Student Wellness
“Healing is a matter of time, but it is sometimes also a matter of opportunity.”
— Hippocrates
Downstate College of Medicine is committed to supporting every aspect of the medical school journey, which includes a well-rounded approach to your personal well-being and development. Medical school is an exciting time of life. At the same time, it can feel challenging or even overwhelming to cope with the new demands, including long hours, heavy study load and emotionally challenging clinical situations. Sometimes students believe that the only way to excel is to cut out all activities that take time away from studying, such as sleep, exercise, socializing, hobbies, and simply relaxing – even if these activities are crucial to maintaining health and joy.
An essential aspect of becoming doctors is learning to take care of our own health and work-life balance, thus allowing ourselves to have the emotional capacity to care for our patients. Learning to maintain wellness skills during medical school enables students to thrive academically and personally throughout their medical school experience and on into Residency. The wellness resources aim to maximize student health, happiness, and continued growth personally and professionally over your long careers as practicing physicians.
Downstate promotes student health and well-being through coordination of many resources. Throughout your medical training you will find support in the following areas:
Physical Wellness
Emotional Wellness
- Student Counseling Service
- ThrivingCampus - helps students connect with mental health workers off-campus
- Peer Wellness Program
- Student Mistreatment Support
Community Wellness
Other resources
Financial Wellness
This link offers a wealth management series and resources to prepare students to have a healthy financial life and manage debt.
Debt Management for Medical Students
Intellectual Wellness
Library is now open Monday-Friday, 9am to 5pm. Library services are also available online. Connect virtually to our librarians and staff Monday-Friday, 9am to 5pm.
The Medical Research Library of Brooklyn
Academic Support Services provides specialized one-on-one academic coaching and peer-led review sessions.