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Student Wellness

students participating in wellness activities

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.

Wellness Initiatives

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.

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. In addition, we have School of Medicine specific programs such as the cooking program and the farm wellness event that students can engage in!

Collage of wellness activities

VMED Strength - A Gym for Medical Students

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.

Wellness Resources

We offer holistic support for medical students that extends beyond the classroom. Our wellness programs feature stress management, nutrition support, personal wellness advising, and physical and mental health programming. By developing methods of self-care to support taking care of yourself, you will be better prepared to serve your patients in the future.

Access Wellness on VMED Here

In addition to the various wellness resources, The Center for Health and Humanities faculty provide instruction in the Healer’s Art, a curriculum designed by Rachel Naomi Remen MD of UCSF School of Medicine, and adopted by medical schools throughout the U.S. to assist students in “maintaining a sense of personal and professional satisfaction in their work and maintaining an ongoing commitment to the profession.” The noncredit elective course is taught in five three-hour evening sessions over a three-month period. More information on enrollment for SMD2028 will come December 2024. Until then, please click the button below for general wellness information.

For Current Students Access Healer’s Art Course information on VMED here