Quality of Life in Grad School part deuce

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Quality of Life in Grad School part deuce

• ? ? ?

Ilana Levy and Joe Dzierzewski
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From the Inside Out and BeyondWhy talk about
QOL?

• We could be doing this over a beer, but
• More heads objective discussion (we hope)
• Organized approach actual progress ?
• Plus, Jimmy J bought donuts
• Survey results
• What are CHP students generally experiencing?
• What does this tell us about our QOL? What
  factors are related to our overall experience?
• What are we doing to make life good? What can we
  do to make it better?
• Faculty have a sincere interest in this issue.
• Not just a bitch-fest

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CHP Student QOL survey 2009
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How would you rate your overall quality of life
since entering graduate school?
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How has your emotional adjustment been since
entering grad school, relative to your general
emotional adjustment before entering?
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Overall, how balanced do you feel your work and
recreational activities have been since beginning
grad school?
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How strongly do you feel that competition between
CHP students is a problem?
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How often have you felt unable to admit emotional
struggles to a faculty member?
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How often have you felt uncertain whether being
in the program was the right place for you?
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Since the beginning of graduate school have you
contemplated/wanted to switch laboratories/advisor
s?
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If yes (to above question), what was the ultimate
result
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How often have you felt incompetent among your
peers?
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How often have you felt lonely since beginning
grad school?
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How often have you felt depressed since beginning
grad school?
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How often have you felt anxious during grad
school?
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How often have you felt suicidal since beginning
grad school?
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How often have you felt that your own mental
health has been an obstacle in your role as a
therapist?
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Have you considered going to therapy since
entering grad school?
Have you gone to therapy since entering grad
school?
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If so, Why not?

• Don't trust providers in the area to be
  completely unconnected from our faculty
• I did not continue therapy due to the cost.
• I have heard bad things about the counseling
  center and don't feel interested in being treated
  by a counseling student. (that's no better than
  taking my own advice!)
• it was unrelated to grad school. i managed
  stressor with friends/family
• most therapists will be associated with UF. Also,
  unsure of what their specialties are
• stigma from our own profession
• theoretical orientation/not a good match
• Therapy is a pseudo-science

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How do you cope with daily stress? Of each coping
activity, how effective has it been in
controlling stress?
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Have you considered alternative professions since
starting grad school? If so, what are they?

• medical doctor/med school
• Chef
• pizza making
• ski bum
• professional traveler
• working for an NGO in D.C.
• Law
• pharmaceutical sales
• Teaching
• Nursing
• Research coordinator
• FBI agent
• starbucks barista
• Public Health Professional, Biomedical Engineer
• Military career
• Medical technologist
• pharmaceutical espionage

• music teacher
• traveling food critic
• Another health profession
• Other PhD programs
• pharmaceutical industry
• Consulting
• snowboard instructor
• Counseling Psychology Social Work
• Archeologist
• Travel/History Channel correspondent,
• Pastry Chef
• a mom
• Pizza Delivery
• Walmart Greeter

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Other coping strategies

• G'ville athletic team
• taking a day off of school work
• having a normal Saturday or Sunday
• friends outside of psychology
• intimacy with a significant other
• Relaxation
• Prayer
• getting in the hot tub
• Have a realistic view of the work's importance.
  Much of the stuff we do does not REALLY matter in
  the end. When have a realistic outlook-much of
  the crap we do becomes miniscule in the big
  picture
• I just focus on getting my work done so I can get
  out of here without unnecessary prolongation.

• meditation
• pets
• weekend travel
• evaluating and revising my study processes
• Cooking
• gardening
• spending time with hubby
• watching television programs
• spending time outside
• going to therapy

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What kind of resources would you like to see
available for helping graduate students manage
stress?
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Other suggestions?

