Student Wellness

The UVA School of Medicine provides a wellness-centered learning environment with a focus on caring for your body, mind, and spirit. We focus on wellness both within and outside of the classroom, providing students with learning communities to thrive within the larger classroom setting.

From the time you arrive on campus, you will participate in curricula, programs, and activities designed to help you learn efficiently and effectively, as well as develop self-care techniques to navigate medical school. These wellness focuses skills are critical to resilience and professional development throughout your training and career beyond medical school.

The University of Virginia School, the School of Medicine, the School of Nursing and the Health System provide a variety of initiatives to ensure students, faculty, and staff maintain a strong culture of wellness. Both student and faculty networks of wellness champions maintain a high level of engagement in developing and delivering curriculum, programs, and activities specifically for medical students.

University wide recreation facilities, Contemplative Sciences Center programs, the Health System Mindfulness Center, and Compassionate Care Initiatives are just some of the available programs to assist students in developing a caring approach to becoming a physician.

Shown here; Medical students collaborate in Wellness cooking programs to develop healthy eating habits and understanding of foods’ importance in wellbeing for themselves and their patients.

Medical students, Student Affairs Deans, and Faculty participate in our first farm-to-table wellness retreat at Morven Farms, near Charlottesville, VA.

UVA medical students working with the UVA SOM Alumni Association proposed and built a student-run gym specifically for UVA medical students’ use. The gym offers a wide variety of student-led classes from kickboxing to HIIT.  The gym is well appointed with equipment and its best feature:  peer support with other UVA SOM medical students.

Medical students have the option to enjoy monthly yoga classes as a way to build community and find balance in their busy medical school lives.