Announcing the Trainee Thrive newsletter!

Trainee Thrive is a monthly roundup of wellbeing-focused resources, events, and opportunities for grad students and postdocs in the Faculty of Medicine. 

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Why did we create this newsletter?

Wellbeing is central to our success as researchers, as a Faculty, and as a community. However, grad students and postdocs – at UBC and elsewhere – experience heightened stress and unacceptably high rates of depression and anxiety. 

The Faculty of Medicine Graduate & Postdoctoral Education Office is committed to improving research trainee wellbeing, in both proactive and supportive ways. 

We recognize the need to address stressors at a systemic level, to prevent problems and enhance wellbeing for all trainees. At the same time, we want you to know where to find support if problems do arise. We also want to tell you about educational & training opportunities that can boost resilience, build transferable skills (like communication & emotional literacy), and generally make life better and/or easier.

We also want to expand the conversation around wellbeing in our Faculty. A newsletter alone won’t do that, but it can keep wellbeing top-of-mind and spark dialogue among/between trainees, faculty, and staff. If you have ideas, feedback, or concerns, or want to suggest or submit a newsletter entry, reach out to the Graduate & Postdoctoral Wellbeing Support Coordinator, Dr. Karen Ross, at karen.ross@ubc.ca [Hi, Karen here! I’m also the one who will be writing/compiling the newsletter. I’m always keen to connect with trainees; drop me a line!].


We know you get a lot of emails, and the risk of “email fatigue” is real. However, many trainees have told us that they don’t hear about wellbeing events and initiatives, and that they would prefer wellbeing announcements to be collected in a single newsletter rather than scattered across different channels. We are launching with a self-subscribe (opt-in) model to respect your choice around what communications to receive. You are always free to unsubscribe – but if the newsletter isn’t feeling relevant or useful, please share that feedback with us!