The Development and Implementation of a Longitudinal Wellness Curriculum for McGill University’s Undergraduate Medical Program

Medical students report high rates of psychological distress and morbidity throughout their training. Poor psychological well-being among medical students can interfere with learning and success in medical school, decrease quality of life, and negatively impact quality patient care. Education may be a promising tool to enhance medical students’ resilience, well-being, and mental health. The WELL Office in the Faculty of Medicine at McGill University has developed a novel, 4-year Longitudinal Wellness Curriculum to promote medical students’ personal and professional well-being, and foster a culture of resilience within the learning environment. We present a description of the design, development, and implementation of our Wellness Curriculum. We discuss future directions related to Wellness Curriculum research, evaluation, and application. The present Wellness Curriculum may provide an approach to wellness education for other medical programs.