The Department of Internal Medicine remains committed to honoring Dr. Jarrod Dye, a third year Internal Medicine resident who died of suicide on February 28.
A hand-crafted bench was built by some of the Internal Medicine residents in memory of Dr. Dye. Inscribed with the Prayer of Maimonides, it was built primarily by Jakeb Riggle, M.D., an Internal Medicine resident. The bench, as well as a memorial tree and plaque gifted by the UNMC Department of Surgery, are located by the Durham Research Center.
The department also raised money for the Jarrod Dye Memorial Resident Well-being Fund. A total of $39,100 was raised and contributions were matched dollar for dollar, up to $30,000, from Internal Medicine and from Nebraska Medicine. With the matches, the department will have a total of $99,100 to support wellness activities in the residency programs over the next 10 years.
"The funds will be used by the Internal Medicine resident wellness council to support activities promoting comradery, collegiality and well-being among the residents," said Dr. James O’Dell, M.D., professor of rheumatology and director of the Internal Medicine residency program.
The mission of the Internal Medicine Resident Wellness Program, which was formed two years ago, is to "empower residents by providing biopsychosocial wellness education and tools that can enable residents to achieve optimal wellbeing."
Some recent initiatives developed by the group include noon conferences with a focus on relationship, financial and physical well-being, "health half days," and activities like movie nights, sports games, an outing to Vala’s, and a humanities in medicine group.
The program’s annual intern retreat was held last month at Fontenelle Nature Association. Residents participated in activities that facilitate connection, teach the importance of biopsychosocial wellness and provide insight into the expectations that accompany the resident role.
"Creating a culture of wellness begins for our residents at the start of their intern year," said Erin Maxwell-Snow, C-TAGME, educational programs administrator.
The day-long intern retreat is facilitated by residency program directors, chief residents and staff, who model their own commitment to well-being by participating in all retreat activities. The residents take part in other retreats as they progress in the program. In their second year, the focus is on "residents as teachers" and third years learn about professional development and career and fellowship planning.
New this year is a mentorship program, called "Resident Buddies." All incoming interns are assigned to a "Buddy Group," which consists of two upper level residents and two interns paired with consideration given to future career interests.
"We had an overwhelming response from volunteers within the upper level classes to support incoming residents in a more structured manner," said Cory Rohlfsen, M.D., chief resident. "The goal is for each intern to feel supported from day one of residency."
A resident wellness webpage has also been created and contains information about the program, a calendar of didactics and activities, and photographs from recent wellness events.
"The program continues to be modified to best meet the needs of the residents," said Jennifer Harsh, Ph.D., assistant professor division of general medicine and director of the resident wellness program. "We actively seek feedback from residents on each piece of the program and have been working hard to ensure that the program is largely resident-run."
Honoring Dr. Jarrod Dye and resident well-being initiatives
