SAFE-DRS: 5 years of a health and wellbeing curriculum in the medical programme at the University of Auckland

Abstract

SAFE-DRS is a comprehensive multi-year, multi-component health and wellbeing curriculum, which was introduced to the Auckland medical programme in 2013, as part of the Personal and Professional Skills (PPS) domain. There are seven SAFE-DRS components (Self-care and Skills, Accessing Help, Focussed Attention, Emotional Intelligence, Doctor as Patient and Colleague, Reflective Practice, and Stress-Resistance). These themes are re-visited and built on year by year, as students progress through the medical programme, and topics are aligned with other curricular content and year-level tasks to demonstrate their relevance and add context. The SAFE-DRS curriculum was designed to be flexible and has been refined over the last five years in response to student and staff feedback. Old and new topics will be included in this presentation and the reasons for any changes outlined. The presentation will therefore document the evolution of the curriculum over a five-year period. The authors will summarise the core SAFE-DRS components and will include some detailed examples of learning objectives, teaching processes and specific student tasks as an example of curricular content. The SAFE-DRS curriculum is assessed in multiple ways, and the assessment strategy and an example of rubrics will be outlined. The results of a student evaluation at the end of 2013 will be included. For those interested in introducing a wellbeing curriculum to their own institution, suggestions as to how to overcome potential barriers to implementation will be included, along with some ‘arguments’ for the inclusion of such a curriculum and practical tips about the reality of embedding and refining it.