• atmosphere of collaboration
• changing the hearts and minds that cause stress
  in the first place
• encouragement of open discussion between
  supervisors/mentors students regarding student
  quality of life
• Encouragement of saying "no" to unreasonable
  demands
• faculty serving as true mentors and not simply
  editors
• Faculty should realize that they ask for TOO MUCH
  most of the time. We can only do so many things
  at once while retaining a LIFE. Faculty should
  balance their research, coursework, and clinical
  requirements so that we do not have to spend
  EVERY MINUTE OF OUR DAYS WORKING. Weekends should
  be for ourselves and not to catch up on work from
  the week!
• boundaries on assistantship hours clinic load.
• Greater structure. The hardest part is not having
  any structure around my research or other things
  I should be doing, I feel very aimless. This is
  bad!
• develop good relationships with faculty and feel
  as though they can disclose personal difficulties
  without fear of reprisal or that info being
  shared with other faculty at meetings, etc.
• Mindfulness based stress reduction course (MBSR)
  
• my stressors are mainly financial... adequate
  funding / adequate info about loan eligibility.
• free food on a regular basis would be great (say
  every Fri before/after Case Conference)!!!
• potluck meals
• The random department acts of kindness are
  WONDERFUL!!! (Loved the ice cream)
• social events with other departments such as
  medical school, dental school, physical therapy
• Verbalized expressions of support, understanding,
  compassion. Less micromanagement
• none, i think if you can't take care of your
  mental health on your own, you shouldn't be in
  grad school
• Seriously? We're considering asking the
  department for free pizza to "help cope with
  stress"? Perhaps we should ask for recess and
  naptime too.

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Have you ever felt taken advantage of by a
faculty member?
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Thoughts

• Definitely. We are overworked, underpaid, and
  undervalued. Graduate students should receiving
  training to become future academics, clinicians,
  and/or researchers. Doing work is a given
  however, that works should be mutually beneficial
  to both student and faculty. Too often it is not.
• I do not think I have been taken advantage of,
  but definitely manipulated and unsupported. There
  is too much emphasis on winning the grant dollar
  and not enough emphasis on training and guiding
  students. Even within a lab, support can be very
  unequally distributed.
• I feel that faculty do not take first year
  students very seriously. I have been given the
  "run-around" on several relatively minor issues
  that have taken several weeks to months to
  resolve. I find this unacceptable.
• I often feel that my adviser forgets the amount
  of work that it takes to complete his requests.
  He is also overworked, but i don't believe this
  is an excuse to take out a bad mood on a student.
  We already work more than 20 hrs a week, and
  respect for our time as well as positive feedback
  is needed. additionally, we should be spending
  our time on science, not admin tasks and useless
  meetings.
• Very rarely and only by certain faculty members.
  I find that this only happens when I have done a
  poor job of creating boundaries. I also think
  that this is part of my job in learning how to
  become a professional--to learn how to draw
  boundaries with peers and superiors.

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How would you describe your average interaction
with your advisor?
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Comments

• but the other stranger is also demanding
• inconsistent
• master/slave
• most recently, non-existent
• My advisor doesn't know my name, and I am a
  second year
• My advisor is my boss. I learn on my own.
• my public health mentor is more friend like
• stressful, unnoticed, no understanding

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Following an interaction with your advisor, what
is the quality of information you obtained?
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Following supervision with a clinical supervisor,
what is the quality of information you obtained?
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Comments

• clinical supervisors have been amazing rozensky,
  waxenberg, dededepends of supervisor--some are in
  "poor" category, some are in "good", and I'm
  typically getting my own resources
• Depends on the supervisor - some I leave feeling
  like I was given fantastic information, some I
  leave thinking I have not learned anything in
  that supervision
• Dr. Dede is a fantastic supervisor, I have also
  really enjoyed my work with Dr. Waxenberg and Dr.
  Pereira
• Not good, but different from supervisor to
  supervisor. We are supposed to be a CBT heavy
  department, but who really gets training in CBT?
  Many supervisors seem indifferent to what goes on
  in therapy sessions. Supervision appears to be a
  burden to them. After a while, you just go
  through the motions of supervision.
• Varies by supervisor Some are "good" some are
  "vague" or "Horrible"

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How comfortable are you providing feedback to
your advisor?
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What is the typical feedback you receive from
your advisor regarding your performance?
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Comments

• a lot of positive constructive, but sometimes
  feedback can feel superficial/ generic
• fluctuates depending on mood-stabilizers
  his/her own grant feedback--usually either
  critical or constructive criticism
• generic and superficial but when i do get it, its
  usually critical through passive aggressive acts
• I would like to check several of the options
  Critical, Neutral, Superficial. In general a lack
  of feedback to assist in my training and help me
  achieve my career goals.
• However, if I do something that does not please
  my boss, I am sure to catch shit for it.
• positive but not constructive

