The UNMC Graduate Medical Education Office celebrated five years of the House Officer Wellness Lounge – a dedicated spot where house officers can rest and recharge. House officers were invited for food and refreshments Dec. 11 to celebrate the space.
The lounge opened in July 2019 and is considered a groundbreaking space devoted to wellness for residents and fellows. It offers food and drinks, computers and a conference room, exercise space, a lactation room and showers.
Chandra Are, MBBS, associate dean for graduate medical education, who welcomed residents to the event, reflected on the discussions and planning it took to move the wellness lounge from idea through planning and construction to reality.
Given the weekly hours house officers work — up to 80 hours per week, and 28-hour shifts, for anywhere from one to eight years of training, “a space such as this with the amenities is more of a necessity than a luxury,” Dr. Are said.
“The space is more than justified by the number of house officers that access it regularly, which is approximately 3,000 times per month,” he said.
Dr. Are said the wellness lounge has been extremely successful and is of enormous benefit for residents and their well-being, in addition to serving as an excellent recruiting tool.
“Among the many things they like about this space: This is a space where they can come that’s dedicated to them, but they also meet residents from other specialties,” he said.
Joe Novotny, MD, treasurer of the House Officer Association and a sixth-year house officer in a pediatric pulmonary and sleep medicine fellowship, said the HOWL is a unique place on campus where house officers can decompress, socialize, work independently, take a break, get food and recharge, while building camaraderie.
“It’s been incredible to recognize the relationship that the House Officer Association has had with the GME Office to ensure that the space is optimized for the residents,” he said.