For the past three years, there’s been one week in particular that Briana Gomez, M.D., a third-year resident in the KU School of Medicine-Wichita obstetrics and gynecology program, has looked forward to.

Not only does the program’s annual Wellness Week come with some nice perks, like a new pair of running shoes and a free breakfast, but it also raises awareness of a critical part of being a physician.

“It specifically makes us take a step back and make sure we are taking care of ourselves,” Gomez said.

And the timing couldn’t be better, she said, as Wellness Week, during the first week of February, comes on the heels of an annual training exam administered by the Council on Resident Education in Obstetrics and Gynecology at the end of January. The CREOG exam, which residents may find stressful, is a prep test for the board exams residents take at the conclusion of their residency.

CREOG and the American Council of Obstetricians and Gynecologists encourage OB-GYN residency programs nationwide to host Wellness Week activities to raise awareness of physical and emotional wellness.

“Wellness Week is a great time to take a break and remember the importance of self-care that is often forgotten in medicine. It also allows the residents some time to slow down and hopefully remember why they went into a healing profession in the first place,” said Simon Patton, M.D., a urogynecologist who is the assistant residency program director.

As Kat Woods, the residency program manager, plans the Wellness Week schedule, she looks for activities that will benefit the residents’ physical and emotional wellness. She listens to what residents liked doing in previous years and tries to find new activities.

This year’s schedule included a hot yoga session where residents could bring a plus-one, a stretching session with Stretch Lab staff for residents, attendings and labor and delivery nurses, and a breakfast with program leaders and residents at the popular HomeGrown restaurant.

Wellness Week also includes a service project. This year, five of the program’s 20 residents made and served breakfast for families staying at Ronald McDonald House.

Woods even plans an environmental wellness activity, but that one is done by the program’s administrative staff for the residents: a deep cleaning and reorganizing of the residents’ library, which serves as a sort of hub for the residents.

“They are always grateful for that,” Woods said.

Both residents and leadership look forward to Wellness Week each year for another important reason, said Patton and Gomez. The activities give participants the opportunity to socialize outside of the clinical setting.

Wellness Week hadn’t been established when Patton did his residency, but if it had “it would have been a welcome change from the day-to-day work of residency. It's always great to get off campus and interact with colleagues in a less formal setting,” he said.

“It’s nice that the department carves out time for us to do things outside of medicine,” Gomez said.

Above, left: OB-GYN residents help prepare meals for families at the Ronald McDonald House in Wichita. The residents' volunteer effort was part of Wellness Week.