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. What is the typical feedback you receive from
your clinical supervisors regarding your
performance?
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How comfortable are you asking for feedback from
your advisor/supervisor?
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Do you feel that your training is leading to
competence as a(an)
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How do you know when you have achieved competency
in a given domain?
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Comments

• A combination of feeling capable of handling new
  challenges and positive feedback from others with
  more experience
• Competence also requires accurate self-assessment
• i think it is a combination of feeling
  comfortable with what you're doing, and having
  your supervisors feel that you are ready to do it
  without supervision
• i've decided it for myself using the program's
  guidelines and requirements (scary!)
• when faculty consult me
• When you realize that everyone is incompetent and
  that competency is a mythical animal that is only
  used to scare students into submission.
• you start realizing your supervisor is a doofus

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What are your thoughts on feedback in our dept?
Ideally, how do you think feedback should be
given/received?

• the rating sheets are useless, what my
  supervisors tell me in person is much more
  valuable than an arbitrary tick on a line
• I think more would be good, it's a crucial part
  of learning.
• I wish there was a way of giving feedback to our
  advisors and clinical supervisors (besides the
  end of the rotation sheets). There are many
  things I would like to say to my advisor, but the
  politics of the situation prevent me from saying
  anything.
• I wish there were more opportunities for students
  to be recognized for their work and progress in
  addition to the awards every year and the
  supervisor feedback forms. More frequent
  reinforcement would be nice.
• No opinion for the time being.
• Should definitely be an electronic form, and
  should also include verbal feedback/review of the
  form. Also, we need new/more relevant forms!!
• I think there is a general fear on the part of
  both faculty and students regarding giving
  feedback. Faculty fear upsetting students and
  consequently being avoided, and students fear
  repercussions for providing negative feedback. If
  we are all going to get better at our respective
  professions, feedback should be given frequently,
  openly and constructively. We are clinical
  psychologists for God's sake - if we don't know
  how to do this, we are in the wrong profession.
  (And that is definitely true in some cases.)
• I think the department should be giving out more
  positive feedback. I feel that the only feedback
  I get is when I am doing something wrong. It
  would be nice if faculty and the department made
  a more consistent effort to praise students for
  jobs well done. I believe that faculty should be
  making a more conscientious effort to praise
  students for things that they did well in clinic,
  class, and research. I think the department
  should do more than just hand out 6 awards at
  Fall Symposium. It would be nice if the
  department gave out more awards (not necessarily
  monetary in nature) or gave grad students a few
  mental health days. I feel like I am just a
  workhorse for the department.
• Research mentors and clinical supervisors should
  provide regular written and verbal feedback that
  is CONSTRUCTIVE, not just compliments.

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Cont

• Feedback should be provided more regularly. The
  feedback forms after a rotation are not helpful
  a short narrative would be much more useful.
• Set meetings to review clinic evaluations
• .If I don't get feedback, I ask for it. I'm here
  to learn and to build my skills as a
  clinician/researcher so I NEED to know how I'm
  doing in order to make changes accordingly.
• I think there needs to be a mechanism at the
  beginning of the relationship where we formally
  discuss our goals. I don't know how to convey I
  am disappointed because my mentor has never
  seemed to realize what type of supervision I
  need. If there were a structured way to open a
  dialogue about needs/working style/research
  plan/goals/etc at the beginning, I don't think I
  would be so uncomfortable talking about this.
• Feedback should be received in semester
  evaluations stating what specifically was done
  well and where improvements are needed. Guidance
  and goals should then be created for the next
  semester. Although, the problem with this and
  some research mentors is their own agenda and
  lack of regard for the student's best interest.
• Feedback and evaluation of students should be
  given as a means to helping the student, not as a
  gossiping point for professors.
• Feedback should be given per case and ideally per
  session--but students need to realize that
  faculty have enormous time constraints given
  shrinking faculty and increasing budget demands.
  Students who require more feedback (such as those
  seeing a new type of patient or new students)
  need to ask for it.
• I think the atmosphere should be established so
  that feedback can be exchanged between
  individuals face-to-face. Creating a different
  form to provide the same information is unhelpful
  and misses the point.
• It would be great for supervisors to provide
  feedback in person some have offered to review
  those forms during supervision. Most importantly,
  whatever takes place during faculty evaluations
  should come back to us in the form of feedback,
  ideally in person. One supervisor gave me a
  positive review on my form and a negative review
  to the rest of the faculty, where I had no
  opportunity to constructively address the issue.
  I wasn't even informed of the negative review by
  the supervisor. These reviews, ESPECIALLY, should
  be provided to students. This is the only way we
  can 1) clarify misunderstandings, and 2) work on
  the issues that are raised.

