
COVID-19 Residency Wellness Resources
Hey residents,
It is a difficult time for the world, and especially so for our frontline healthcare workers. In the midst of everything, it is important to continue caring for yourself. Below is a list of wellness resources compiled by a member of our Health & Wellness Committee, fellow residents, and staff to help you through this period.
We invite you to send us any resources you may be personally using and would like to share with your fellow residents. We will seek to regularly update this page with resources you can make use of during this time.
If you are interesting in seeing more wellness resources, visit
- UBC Wellness Initiative Network
- PHSA Employee Perks
- Physician Wellness in COVID-19 Infographic – Medical Student Response Team
For a list of offers and discounts available for healthcare staff across Canada, click here.
Thank you, residents, for all that you are doing for the healthcare of BC, and we hope you all remain safe and healthy!
If you have questions about COVID-19 and your residency, including on what to do when working with a confirmed case, visit our FAQ.
If you have any suggestions for resources, workouts, food, or other wellness options please email affairsandwellness@residentdoctorsbc.ca, info@residentdoctorsbc.ca or contact our team via social media!
Remember, if you have any questions about your residency during this time, please do not hesitate to contact our office at 604-876-7637 or email us at info@residentdoctorsbc.ca.
- Animal Watching
- Vancouver Aquarium – live cams!
- Monterey Bay Aquarium – California – live cams!
- safariLIVE – live cams of South African safari
- A bunch of live cams of animals and landscapes
- Watch dogs in a sanctuary, eagles in their nest, African animals at the watering hole and many others
- Art & Music
- Social Distancing Festival Homepage
- Arts, Music, Theater, Comedy all conveniently categorized and organized on a calendar with links embedded
- Watch the symphony in Italy, watch stand up comedians do their thing, or tune into artists from around the globe entertaining you during this wild time.
- NY Broadway Shows Online
- Free 7 day trial, will have to sign up and then cancel if you don’t want to pay
- Rijksmuseum Amsterdam
- Google street view allows you to walk through this as if you are perusing the streets yourself
- Fashioning a Nation, National Gallery of Art – Washington
- Drawings from the Index of American Design
- Vermeer and the masters of Genre Painting, National Gallery of Art – Washington
- Guggenheim Museum – New York
- National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art – Seoul, Korea
- Pergamon Museum – Berlin, Germany
- Famous for holding the Ishtar Gate of Babylon and the Pergamon Altar
- Once again Google Arts and Culture holding it down
- Van Gogh Museum – Amsterdam, Netherlands
- For beauty and impressionism/neo-impressionism love
- 200 paintings, 500 drawings, and over 750 personal letters, get to know Van Gogh
- The J.Paul Getty Museum – L.A, USA
- MASP – Sao Paulo, Brazil
- Uffizi Gallery – Florence, Italy
- Musée d’Orsay – Paris, France
- Interactive Frida Khalo Exhibit
- Showcase BC – a new, online hub that brings a variety of live performances, entertainment and content to British Columbians, so they can stay connected while staying home
- There are 20+ other museums and galleries to explore via Google Arts and Culture – there is even an app to put on your phone
- Social Distancing Festival Homepage
- Cooking
- Learn to make bread
- Make sourdough starter from scratch
- Learn to bake with a free online course from The Art of Baking
- Crafts
- Knitting and Crochet patterns for free in a free online community
- Learn how to Knit YouTube Tutorial
- Learn how to bead
- Paper Mache with stuff you have at home
- Easy at home craft ideas
- If you happen to have craft supplies and are running out of ideas this is a list of 44 easy crafts for sewers and makers
- Learn how to make soap without lye
- this website has recipes for at home cleaners too
- Fitness/Mindfulness
- Planet Fitness – live-streaming fitness on their Youtube page
- Nike Run and Nike Fitness apps – Free
- Classpass – 1-week free trial. In-app access to audio and video workouts.
- The Workout Today – A free workout emailed to you daily that takes <30 min.
- OrangeTheory At-Home Workouts – Daily 30-minute workouts, free to all!
