The Lost Competency

Self-care and work/life balance might seem like "fluffy" subjects that don't need to be taken seriously; however, I would like to contend that they are a lost competency of higher education (and in the American work culture in general).

I work in medical education and the lingo of "competencies" and "milestones" are the every day buzz words when it comes to measuring a successfully educated physician. The Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has defined the core competencies for physicians-in-training as the following: professionalism, patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning, systems-based practice, and interpersonal/communication skills.

But where is self-care? Where is work/life balance? Where is learning to be resilient in a stressful environment where the stakes are extremely high (so high that people's lives are literally at stake)?

I think self-care and work/life balance are an essential competency of any successful working adult and they are a competency that I'd like to see more attention serious thought and time to.

Here's an image I have put together showing all seven competencies for a successful clinical learner.