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Cont

• I wish we received feedback more often
• Clinical feedback on annual reports could not be
  more vague. I think mine said "Satisfactory" and
  "Good" as the 2 descriptions. What the hell do I
  do with that? That tells me that I don't suck,
  and pretty much nothing else.
• 1) Opportunities for student presentations with
  written feedback would be great. 2) I'm only a
  first year, but when I start seeing patients next
  year I imagine I'll want to be observed and
  receive thoughtful feedback from multiple faculty
  members.
• Students need to feel comfortable asking for
  feedback from advisers/supervisors. In order to
  learn, we need to know where we stand and it is
  our job to seek out that information. Conversely,
  we must have a way to provide faculty with
  feedback about their performance as
  advisers/supervisors since I question many of
  their methods and levels of competency. Although
  i frequently ask for the type of supervision i
  need, i still feel that as a whole we get very
  little in terms of training in therapy and it
  seems like a serious and pervasive problem in our
  dept. Many research advisers also do not take the
  time to meet with their students regularly about
  their grad career needs, and training seems to be
  falling by the wayside. I have learned a lot
  during my time in grad school, but currently i
  feel that much of this has been incidental
  learning, and very little training has occurred.
  There are also particular faculty whose
  interaction styles are unprofessional and
  borderline inappropriate, and we as students have
  no way of addressing these issues. Somehow we
  need to implement a system of checks and
  balances, and accountability. Perhaps an
  anonymous faculty feedback form where students
  can rate faculty across domains...
• Students need to feel comfortable asking for
  feedback from advisers/supervisors. In order to
  learn, we need to know where we stand and it is
  our job to seek out that information. Conversely,
  we must have a way to provide faculty with
  feedback about their performance as
  advisers/supervisors since I question many of
  their methods and levels of competency. Although
  i frequently ask for the type of supervision i
  need, i still feel that as a whole we get very
  little in terms of training in therapy and it
  seems like a serious and pervasive problem in our
  dept. Many research advisers also do not take the
  time to meet with their students regularly about
  their grad career needs, and training seems to be
  falling by the wayside. I have learned a lot
  during my time in grad school, but currently i
  feel that much of this has been incidental
  learning, and very little training has occurred.
  There are also particular faculty whose
  interaction styles are unprofessional and
  borderline inappropriate, and we as students have
  no way of addressing these issues. Somehow we
  need to implement a system of checks and
  balances, and accountability. Perhaps an
  anonymous faculty feedback form where students
  can rate faculty across domains...

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Cont

• i think it should be more of a formal process
  that is required, as opposed to it always being
  the student's responsibility to SEEK the
  feedback. it should be part of a routine so that
  it does not make either party feel uncomfortable
  or leave any room for uncertainties/suspicions.
• I think feedback should be structured. I think
  students have the right to know what is said
  about them and who said it. In fact, students
  should be allowed in faculty meetings when they
  are discussed. Feedback should be constructive
  and should aid in training students to achieve
  their career goals. Clinical feedback should be
  more structured as well. The form that is
  currently used is worthless. Faculty should
  receive feedback in a structured fashion too. How
  is it that students are frequently judged, but
  faculty are immune to receiving
  judgment/feedback? Isn't mentorship supposed to
  be a core duty of faculty? Does the department
  care if they employ bad mentors? Are faculty
  scared of what students might say about them?
  Faculty should be rated in a parallel fashion to
  what students are subjected to. Filling out
  supervisor evaluations after a class or clinical
  rotation when you were one of a small number of
  students is insufficient.
• I think that there needs to be a better way to
  provide supervisors with anonymous feedback. For
  instance, providing feedback at the end of each
  rotation makes it easy to figure out who the
  feedback is from. Similar to students, I think
  that supervisors would benefit from constructive
  criticism but that is a difficult position for a
  student to be in when they don't know the faculty
  member very well.
• I wish we received feedback more often
• Clinical feedback on annual reports could not be
  more vague. I think mine said "Satisfactory" and
  "Good" as the 2 descriptions. What the hell do I
  do with that? That tells me that I don't suck,
  and pretty much nothing else.1) Opportunities for
  student presentations with written feedback would
  be great. 2) I'm only a first year, but when I
  start seeing patients next year I imagine I'll
  want to be observed and receive thoughtful
  feedback from multiple faculty members.

