Your wellbeing matters: May 2025
Published: 30th April 2025
Shining the spotlight on the importance of personal wellbeing for medical and dental professionals.
This May, we’re focusing on National Walking Month, Mental Health Awareness Week and International Day of Families - all important reminders of how essential it is to care for your own wellbeing, especially in high-pressure professions like medicine and dentistry.
Whether you're managing stress, carving out time for self-care, or seeking ways to stay energised and connected, we've got you covered.
Mental Health Awareness Week (MHAW)
Taking place from 12th–18th May, MHAW is a timely reminder to prioritise your mental wellbeing. For those in medicine and dentistry, the emotional demands, long shifts, and high expectations can take a toll.
While confidential advice and mental health support that doesn’t require input from your host organisation is readily available and can be accessed via our self-referral portal, we also appreciate how you might also wish to look further afield for support if/when you need it. Why not check out the below?
- Doctors’ Support Network (DSN) – A free to join confidential peer support network for doctors and medical students with concerns about their mental health, DSN aim to raise awareness and reduce stigma.
- BMA counselling and peer support – By using this service, BMA members can speak to a counsellor on the phone who will provide space and time to talk about your concerns and provide guidance and mindfulness techniques that will help you in the present.
- You Okay, Doc – Their mission is to empower healthcare professionals to seek support, speak openly about mental health, and effectively manage the pressures of their profession.
National Walking Month
We all know how walking is a simple, accessible form of physical activity that helps stress reduction and improves mental clarity. Mind Over Mountains offer professional mental wellbeing support in an unpressured setting, whilst walking together in nature. They give you the opportunity to be listened to by qualified coaches and counsellors and explore your local areas across the UK with small groups of likeminded people.
International Day of Families (IDOF)
IDOF is celebrated each year on 15th May focusing on celebrating families and their role in nurturing individuals and supporting wellbeing. Many of you will be international colleagues-in-training where family dynamics can be particularly significant living far away from home countries. This brings its challenges such as adjusting to a new culture and coping with homesickness.
Establishing cultural connections at your placement providers and embracing your daily work might help ease any burdens, but sometimes it can be helpful hearing from fellow IMGs to understand their journeys and successes.
Missed any previous editions?
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