Mental Health Services for Current Residents & Fellows
If you need additional support, it's okay! Physicians in training are at high risk for depression and anxiety. University of Maryland has different resources you can use to help.
Employee Assistance Program
The Employee Assistance Program (EAP) is a free counseling and referral service for hospital employees and their family members. Other features of the program:
- It is staffed by trained mental health professionals and designed to assist employees and family members experiencing personal, professional or family problems
- The EAP staff provide short-term counseling and make referrals to other appropriate resources as needed
- It is important to note that all services provided by EAP are confidential, they do not use EPIC to keep records. Clinical notes are kept in a separate data base, available only within the EAP. The EAP does not release information regarding someone's care unless that person unless that person specifically authorizes it.
- The only exception to this is when a supervisor requests that an employee seek counseling due to poor job performance and even then, only limited information is released, and the release needs to be signed by the employee
Contact EAP
Call the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) at 667-214-1555 anytime 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. A counselor is available at all times by pager, follow the instructions on voice mail. You will need to be scheduled for an appointment with a counselor. You can also contact Wanda Binns (wbinns@som.umaryland.edu) to make an appointment in the EAP.
The counselor will meet with you in a confidential setting and help you assess the problem, provide short-term counseling as needed and help in the selection of other appropriate professional resources within the community.
Wellness Champions
Our physicians are very familiar with the rigorous lifestyle that comes with being a resident or fellow. We were in your shoes once!
We also know how nice it can be to have a helpful ear and some guidance during difficult times from someone who has been in your position.
Our Wellness Champions are here for just that. Feel free to reach out to any of them to set up time to chat.
Headspace App
The Headspace app focuses on meditation and mindfulness. There are 400 licenses made available by the hospital for trainees and APPs, on a first come-first serve basis. If you are interested in this and cannot obtain one of the licenses, please call (410) 328-3118 and ask for Terry Roberts.
Support and Social Work Services
Heather Kangas, LCSW-C, is available to support you through life's ups and downs. UMMC employees' wellness is important and sometimes we all need additional help managing aspects of our lives. These services are free for employees (UMMC and temporary), voluntary and confidential.
Services include resources & referrals to help with:
- Child care
- Finances, including assistance with:
- Loans and leases
- Bills and utilities
- Accessing mental health care
- Connection to internal UMMC resources (i.e. career coaching)
- Crisis situations
- Domestic and intimate partner violence
To make an appointment, call 410-328-5231 or email Heather at hkangas@umm.edu.
Professional Assistance Committee
The purpose of the Professional Assistance Committee is to assist members of the medical staff (including residents) who may be at risk of becoming impaired due to the use of alcohol or drugs, emotional distress or a physical disability. The Professional Assistance Committee serves as a resource and an advocate for the physician experiencing these kinds of problems. Anyone that is concerned about a physician's health or well-being is encouraged to call the Professional Assistance Committee for advice and consultation.
For more information or to set up an appointment, please call 667-214-1555.
Resilience in Stressful Events (RISE) Program
RISE is a peer support service for staff who encounter stressful, clinically related events. Support from RISE is available 24 hours a day/7 days a week. A RISE responder is immediately available to assist you.
RISE was first developed in an effort to provide timely, peer support to health care workers who are second victims (the term given to health care workers involved in adverse events, and/or encounter stressful, patient-related events). The RISE program provides immediate peer-to-peer support in a confidential and non- judgmental manner.
To contact a RISE Peer Responder
- Dial 410-559-9595
Schwartz Rounds
Schwartz Center Rounds is designed to help health care staff deliver care with a human touch that makes "the unbearable bearable," in the words of its late founder.
These monthly sessions provide a safe environment and multidisciplinary forum where caregivers can discuss difficult emotional and social issues that come from caring for patients. Conversations during rounds are intended to explore the human dimension of clinical practice, to enhance clinicians' sense of community, and to heighten our ability to provide compassionate care.
View our events calendar to see when the next session is.
Spiritual Support Services
Chaplains are a part of the interdisciplinary team and are available to assist patients, families and staff to use their spiritual and/or religious resources to aid in healing, illness prevention, death, grief and loss, and adjustment to a new diagnosis or health care crisis.