Wellness expert to speak at School of Medicine graduation ceremonies
Katherine Chretien, M.D., an internal medicine physician and associate dean for medical student affairs at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will deliver the keynote address and share her insights on work-life balance with the Class of 2024.
At this year’s graduation ceremonies for VCU School of Medicine’s graduate and medical students, wellness and well-being will take center stage.
Katherine Chretien, M.D. associate dean for medical student affairs and director of medical student wellness at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, will deliver the keynote address for both the graduate student advanced degree awards and recognition ceremony and the M.D. student hooding ceremony. Chretien, a Hopkins alum and an internal medicine physician, will draw on her personal experiences and academic research to speak about the value of work-life balance in medicine and science.
In 2019, the journal Academic Medicine published Chretien’s essay, “Transitions,” in which she reflected on the striking contrast between treating patients in the hospital and eating dinner at home with her family.
“...it’s always a bit jarring to step from my work world to my home world, sometimes just crossing into the other room or walking back down the stairs,” she wrote. “After 15 years, I’m still trying to handle that transition with grace and to be as present at home as my work demands me to be every day in the hospital.”
Other publications include the books "Mothers in Medicine: Career, Practice, and Life Lessons Learned," and "I Wish I Read This Book Before Medical School." Chretien is the recipient of the Charles H. Griffith III Educational Research Award from Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine (CDIM) and the Women Leaders in Medicine Award from the American Medical Students Association.
A consummate physician educator, Chretien currently serves as the Northeast Group on Student Affairs representative to the AAMC Committee on Student Affairs. Her prior roles include serving as president of CDIM and as co-chair of the AAMC Medical Student Civic Advocacy Workgroup.
Read more about Chretien here.
Graduate Student Advanced Degree Awards and Recognition Ceremony
Friday, May 10, 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Kontos Medical Sciences Building, rooms 104/105
M.D. Student Hooding Ceremony
Friday, May 10, 3-5 p.m.
VCU Siegel Center
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