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Mental Health & Wellness


The Office of Student Affairs (OSA) at CMSRU, in collaboration with staff, faculty, and student leadership, has created a comprehensive system of programming to support students’ well-being and adjustment to the physical and emotional demands of medical school.

The OSA has adopted a culture of wellness that supplements students' classroom learning and contributes to their personal development through an array of programs, advisory college resources, and clubs/organizations designed to promote and sustain the wellbeing of our students. ​The OSA incorporates the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration's (SAMHSA) eight dimensions of wellness to offer programs and resources that align with each dimension of wellness, to best meet the needs of the student when providing supplemental information and facilitating wellness.  The SAMHSA eight dimensions of wellness include:

  • Social
  • Intellectual
  • Physical
  • Spiritual
  • Environmental
  • Emotional
  • Financial
  • Occupational/Academic  

CMSRU SAMHSA Wellness Activities

The CMSRU Wellness Center is located on the fourth floor of the Medical Education Building (MEB), and serves as a convenient location for students to exercise and expend energy. The 1,508 square foot wellness center includes:

  • A large exercise room with free weights and fitness equipment.
  • Certified instructor-led classes.
  • Group workouts in addition to available fitness audiotapes.

A changing room with showers is located across from the Wellness Center. The cardio room is outfitted with treadmills, rowing and elliptical machines, and stationary bicycles. 

The fourth-floor meditation room may be utilized as a private lactation area or for prayer. In addition to the Wellness Center, students participate in many other wellness activities, including but not limited to the following:

  • Yoga
  • Pilates
  • Fitness Classes
  • Dance Workshops
  • Messages of Positivity
  • Stair Challenges
  • Study Snack Break
  • Trivia Events
  • Chair Massages
  • Ping Pong
  • Interactive Sessions on Stress and Well-Being

CMSRU provides an additional wellness/relaxation space on the fourth floor across from the CMSRU Wellness Center. The CMSRU Student Lounge (Rm 420) is a dedicated area with soft seating for students to relax and socialize, and includes: pool table/air hockey, board games, puzzles, and a large screen TV. 

CMSRU encourages students to collaborate with the Advisory College Learning Communities and Wellness Program Specialist to facilitate other wellness activities and programming.

Student Mental Health Services 

The Office of Student Affairs (OSA) has created a multifaceted system of programming to support students’ well-being and adjustment to the physical and emotional demands of medical school. CMSRU provides medical students with on-site access to two Student Support Services Specialists, who are masters-level clinicians to provide immediate support and referral, when needed, encompassing the diversity of medical students’ needs. 

In addition, the CMSRU Student Support Services Specialists (SSSS) provide programming to students to increase their well-being. These services include:

  • Brief solution-focused individual coaching provided to students upon request.
  • Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) – short-term helping-process to avoid the development of post-traumatic stress disorder in crisis situations.
  • Comprehensive Assessment of Resources and Emotional Support (CARES) - individual meeting with each incoming M1 to build rapport and assess needs.
  • Small group meetings – SSSS and Financial Aid Services meet with M2 students to address emotional and financial well-being.
  • Proactive Advising for Student Support (PASS) Program – An innovative, proactive, supportive, and supplementary process to identify and support each student’s success. 
    • Partner with Learning Support Services Specialists and Primary Academic and Career Advisors.
  • CMSRU: Raising Mental Health Awareness – An online learning platform (Canvas course) that provides students with specific mental health themes, including diagnostic criteria/symptoms, self-assessments, coping skills, and resources for support. 
  • Suicide Prevention (Question, Persuade, Refer) - innovative, practical, and proven suicide prevention training. 
  • Collaboration with JED Foundation – Non-profit foundation created to provide programming supporting mental health, substance misuse, and suicide prevention.

Wellness and Student Support Services Collaborative Programming

The Wellness and the Student Support Services Specialists partner on various programs and activities to promote student success including:

  • Student Mental Health and Wellness Week – weeklong activities to promote well-being and information on resources available to CMSRU students. 
  • Suicide Prevention - Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) - innovative, practical and proven suicide prevention training.
  • CMSRU membership - Delaware Valley Medical Student Wellness Collaborative Board - The College of Physicians and the seven medical colleges in the Delaware Valley region collaborate to promote the emotional wellbeing and resilience of medical students. 
  • CMSRU Health and Wellness Guide – a comprehensive list of online resources corresponding to all eight dimensions of wellness as defined by SAMHSA.
  • Technology based support programming:
    • Early Alert – check in system to monitor wellness in all dimensions.
    • My MD to Be - communication sent to the student's designated support network to help understand the medical school experience and offer support to the student. 
  • Pet Therapy - Certified therapy dogs visit to enhance student mental health and well-being.

Student Behavioral Health Services

Counseling Services

CMSRU has partnered with the Student Wellness Program (SWP), made available through Rutgers University Behavioral Health Services. The SWP provides the following confidential services to students and members of their household: 

  • Counseling for:
    • Personal and interpersonal related issues
    • Academic performance problems
    • Test anxiety
    • Substance abuse issues
  • Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) services
  • Community resource referrals

Crisis services through the SWP are available to students 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

CMSRU coordinates with the SWP to provide informational and educational programming, on topics including: well-being/self-care, compassion fatigue, mental health awareness, and dealing with challenging patient encounters.

Psychiatry Services

CMSRU has contracted with Cooper University Health Care (CUHC) for psychiatry services. CUHC provides students with confidential access to psychiatric evaluation and medication management. In addition, the service coordinates with CMSRU to provide on-site special events pertaining to mental health, as requested.

Further, CMSRU has contracted with Rowan University (RU) School of Osteopathic Medicine (SOM) Graduate Student Mental Health Center (psychiatry services). The RU SOM Graduate Student Mental Health Services provides students with confidential access to psychiatric evaluation and medication management. Crisis services are also available to students 24 hours per day, seven days per week, through the RU SOM Student Graduate Mental Health Center. 

In addition, CMSRU provides a menu of community psychiatric providers to students who wish to seek help outside of the school environment. The providers on this menu need to be vetted by each student to determine which best meets their needs.

 

*As a requirement of the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME), providers of health and psychiatric/psychological services to a medical student will have no involvement in the academic assessment of or in decisions about the promotion of that student.



Office of Student Affairs

Student Support Services

401 S. Broadway, Suite 409

Camden, NJ 08103

Phone: 856-361-2850