This year’s ACEP Wellness Week is April 7–13, 2019, and our theme is Wellness 2.0–Intelligently Designing Emergency Medicine. The concept of physician well-being has evolved over time, and a tidal wave of support has carried it to the forefront of our priorities in the past few years. We have turned the corner with “physician wellness” from a concept predominantly individual-based (focusing on personal resilience, self-care, and mental health) to a concept that is heavily weighted toward the systemic and operational issues leading to burnout. Appreciating this viewpoint, ACEP has dedicated Wellness Week 2019 to continue to highlight the ways we can drive systemic change and continue to improve the quality of our work­–life experience.

This year’s initiatives will have a new twist to the format and include group challenges that require preparation time (see below for details). We’re also proud to be making this a more coordinated event with increased internal collaboration by having other ACEP committees highlighting what they are doing to support physician well-being. Other national emergency medicine organizations will be also be celebrating the week with us, including the Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors, Society for Academic Emergency Medicine (SAEM), American College of Osteopathic Emergency Physicians, Emergency Medicine Residents’ Association, and SAEM Resident and Medical Students. We’re also pleased to have support from the international community, with groups from Australia, Canada, and Turkey that are tackling the same issues we are on board. To join what will be vibrant conversations all week, check out the hashtags #ACEPWW19 #iEMWell and follow the EMDocs and ACEP Facebook groups. All sign-up forms are at www.acep.org/emwellnessweek.

Dr. Lakoff is assistant professor of emergency medicine and a healthcare leadership and management fellow at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City and a member of ACEP’s Well-Being Committee.

Challenge Yourself for ACEP Wellness Week 2019

Here’s what you have to look forward to this year.

1. Group Challenges

Start preparing now! For this challenge, we’ll be asking departmental wellness champions to lead groups and complete the following items for prizes and recognition.

A) Create and submit your departmental wellness vision and mission statement.

B) Complete a group wellness activity of your choosing from one of the following options, and submit vivid supportive documentation or media demonstrating completion along with a registration form and signed mission statement.

Option 1: Week-long Step Challenge

• Select a seven-day period to record steps achieved by your group.
• Submit proof of the number of steps achieved by each team member (ie, pictures from a tracking device or app with weekly step count).
• Steps will be totaled and then divided by the number of people you designate in your group on your registration form.

Option 2: Demonstration of Wellness Activity Participation

• Submit documentation of your group participating in a department-sponsored group wellness activity.
• Examples of supportive documentation include a video documentary, photographs (five to 10), a PowerPoint presentation with voice-over, or a written summary.
• This activity will be judged on the percentage of members participating and how the activity demonstrates commitment to physician wellness and utilization of resources by group members.

Option 3: Week-long Gratitude Challenge

• Select a seven-day period to record things you are grateful for.
• Examples include creating a gratitude jar that participants fill with post-it notes with written comments or creating a group message board where members can post what they are grateful for during the week-long challenge.
• This activity will be judged on percentage of group participation.

Option 4: Week-long Random Acts of Kindness Challenge

• Select a seven-day period to “pay-it-forward” to other members of your group.
• Examples include buying coffee, coming into shift early to relieve a coworker, or collecting clothes or food for a local shelter.
• Take photos of each act as supportive documentation.
• This activity will be judged on percentage of group participation.

2. Daily Challenges