VISION OF WELLNESS ONGOING, ADAPTIVE PURSUIT OF OPTIMAL EMOTIONAL, PHYSICAL AND SPIRITUAL BALANCE THE WVSOM WELLNESS COMMITTEE IS COMMITTED TO: Fostering health and wellness in the work and educational environment
Ensuring accreditation standards and procedures related to health and wellness
DIVERSITY COMMITTEE
During this fiscal year, we built upon our already solid foundation of diversity-related work in two specific ways: The Diversity Committee hosted a Moderator Training with the West Virginia Center for Civic Life and two follow-up “Difficult Dialogues” events, and the committee hosted an educational series focusing on basic medical Spanish and an understanding of the relationship between Latinx cultures and access to health care. Both activities were aimed at helping students gain tangible communication skills that will serve them well as they move into leadership positions within their communities following graduation. Moderator training was provided by Jean Ambrose, program coordinator with the West Virginia Center for Civic Life. Ambrose provided moderator training for four different formats: World Café, What’s Next, Living Room Conversations and Open Space. Members of the WVSOM community subsequently hosted Open Space meetings on most Tuesdays from late September 2019 through January 2020 as well as a World Café on Work-Life Balance on Jan. 30, 2020, and a Living Room Conversation on empathy on March 10, 2020. The Medical Spanish Series was conceptualized as a five-part series that would teach WVSOM students, especially those scheduled to participate in a medical service trip during spring break, the basics of 40 ANNUAL REPORT 2020 • No. 1 in Rural Primary Care www.wvsom.edu
WELLNESS COMMITTEE
During its third year on campus, the WVSOM Health and Wellness Committee focused on increasing its visibility and expanding its impact. The committee’s webpage provided wellness resources on an ongoing and asynchronous basis. At the same time, the committee sought to increase the engagement of all members of the WVSOM community through the highly accessible activity of walking. In order to help structure the fun of getting active through walking, the committee contracted with an outside company, Walker Tracker, which allows for setting up walking competitions along virtually mapped theme courses. Five competitions took place during the fiscal year: “Real Pirates of the Caribbean,” a five-day solo challenge during which participants were introduced to real pirates of yore; “Spooky USA,” a tour highlighting haunted locations across the country, for a monthlong team challenge; “Turkey Trot,” a monthlong individual challenge in which participants mapped out a turkey design; “Harriet Tubman’s Underground Railroad,” a monthlong solo challenge; and a Virtual 5K that took place on Memorial Day Weekend. The WVSOM Health and Wellness Committee has extended its contract with Walker Tracker through the next fiscal year.
communication and culture. All sessions were designed and delivered by five WVSOM students who were native Spanish speakers or otherwise fluent. Three sessions occurred in person during February and early March 2020. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the fourth session and a final exam took place virtually. Additionally, the committee chair, Rebecca Morrow, Ph.D., serves as a member of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine Diversity Council. Efforts for the next fiscal year will focus on training members of the WVSOM community on “Developing Effective Allyship” across a variety of diversity categories including race, sex, ability and LGBTQ+ identity.