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Do you think that incorporating standardized
measures of competence as part of our training is
needed?
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Comments

• I don't believe such measures exist. Further,
  will faculty be required to take such measures?
  Shouldn't we make sure faculty are competent
  before allowing them to train us?
• I think it's interesting that because your
  clinical training is left up to you for the most
  part after second year (in the sense that you
  choose which patients to take and which advanced
  pracs to do) it's possible to not realize you're
  missing basic cases or skills. It would be nice
  to have a clinical supervisor assigned to you
  (like your research mentor) who is your point
  person for clinical development as you move
  through the program. Right now it's very much up
  to the student to seek out needed opportunities
  and recognize what you're lacking. Maybe students
  could have mandatory meetings with the Area
  Heads? Just one idea...
• I think there need to be better measures of
  competence, but I'm not sure how I feel about
  standardized measures of competence
• I'll take the test if the supervisors do too
• If by standardized you mean a uniform method of
  feedback provision, then I'd say yes, this would
  at least ensure some minimum level of
  constructive feedback. If by standardized you
  mean an assessment measure with normed
  references, then this would probably be the best
  method, given adequate psychometric properties,
  if such an instrument exists.
• It would be nice, but I am not sure it would be
  helpful. The clinic review sheets are based on
  this concept, and they are not helpful
• Maybe, but what would that even look like?
• Mostly for reassurance, to track progress, and to
  provide benchmarks.
• Not sure what that would look like? the FCAT for
  grad students?
• Standardized measures of competence maybe -
  would depend on what they are, what purpose they
  serve, and what it would take to 'administer'
  such a measure. Perhaps they would increase
  accountability good on the other hand they
  might be insensitive to competencies that are
  just as valuable, but not as 'standard' not
  good.
• Yes, I do think incorporation of measures of
  competence would be useful, but only if they do
  not end up taking the generic form that our
  current "feedback forms" have become. Those are
  not useful, though I recognize why they were
  created.

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How do you feel about the quality of classes
taught by our faculty?
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Comments

• A couple are really excellent. Most are just not
  up to par. Most faculty appear less than enthused
  about teaching and it shows. What is the deal
  with all the undergraduate style courses being
  taught? I thought I was past being lectured to
  and taking a midterm and final.
• Again, I'm only a first year so my experience is
  limited. Dr. Marsiske's stats sequence is among
  the best instruction I've ever had anywhere.
  Lifespan psychopathology was good, but we could
  have benefited from more case presentations
  (video or otherwise).
• All except statistics are crap but that's a
  necessary evil so that we can have the time to
  complete our other requirements -)At this level,
  my desire for hardcore classes is about nil. I
  like the level of difficulty of our classes since
  I see them as necessary evils, not as
  opportunities to learn something I really need to
  know in order to practice clinical psychology.
• Average. There are some good classes, some not so
  good. There doesn't seem to be a lot of
  excitement on the part of the faculty for these
  classes, and lack of excitement translates to the
  students
• Certain classes are a waste of time while others
  (such as stats classes) are actually useful.
  There are a couple of useful courses
  overall...the rest seem to be a waste of
  everyone's time
• Some are great and some really aren't...I think a
  lot of profs have lost passion for what they love
  to do with all of the busy-ness...And for what?
• upper level course are great, as are stats
  classes. the core classes are a repeat of
  undergrad.