- Barre3 – Ballet meets yoga meets pilates offering 15 days for free during a trial period
- Love Your Bod Fitness – online fitness, 1 month free membership for healthcare workers
- Headspace – for meditation
- Infant, Kids, & Youth Activities
- 87 Energy Busting Indoor Games and Activities for Kids because cabin fever is no joke
- Lots of gross motor development games, and thing that require little materials to play with your kid
- Geared towards kids 5+
- Brains On! Science Podcast for kids
- Brains On! is a science podcast for curious kids and adults from American Public Media. Co-hosted each week by kid scientists and reporters from public radio, we ask questions ranging from the science behind sneezing to how to translate the purr of cats, and go wherever the answers take us
- Tumble Podcast for Kids
- Exploring stories of science discovery. Tumble is a science podcast created to be enjoyed by the entire family. Hosted & produced by Lindsay Patterson (science journalist) & Marshall Escamilla (teacher)
- Podcasts for Kids
- Many great podcasts geared towards kids, and led by kids
- Make Slime!!!
- Recipe Underneath… failproof.
- 1 bottle of elmers glue (6oz)
- Baking Soda (½ teaspoon)
- 1.5 tablespoon of contact lens solution -Renu Fresh or Equate are both good brands which contain Boric Acid and Sodium Borate. Do Not Substitute for other brands.
- (optional) – Add 2 tablespoons of water (up to ¼ cup) if you would like a stretchier slime
- (optional) – glitter
- (optional) – shaving cream for a fluffy slime!
- Recipe Underneath… failproof.
- Coronavirus explained in a kids book
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- 87 Energy Busting Indoor Games and Activities for Kids because cabin fever is no joke
- Intellectual Endeavors
- The Science of WellBeing, online course delivered by Yale
- Currently being offered for free online starting March 27
- Take a free online course in finance, history, arts, culture, language, law, literature of anything you can think of.
- Directory of 1500+ online courses
- The Science of WellBeing, online course delivered by Yale
- Online Groceries
- Instacart.ca (T&T, Walmart, Superstore, Shoppers, Loblaws)
- Whole Foods
- Marketplace IGA
- Save-On-Foods
- Stongs Market
- Safeway
- Thrifty Foods
- Choices Market
- SPUD.ca
- Other Promos/Discounts
- Click here for a compiled list of resources
- Support
- PGME Resident Wellness Office
- Confidential Contact: 604-675-3873
- Schedule an Appointment: 604-875-4111 ext. 21088 or email resident.wellness@ubc.ca
- CMPA Physician Wellness
- Employee Wellness
- Homewood Health
- Confidential 24h helpline: 1-800-663-1142
- Physician Health Program of BC
- Confidential 24h helpline: 1-800-663-6729
- UBC Medical Student Volunteers
- For Children’s & Women’s only – CW Workplace Wellness PEER Support service
- Phone: 604-875-2982 (Dr Theresa Newlove)
- Email: workplacwellness@cw.bc.ca (provide best phone number to be reached at and windows of time of day/evening you can be contacted)
- CAMH – Coping with stress and anxiety
- Starling Minds – a Vancouver-based company that is offering free and confidential digital mental health programs for anyone who may need support during the COVID-19 pandemic
- A clinician’s guide: managing COVID-19 stress and anxiety
- The Flipside Life – free virtual calls on zoom every Thursday 9PM EST for spouses/partners who could use support, encouragement or positivity
- Psychology Tools – “Working Through Anxiety Amidst Global Uncertainty“
- Doctors of BC – COVID-19 Physician Peer Support Sessions
- A guide to parent self-care during the COVID-19 pandemic
- United Way – supporting health care workers with basic needs (ie, grocery shopping)
- VCH Self Help – Mental Health & Wellness Temperature Tool
- PGME Resident Wellness Office
- Trusted Sources of Information
- Virtual Games & Hangouts
- 6 Tips to Feel Connected
- Cards Against Humanity Online (“Remote Insensitivity”) and other card games
- Monopoly
- Netflix Party
- one person hosts a Netflix show and sends a link that allows others to watch with them
- Hogwarts Digital Escape Room
- Pictionary/Skribbl
- Houseparty – face to face socializing and games