Self-care resources

Medicine is a rewarding and endlessly challenging career. Hanging in for the long haul requires the ability to transcend adversity.

When we consider all the complex issues we juggle every day, sometimes it seems easier to try to ignore the frustration and just get on with the job. But chronic states of stress can catch up with us and if this happens, patient care will suffer.

Most importantly, we need to challenge our medical culture, which tends to encourage us to wear our state of chronic stress like a badge of honour. For these reasons, all of us need to think about ways to maintain our resilience in the long term and how we care for our colleagues.

Resilience is a combination of personal skills, behaviours, knowledge and attitude. There is no single blueprint for being resilient‚ it is a matter of finding what works for you in the situations you find yourself in.

r-cubed (Real Resilience Resources) is a website  dedicated to supporting medical students, prevocational doctors, and GP registrars to become more resilient. It offers resources, inspiration and tips from other doctors on self care.

Click here to visit the r-cubed website.