Juanita Braxton, PhD is the Administrative Manager for Surgical Education at University of California Davis Health in Sacramento, California. She is also a charter member of the ACGME’s Coordinator Advisory Group, which was formed in 2016 to serve as a consultative body to the ACGME administration concerning coordinator, GME, learning environment, and accreditation matters. Dr. Braxton presented PC005, Inspiring Minds – Cultivating Success, at the Coordinator Forum during the pre-conferences to the Annual Educational Conference Thursday, March 1.

The ACGME’s and medical community’s prioritization of physician well-being made the issue a central of theme at the 2018 Annual Educational Conference. Gender-Specific Challenges in Burnout, a session led by speakers Carol Bernstein, MD and Kimberly Templeton, MD, explored a variety of factors that contribute specifically to the risk of burnout and differences between what men and women face in this arena.

Jamie Dow, EdM, is assistant director for resident education and training at the University of Florida. Her poster, Mindfulness in Neurosurgery: Improving Neurosurgeon Wellness in Training and Beyond (with co-authors W. Christopher Fox, MD, Associate Program Director, University of Florida, and Gregory Murad, MD, Program Director, University of Florida), looked at wellness in neurosurgery, which Dow says “has traditionally been considered an oxymoron.” However, as priorities among neurological surgery residents evolve and the effects of physician burnout are increasingly recognized across specialties, life balance and overall well-being have become areas of emphasis and an opportunity for program improvement.

The Back to Bedside initiative is designed to empower medical residents and fellows to generate innovative strategies that will allow them to engage on a deeper level with what is at the heart of medicine: their patients.

Part of the ongoing ACGME Answers series, this post aims to clarify confusion regarding the ACGME's requirements for leaves of absence.

2021 Parker J. Palmer Courage to Teach Awardee John F. McConville, MD is the internal medicine program director at the University of Chicago. He specializes in pulmonology and critical care.