Join us with Alana Iglewicz, MD on Thursday, October 21 at 5:00pm (PDT)
The COVID pandemic has necessitated unprecedented change and thus stress at all levels—individual, societal, and global. Themes of grief have never been as relevant as they are now. With the COVID pandemic and resultant innumerable profound losses, our world is grieving collectively. Healthcare systems are the stage upon which these layers of stress and grief are playing out. Yet, even prior to the pandemic, the distress of healthcare systems and the people who comprise them has been the focus of much research, media coverage, and discussion. Burnout of healthcare professionals, including its myriad negative sequelae on patient care, health care professionals’ lives, and healthcare systems was at alarming rates before the pandemic. The pandemic is further exacerbating this situation. In this talk, Dr. Alana Iglewicz will review what is known in the scientific literature about grief, with a focus on clinical approaches to grief. She will also review what is known about healthcare professional burnout. By contextualizing both topics in the COVID pandemic and exploring the connections between grief and burnout, she will outline opportunities for a healthier path moving forward.
Alana Iglewicz, MD
Dr. Alana Iglewicz is an Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, as well as the Associate Residency Training Director for the Department of Psychiatry and the Advisor for Wellness at the UCSD School of Medicine. Dr. Iglewicz earned her B.A. in Psychology at the New College of Florida and her M.D. at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. She then completed her residency training in General Adult Psychiatry and subspecialty clinical and research fellowship training in Geriatric Psychiatry at UCSD. Her clinical work is focused at the La Jolla VA, where she works with trainees in the Psychiatric Emergency Clinic and is the Psychiatry Medical Director of the Mental Health Primary Care Clinic. She is passionate about healthcare professional wellness and is the faculty chair for both the UCSD Psychiatry Residency Wellness Committee as well as the S.A.V.E. Committee, which is dedicated to providing support to psychiatry residents after the occurrence of adverse events, such as patient suicide and patient violence toward trainees. Her research focuses on physician wellness, psychiatric education, late and end-of-life depression, and bereavement. Throughout her career, Dr. Iglewicz has also received numerous teaching and clinical awards.
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