The Resident Wellness Office is pleased to announce our newest initiative– “Peer Supporter of the Month” to highlight some of the amazing Peer Supporters that provide reach outs to residents seeking support and validation after an emotionally distressing event. In 2021, the RWO piloted the Peer Support Program derived from Dr. Jo Shapiro’s model from Harvard Medical School. Each of our Peer Supporters are trained under Dr. Shapiro’s model and have been provided the tools to share compassion, empathy and connection to colleagues in distress. We’d like to show our appreciation by featuring a new supporter each month.
This month, we’re featuring Dr. Ben Chew! In a conversation with Dr. Chew, we asked “Why did you want to be a Peer Supporter?” Dr. Chew replied, “I wanted to be a peer supporter because someone suggested my name as they felt I already do a lot of this for our residents. It was a real compliment and I feel like it’s part of our jobs to not only teach medicine, but the human side of it as well. In a lot of aspects, being human and taking care of all our emotional needs is harder than learning medicine. It is a privilege to be able to help.” When asked what his favourite thing about peer support is, Dr. Chew replied, “My favourite thing about peer support is the ability to help others. I hope people reach out when they need to. We all need to at some point.” Thanks for all your efforts Dr. Chew!
If you or a colleague is in need of a Peer Supporter to speak to, please don’t hesitate to submit an anonymous reach out request here.
