New program, Wellness4MDs, available to all physicians, residents, and medical students in Canada

~shared on behalf of Dr. Vincent Agyapong, Head of the Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University

The Department of Psychiatry at Dalhousie University is pleased to announce a new program, Wellness4MDs, available to all physicians, residents, and medical students in Canada.

Wellness4MDs is a bilingual, evidence-based, cost-effective program that supports the mental health of physicians, postgraduate medical trainees, and medical students in Canada using daily supportive text messages. Text messages in English or French will be delivered to anonymous subscribers for six months at no-cost.

Starting today, physicians, residents, and medical students in Canada can subscribe to the program by texting “WELLMD” for access in English or “BIENMD” for access in French to 1-855-947-4673. Subscribers can opt in to participate in the program evaluation by completing surveys when they begin the program and at designated follow-up times.

We invite you to share this program with your network of physicians, residents, and medical students in Canada. Attached are posters assets in English and in French are below. 

Subscribers will have access to the program for six months throughout which they will be asked to complete voluntary surveys so researchers can measure the program’s effectiveness. Subscribers will continue to receive the daily supportive text messages whether they participate in the surveys or not. After six months, participants can resubscribe to continue receiving the text messages.

Text messages are based on cognitive behavioural therapy principles and were developed by psychiatrists, mental health therapists, clinical psychologists, and mental health service users.

The program aims to significantly reduce levels of stress, anxiety, burnout, and depression among physicians, residents, and medical students in Canada.

Physicians experience high levels of burnout, anxiety, and depression and many may not seek out care because they are too busy or are reluctant due to lingering stigma around mental health issues. With increasing levels of these symptoms negatively impacting the healthcare workforce, the need to support physician mental health and well-being is great.

Wellness4MDs builds on the success of the researchers’ other text message-based mental health programs which have been shown to improve clinical symptoms and have a high user satisfaction.

It is powered by the ResilienceNHope software, an online application that delivers the suite of supportive text and e-mail messaging programs, including Text4Mood, Text4Hope, Wellness4Teachers, Text4PTSI, Text4Wellness, and MoreGoodDays, developed by the Global Mental Health Research Group based at Dalhousie University and the University of Alberta and is operated by the Global Psychological eHealth Foundation.

Wellness4MDs is funded by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Foundation, the Global Psychological eHealth Foundation, Mental Health Foundation in Alberta, the Royal Bank of Canada Foundation with support from the Department of Psychiatry, Dalhousie University, the Division of Community Psychiatry at the University of Alberta, and in partnership with Alberta Health Services.

Please join us in sharing this initiative with physicians, residents, and medical students in Canada.

If you have any questions about the Wellness4MDs program, contact: vn602367@dal.ca

E-mail: vn602367@dal.ca or vincent.agyapong@nshealth.ca 

Posters:

English: 

French: