded self-assessment tool.
  • Leadership Module: A national program designed to promote the importance of resiliency in medicine by fostering supportive learning environments and advocating for a systematic approach to understand and addressing stressors.

Mindfulness

Guided by a practicing neonatologist in Alberta, a certified mindfulness coach who imparts wisdom to medical students and residents at the U of A, this session offers a unique blend of medical expertise and mindfulness coaching. Discover the diverse benefits of mindfulness, ranging from stress reduction to enhanced tranquility and skill development. This course aims to deepen your self-awareness, offering tools to navigate life's challenges. Our objectives encompass gaining knowledge about mindfulness benefits, understanding core skills improvement, cultivating positive attitudes, and honing practical mindfulness techniques.

This content is currently being edited - please check back later for video links!

Practice Management Curriculum Seminar

This course is offered every year for senior residents. Practice management is included in the CanMEDS competencies and is essential for future success as a physician. Topics include, but are not limited to, setting up a practice, contracts and negotiation, finance and debt management, insurance requirements, taxes and accounting, and other various aspects of practice management.

Resources

For more information, please contact John Dyck.

Wellness Funding

Each program/site at the U of S is allotted $500 of wellness funds to use every academic year for wellness activities/initiatives. Events must be submitted at least 4 weeks in advance of the event and must be pre-approved to be reimbursed.

Some examples of approved activities include, but are not limited to, paint nights, bowling, escape rooms, studio classes such as spin, yoga, etc., indoor golf, picnics, BBQs, etc.

Please submit all requests to Joanna Winichuk

PGME Wellness Event Funding Request Form

Medical-legal essentials for PGY1 Family Medicine residents and PGY2 Royal College program residents offered by CMPA. This live, interactive, and virtual workshop has been developed specifically for residents. Delivered by highly experienced CMPA physician advisors, the workshop covers topics representing medical-legal issues frequently encountered by residents in CMPA case files: informed consent, documentation, disclosure of harm, and teamwork.

For more information, please contact John Dyck.

Resources

Residency training can elicit a variety of challenges to personal and professional well-being, including: emotional and physical exhaustion, heightened anxiety, feelings of inefficacy, and social disconnection. Use the resources here to help.


Interactive-media and e-Learning

  • Pfifferling, J. H., & Gilley, K. (2000). Overcoming Compassion Fatigue. Family Practice Management, 7(4), 39-39.
  • Hung, C. (2014, June 27). Fighting Fatigue in Healthcare. Healthcare Leadership Blog.
  • Open to Hope is an online resource helping people find hope after loss. Its mission is to provide information and resources for people who have experienced loss, to provide a forum where such people can learn from and help each other, and to share educational grants and networking support for those whose studies are focused on improving the care of people who grieve.
  • Feeling Better Now is a website designed to help individuals identify emotional and mental health issues as early as possible by providing a preliminary assessment and a set of online tools to help identify and treat emotional and mental health problems.

  • Self-Assessment Tools

  • Oldenburg Burnout Inventory is a confidential questionnaire that helps you identify feelings and experiences you have about your work, so that you can get a feel for whether you might be vulnerable to burnout. The questionnaire automatically produces a burnout score and provides support resources if necessary.
  • Mental Well-Being Screening self-test is a short quiz to help you look at your mental health or wellness.
  • Depression Screening self-test is a short quiz to help you identify symptoms of depression.
  • Anxiety Disorder Screening self-test is a short quiz to help you identify symptoms of an anxiety disorder.
  • Mental Health and Addiction Services A wide range of services, supports, and education materials are available to assist people who are struggling with mental health and addiction issues in Saskatchewan.

Interactive-Media and e-Learning

  • Reframe Health Lab is a set of websites, pamphlets, videos, books, and other media curated by Dr. Mike Evans, Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Public Health, University of Toronto
  • CALM – Computer Assisted Learning for the Mind includes text-based, audio, and video resources regarding mental resilience, managing stress, and healthy relationships.
  • e-Couch self-help, interactive program with modules for depression, generalized anxiety and worry, social anxiety, relationship breakdown, and loss and grief. It provides evidence-based information and teaches strategies drawn from cognitive, behavioral, and interpersonal therapies, as well as relaxation and physical activity techniques.