48
Comments pt 2

• Classes should be more experential and relevant.
  Some faculty need to be more familiar with recent
  literature.
• Depends on the class. Dr. Marsiske is excellent!
• depends on the course, most are satisfactory but
  nothing I'd write home about
• I believe it is unacceptable for graduate level
  classes to be taught in lecture format without
  significant time allotted for discussion or other
  form of active student engagement (e.g. student
  presentations). I also believe that traditional
  homework and tests are not a good use of graduate
  students' time, particularly if they desire to
  pursue an academic career. While some students
  prefer homeworks and/or tests, students should at
  least have the option of producing a major paper
  at the end of each course (instead of--not in
  addition to homeworks/tests) in effort to
  increase research productivity.
• I get that we need certain material, to be
  accredited, however it IS possible to make even
  the most mundane (and review) material
  intellectually stimulating. Why be lecture at
  when we can have discussions etc. I'm not
  advocating for extra work, just saying that if we
  are already spending the time in the classroom,
  why not make it worthwhile?
• I think it's very clear that our program is run
  by our clinical and research responsibilities.
  This is the driving force in our program and
  classes seem to be included merely for
  accreditation purposes. Classes seem pretty easy.
  They'd have to be given how bogged down we are
  with clinic and research. I'd like to see more
  practical information included in our curriculum
  and a reduced reliance on psychology up the hill
  for classes. Things that would help us become
  better clinicians would also be great. I would
  love a class in group therapy and marriage
  family therapy
• .In general i feel that faculty in our dept don't
  put much time or care into teaching. There are
  certainly some exceptions but overall, especially
  for core courses it seems like recycled slides,
  and little practical/useful information is
  presented. We all know that teaching takes a lot
  of time to do well, and i realize faculty are
  overworked and overextended, so i understand, but
  i still feel that the majority of courses i have
  taken have been a waste of our very limited time.

49
Are there other quality of life issues you feel
should be addressed among the CHP students?

• I think understanding the following is crucial in
  having a quality life, especially in the helping
  professions you work on yourself to help others
  and you work on others to help yourself
• I think the quality of our advisor/ advisee
  relationships and supervision is big. Right now
  I'm not feeling that I'm at the level of
  professional development that I should be for
  this stage of grad school, both in terms of
  research and clinical abilities
• While we all have occasional struggles, it is
  obvious that there are students in our program
  who are severely depressed. You can tell, even if
  it's someone you don't know well. I often wonder
  who (if anyone) takes on the responsibility of
  reaching out to these students-- not everyone has
  a close relationship with their mentor. I worry
  about students like that. I know it's hard for
  the department to do this (maybe students need to
  seek this out themselves) but I think social
  interaction with students from other departments
  can be a great coping mechanism. It also allows
  for the development of a life outside the
  program, which I think is key to happiness in
  gainesville. I wish we had more mixers with other
  departments, particularly during 1st year when
  you're trying to meet people.
• QOL should (in theory) be a department-wide focus
  (i.e. part of the atmosphere). This is a Clinical
  psych program, thus it makes good sense that the
  department would be knowledgeable about,
  interested and invested in the QOL of all its
  members - particularly students, since there is a
  good chance that for many, grad school involves
  'giving up' some things (from a previous
  lifestyle etc.)
• NO. seriously, if you are an adult, you should be
  able to figure out the QOL stuff on your own.

50
Contd

• Particular faculty members' personalities have
  large effects on students' QoL. I also think
  relationships among faculty members are important
  for students' quality of life. When faculty feel
  threatened or frightened by other faculty
  members, or when they feel in competition with
  other faculty, that is experienced by the
  students. As a training program, the focus should
  be on helping students succeed - that is the
  bottom line! if faculty members are experiencing
  reductions in their own QoL that are affecting
  their work, their QoL should also be a focus of
  intervention.
• Both faculty and students in our department could
  benefit from workplace diversity training
• I think that more emphasis should be placed on
  personal responsibility rather than departmental
  responsibility. For example--if a person feels
  they would benefit from a mental health day they
  should make it a personal priority to take a
  mental health day. Although graduate school is
  stressful, it is our responsibility to learn how
  to manage that stress.
• I think that personal issues regarding the
  program should be discussed individually and that
  questionnaires such as this one should not
  reflect personal opinions and be so negatively
  oriented...unfortunately it appears as if we are
  whiny graduate students who rely on the
  department to fix all of our problems. If we are
  all really so "busy" and "unhappy," having to
  fill out a 40-item questionnaire is just wasting
  time that could be spent doing something
  productive.
• Too much negativity and not enough positive
  discussion, or actual plans to improve the
  weaknesses. The dept is only criticized, but
  there are good things to note and a fresh
  perspective can help realize the positive
  aspects. Also, few productive steps are taken to
  modify/improve the things we don't like.

