Wellness
Stanford Surgery Well-being is dedicated to considering each Stanford Surgery member's physical, psychological, professional, and social well-being. We are proud to be part of the I am Human initiative pushing for a professional culture that celebrates our individual humanity while creating a workplace that prioritizes clinicians as multifaceted individuals, workload optimization, and patient care. We invite you to look through our past and present initiatives.
All-Dept Programs
Shout It Out
Let’s recognize our fellow faculty, trainees, staff, postdocs for small acts of kindness to extraordinary initiative and leadership. Give your team members a shout-out! Kudos will be published in our Department quarterly newsletter, The Scrub.
Book Club
The Stanford Surgery Book Club is open to all staff, faculty, and trainees within the Department of Surgery at Stanford University. Books are suggested by department members and chosen via popular vote. The Book Club meets monthly on the last Thursday of the month via Zoom.
Physician Wellness Programs
Tell Us About It
Pebble in your shoe, boulder in your way? We are listening and we love to hear from you. Help us help you by telling us what's supporting or detracting from your well-being. Your input in 2024 led to work on OR efficiency and communication, so keep sharing to focus future efforts. You can remain anonymous, or let us know if you'd like to discuss further. Current physicians can find the link in the monthly Department newsletter or scan the QR code on your badge buddy.
Surgery Peer Support
Complications, patient complaints, interpersonal conflicts—we all experience them, and sometimes it really helps to talk to someone about it. Communications fall under the umbrella of WellMD’s PRN Support Program and are protected under California Code 1157. If you’re interested in becoming a peer supporter, reach out and we can facilitate training.
Our trained peer supporters:
- Brooke Gurland
- Cindy Kin
- Crystal Chang
- Dan Eisenberg
- Joe Forrester
- Julie Fuchs
- Varia Kirchner
Lisa Knowlton
Marc Melcher
Dung Nguyen
Tom Pham
Andrew Shelton
Cassie Sonntagg
Sherry Wren
Call Me By My Name
The department is proud to sponsor custom surgical caps for OR team members. This “Say My Name” pilot program has continued due to resounding positive feedback in its pilot year. Not only does it improve perioperative communication and reduce margins of error, but it does a world of wonder to know the names of who you work with.
Hear Dr. Aussama Nassar talk about how the idea of scrub caps with names took off at Stanford.
EHR Training
Reduce the amount of time you spend on the electronic health record and get personalized assistance, tips and tricks with your clinic flow with an individual training session. Find out how to automate your most common repetitive motions such as how to create shortcut buttons, filter notes by author, and insert pre-written informational statements.
Medical, Dental, Vision Self Care Resources
Stanford Personalized Services can help expedite health appointments for faculty, email here.
Wellness Lectures
The Department of Surgery sponsors at least one Wellness Lecture each year that is presented to all faculty, staff, and trainees at Department Grand Rounds.
Resident Balance in Life Program
Founded by former general surgery residency program director Ralph Greco in 2011, our Balance in Life (BIL) program was established to address the physical, psychological, professional, and social well-being of surgical residents at Stanford. This program is the first of its kind in the nation and has, since its inception, been led by a committee of residents that includes representatives from each PG level.
Faculty Appreciation Month
With support from our Chair and Division Chiefs, the Department of Surgery recognizes our diverse community of faculty. Volunteer faculty hosted events to express gratitude and promote community and camaraderie. In 2024, faculty enjoyed a day out on the water, group fitness training classes, a rejuvenation spa date and a family-friendly pool party. Look out for this fun annual event!
“It was just great to see everyone - including kids was really nice - we have such an awesome group of colleagues”
“Loved the workout and coffee afterwards! 100% would do again!”
Staff Wellness Programs
Annual Staff Retreat
Each year, all department staff get together to spend the day team building, doing professional development, and having fun. Celebrations in part years have been at Pier 39 in San Francisco and Great America Amusement Park in Santa Clara.
FY25 Committee
Chair: Carla Joachin
Co-Chair: Gina Kalafatis
Tara Ti
Rachel Baker
Rosa Madera
Patricia Friedman
Marisol Rueda
University Wellness Programs
Stanford WellMD & WellPHD Center
When Tait Shanafelt, MD joined Stanford School of Medicine in 2017, he became the first Chief Wellness Center at an academic medical center. Today, the WellMD Center offers a variety of programs to promote physician wellness from mindfulness to physical fitness.
Stanford WellConnect
Confidential program to promote mental health for medical trainees (MD/DO residents and fellows), physicians and advanced practice providers at PCHA and SMP, and all benefits-eligible faculty in the School of Medicine at Stanford.
Stanford BeWell
A university-wide program for the community. All benefits-eligible staff members may participate. In addition to earning up to $560 in a taxable incentive, employees also receive discounted fitness classes, access to free Stanford athletic events, workshops, personal training sessions and additional perks.
Faculty Staff Help Center
Offers professional and confidential counseling for individuals, couples and families, including bilingual counseling, to address both work and personal issues. We also offer workshops, discussion groups, consultation, departmental training and facilitation services for difficult conversations. Up to 10 counseling sessions for you and eligible dependents.