Multi-Media

Associations

  • MD Management is a wealth and practice management firm owned by Scotiabank There are various seminars available for you to receive financial information once you complete training and transition into practice.

Interactive-Media and e-Learning

  • Online Personal Budgeting Webinars are available for free from the Credit Counselling Society. The online workshops cover a variety of topics including budgeting, managing credit, debt solutions, conscious consumerism, and irregular income.
  • An Easy to Use Excel Template (for Canadians) to Help You Create a Personal Budget is available from the Credit Counselling Society.
  • Financial Calculators provided by the Credit Counselling Society are freely available and anonymous to use. Some of the calculators available include debt, loan, car payment, credit cards, debt ratio & loans, debt repayment, and savings.              
  • McGill: The Wellness Podcast Episode 10: Put Your Money Where Your Mind is: An Introduction to Financial Health & Well-Being.
  • Frugal Scholar MDCM Toolkit for medical learners.  Frugal Scholar MDCM Toolkit and  Guide is an expanded version of their standard Toolkit.

Multi-Media

e-Learning

Associations

  • Resident Doctors of Canada Career Planning and Transition into Practice ensures a seamless transition and the skills necessary for physicians to practice.
  • Career Centre University of Saskatchewan.
  • saskdocs works with students, medical trainees, physicians, international medical graduates, communities, health facilities and other partners to help find the right physician for the right community. They post new job opportunities on their website and host a number of Career Fairs all over Saskatchewan.
  • drcareers is the Canadian Medical Association’s career centre for physicians.

  • Parenting During Residency A resident’s guide to parenting, pregnancy, parental leave, and beyond, RDoBC.
  • Medical Marriages discusses the emotional health of physicians and their families in intimate relationships. Dr. Michael F. Meyers, MD.

  • e-Learning

  • HeretoHelp a website developed by the BC Partners for Mental Health and Addictions Information, has a series of wellness modules including Social Support.

  • Alternatives Journal is a not-for-profit environmental magazine housed at the University of Waterloo. They have a range of free and for-purchase articles covering topics in sustainable living, people & profiles, policy & politics, energy & resources, and science & solutions.

Interactive-Media and e-Learning

  • Ecological Footprint Calculator from the Earth Day Network. This quiz is provided in both a detailed and a basic version and includes questions about food consumption, material goods, living and utilities use, mobility, and transportation, and provides you with a printable summary of your ecological footprint and compares it to the Canadian average.
  • 6 Super Summer Apps “Put a little goodness in your gadget”.
  • H2OUSE provides an interactive “Home Tour” designed to provide information and advice to conserve water in your home.

Get Help

  • Residents are encouraged to seek assistance as soon as possible as outcomes are often much better with early consideration. The RRO office provides non-academic support for residents who may be coping with professional/personal challenges in a safe and confidential space.
  • Telus Health App is USask’s Employee and Family Assistance Program (EFAP) provider, and offers a wide range of services including free and confidential counseling, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.  
  • MindBeacon offers virtual mental health support. 
  • For eligible employees, your benefit plan covers mental health supports including clinical counsellors, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, psychotherapists, and social workers.  
  • The Saskatchewan Medical Association provides several programs under the umbrella of Physician Wellness and Support Programs - these include the Physician Health Program, Physician in Need (focuses on workplace wellness), the Medical Benevolent Society and EDI services.
  • 211 Saskatchewan is an initiative of the United Way Saskatoon and the United Way Regina. They offer centralized contact information for emergency crisis hotlines, shelters, childcare services, care homes, food services, financial help, older adult services, newcomer services, aboriginal services, mental health services, and disability services. They have a province wide directory of Saskatchewan 24/7 Hour Crisis Hotlines

Event Calendar

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COVID-19

Contact Us



John Dyck
Coordinator, Wellness Resources
(306) 966-1669

Joanna Winichuk
Clerical, Academic & Wellness Resources
(306) 966-5557
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