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Contd

• I am uncomfortable with the thought of this
  information being presented to the faculty in the
  manner that it was presented in this survey. I
  think this survey overstates the responsibility
  of the department to ensure student QOL and
  understates the role of personal responsibility.
  If there are specific, concrete problems that can
  be addressed by faculty then that may be
  appropriate to bring to a faculty meeting.
  However, no where in this survey were we given
  the opportunity to acknowledge the positive
  aspects of this program (e.g. we are getting
  fantastic training at an elite institution) or to
  differentiate whether our feeling "depressed" or
  "anxious" had anything to do with the program as
  opposed to our individual coping skills, personal
  resources, or social skills. Given that the
  faculty and staff all work incredibly hard, I
  think our asking them to add "improving student
  QOL" or "making us less lonely" to their list of
  responsibilities is inappropriate. To me, being
  part of this program is a privilege and an honor
  and I would hate to be included in a
  representation of a group of students who
  believes student quality of life is the
  responsibility of our faculty and staff. This is
  an academic department, not a social club.
• method of giving student opinions of applicants
• anonymous faculty feedback
• Why was a neuro faculty recently hired when it
  seems that the health and child/peds areas have
  had the greatest faculty attrition?
• I believe the issues highlighted above are
  important to address in recruiting new students.
• The same problems continue to cause the most
  distress-- lack of guaranteed funding for
  students. Some students are scrambling to find
  funding while having to keep up productivity in
  other domains.
• Faculty should not discuss student's performance
  with other students. This happens sometimes and I
  don't think it is appropriate. Also, faculty
  should not talk about student's performance where
  they can be overheard. Also, we all need more
  vacation time!!!!
• All-in-all, our department has many flaws.
  However, I still love it. The grass is always
  greener in other departments, so it is hard to
  tell if the shortcomings of our department are
  unique to us or are pretty universal. Graduate
  training is what one makes of it. It is our job
  to make our training match our needs.

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So what do you think?Thoughts for discussion

• What are your reactions to the survey results?
• What parts of graduate school are the most
  challenging?
• What parts of graduate school are the most
  rewarding?
• What can we do to improve CHP student quality of
  life?
• Given its natural for personal difficulties to
  come up at some point during graduate school, how
  can we best cope with them alongside professional
  responsibilities?
• How can we address the presence of stigma
  regarding mental health needs within our own
  field?
• How do we approach provision of patient care when
  dealing with personal difficulties? What is most
  ethical?
• How can we encourage communication about quality
  of life with mentors and faculty? How can they
  encourage?

53
FREE Resources

• UF Student Mental Health Services [phone]
  
• http//shcc.ufl.edu/smhs/
• Mon. Fri., 8-5 Tues./Wed./Thurs 8-6.
• PhD level Psychologist (Clinical, Counseling) as
  well as Psychiatry (you will not be seen by a
  grad student)
• The good news Absolutely FREE for 12 sessions
  per year
• After 12 sessions you are referred out in the
  community if you need additional care.
• UF Counseling Center [phone]
• Daytime direct line M-F, 8-5.
• Alachua County Crisis Center [phone]
• Phone counseling 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

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Groups available this semester

• Yoga Hatha with Yoga Nidra for Stress Reduction
  1200-100
• Making Peace with Food 230-400 p.m.
• Taming the Beast Within Anger Management
  400-500 p.m.
• Managing Shyness and Beyond 200-330 p.m.
• Graduate Women's Empowerment Group 330-500 p.m.
• Sister-Sister 330- 500 p.m.
• Juggling Act-Balancing being a student and being
  a mother 1200 to 100 p.m.
• Grief -Support 130 - 300 or 330 - 500 (2
  groups)
• "It's Not the Cards That You're Dealt but How You
  Play Them" 330-430 p.m.
• http//shcc.ufl.edu/smhs/services.shtml (click on
  group therapy schedule)

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GatorGradCare PPO

• To find a mental health care provider covered
  under GatorGradCare (United HealthCare network)
  use the link below
• https//www.lww-trans.com/PreClinicianSearchAction
  .do?id2903OID3

Some people recommended by faculty. more coming
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