Students Promote Wellness Through WellCOM
By Bhoomi Bhuptani, COM ‘23
About the Author:
Student Doctor Bhuptani currently serves as Co-Chair of WellCOM, a branch of COM’s Student Government Association (SGA). WellCOM’s mission is to increase mental health and wellness awareness for medical students at UNE COM.
Over the last 11 months, life as medical students has completely changed. From courses being remote or hybrid learning models – the words self-care, connection and wellness have completely changed meaning. WellCOM, a committee with the Student Government Association, has allowed students the opportunity to express their concerns, engage in meaningful conversation throughout the year and provide students the opportunity for socialization. WellCOM has hosted monthly, WellCOM Wednesday Zoom Groups each centered on a theme, led by second-year student, Bianca Zarrella. In October, the theme was “speed dating” in which we began with a short meditation and then broke all of the attendees into breakout rooms where they learned about the each other. November and December were focused on the learning and implementation of different self-care techniques, such as journaling.
In addition to WellCOM Wednesdays, based on student feedback, a Wellness Temperature Survey was created. This allowed students to express concerns about their mental health and their self-care practices since the beginning of the academic year with COVID. It was a platform that allowed students to be transparent about their wellness needs. There were 120 responses between the first and second-year classes. Students were asked about the feeling of community, their spiritual, physical and mental health as well as their self-care practices. The survey results were shared with leadership first and will be shared with students.
Class of 2023 students participating in a WellCOM initiative
"UNE COM students are showing that they are strong and capable