Physician Mental Health

Physicians and physicians in training face unique challenges in the course of their professional development and careers. They often face competing demands on their time both professionally and personally, exposure to human suffering and pain, complex clinical decision making, and balancing professional and personal responsibilities. Several studies have identified personality traits such as perfectionism, competitiveness, workaholism, Type A personality as well as a culture of mistreatment and cynicism, taxing workload,  and imposter syndrome (viewing oneself as inferior to peers) as risk factors to mental health concerns among physicians and medical learners.

Dr. Jaleh Shahin has been extensively involved in physician mental health over the past decade. On an organizational level, she was tasked with development and operation of the in-house mental health program at the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry at the University of Alberta. Her scholarly activities have focused on the topic of medical professionals’ mental health and wellness. She has presented nationally and internationally on her research on mental health of medical learners. Clinically, she has worked with medical students, medical residents, fellows, international medical graduates (IMG), and physicians providing psychological services including treatment, assessments, and consultation.

The physician mental health program at Upsilon was created to provide physicians and medical learners with psychological services that empowers them to navigate through the complexities of Medicine, and improve their professional, personal and social wellbeing.