Physician Wellbeing: Well Able initiative

Physician Wellbeing has been a high priority issue within RCPI for many years. Through our Physician Wellbeing programme we have been providing support, training and information about health and wellbeing to doctors since 2014. 

Training as a specialist can be very challenging.  It can be even more challenging for doctors with chronic illness and/or disability; be it physical, mental or learning disability.  Doctors with chronic illness and/or disability can face additional challenges such as accessibility issues, fatigue-related issues, necessary absence concerns due to multiple medical appointments or simply the stigma associated with having a chronic illness/disability.

Working alongside our doctors, we want to start a conversation about these challenges, and identify and advocate for their needs, and together, we have established the Well Able initiative. To spark discussion and to give an insight into some of the challenges faced, two of our trainee doctors have kindly shared their own experiences which you can read below.

• Read a personal experience by Jennifer Yates

• Read a personal experience by Philip Kavanagh

If you would like to share your own experience, thoughts or simply be part of the conversation, get in touch.  

For more information, visit: www.wellabledocs.ie; a dedicated website set up by a group of doctors working in Ireland who want to start a conversation about doctors with chronic illness and/or disabilities.

In April 2020, we published our Reasonable Adjustment Policy which aims to support the rights of a trainee with a disability to participate in training in a work environment that is accessible, inclusive and free from discrimination and harassment, and outline the processes involved in seeking reasonable adjustments where appropriate. 

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