Building Resilience Through Food

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Author: Madhu Hardasmalani, MD FAAEM
AAEM Physician Wellness and Burnout Prevention Committee
Originally Published: Common Sense November/December 2017

Resilience is the ability to bounce back from an adverse life situation. Some individuals are born with this trait and we are all envious. However, the majority of us need a little help. Even those individuals with the inborn resilience trait, need help maintaining it.

Now having and maintaining this trait is not very simple — there is no magic “resilience pill.” The key is lifestyle changes, which may initially be a bit daunting, but can better equip us to meet life’s challenges head on without breaking down.

The Cruelty of Depression

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Author: Becky Lee, MS4
University of Maryland School of Medicine
AAEM RSA Wellness Committee

In the middle of a hot August day, excited chatter echoed inside the dome of the columned, 200-year-old medical school building. It was our first day of medical school, and my classmates and I were eager to get started on our long-held dreams of becoming doctors. The next few days of orientation were a blur of information and optimism, all leading up to the first day of anatomy lab, where we paused in solemn silence to thank the donors and their families. I let this feeling sink in – the feeling that I was exactly where I was supposed to be. I had no idea that the next few months would be my darkest days of medical school. By the time winter break loomed around the corner, I couldn’t sleep, I no longer felt like eating, and I stopped talking to my friends and family. I stopped running and reading. In fact, I stopped going outside altogether. I spent most of my time in bed, staring at the ceiling, wondering if things would ever get better, and questioning how I ended up here. Sometimes, the thought occurred to me that I wouldn’t mind if I didn’t wake up the next day.

Dying to Save Lives

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Author: Ashely Alker, MD MSc, PGY-3
2017-18 AAEM/RSA President
Originally Published: Common Sense November/December 2017

I remember the day I was accepted to medical school. It was one of the happiest days of my life. The first six months of medical school I fought against the imposter syndrome that plagued my incredible reality: I was going to be a doctor. To this day I feel privileged to do my job.

The only match to the privilege of being a physician is the challenge. The immense responsibility for human life, sleep deprivation, and loss of balance are challenges that plague all physicians. I have questioned my career choice and even considered quitting. And just as studies have shown that diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia are risk factors for coronary artery disease, the stress, isolation, and sleep deprivation of the physician lifestyle are a perfect storm of precursors to depression.