Monday, 3 February 2020

Hands up for MED-WELL programme!!
Medical School can challenge the physical and mental health of students particularly compressed graduate entry programmes. There is evidence that physical activity can improve pastoral care and help maintain wellness among medical students. The national physical activity guidelines recommend 30 minutes of moderate to vigorous PA 5 days per week and many medical students do not achieve such levels of physical activity. In addition, there are many global initiatives to encourage healthcare providers to prescribe more exercise for patients due to its evidence-based role in improving health outcomes. The recently launched innovative MED-WELL programme is one such programme. This is a joint experiential and educational exercise programme for graduate entry medical students in Year 2 developed and led by Prof Liam Glynn and his General Practice team at GEMS. The programme consists of joint weekly sessions involving both a physical activity component (e.g.: pilates, yoga, circuits etc.) and an multi-disciplinary educational component led by a variety of EHS faculty members from GEMS, PESS and the School of Allied Health. The programme was piloted last year where is demonstrated significant improvements not just in physical activity but also in well-being, sleep and social isolation for participating students and is mainstreamed in the curriculum as  part of the “Human Doctor” programme. This programme was a key component of the recent successful “Exercise is Medicine – On Campus” (EIM-OC) application submitted by the UL team led by Dr Matt Herring and Dr Brian Carson from PESS which was awarded Silver status globally.