UC Davis Health Wellness Academy | Office of Wellness Education | UC Davis Health

UC Davis wellness experts host free virtual education series

The newly formed Office of Wellness Education (OWE) in the UC Davis School of Medicine is focused on comprehensive wellness education across a broad and inclusive range of topics that affect wellbeing: physical health, emotional, societal, environmental, global concerns, and more. The creation of this unique program profoundly expands the educational scope of the school of medicine beyond the traditional focus on disease and its treatment.

As a first-of-its-kind office within the school of medicine, the OWE seeks to provide wellness education to our constituents – our patients, their families and their communities, our students, staff, and faculty, as well as the global community. As wellness poses personal choices for individuals, we view wellness education as focused on the pervasive questions and conversations about what is known and how experts grapple with choices that are available to each of us.

We intend to prioritize the broad interdisciplinary scholarly and professional community that is so prevalent across UC Davis and our region. With the aspiration to empower individuals to be able to make informed personalized choices about wellbeing, we will highlight the work of our scholars and create opportunities for them to convene thought-provoking discussions about topics that impact our daily lives.

Our educational offerings will include multiple modalities, including digital content ranging from engaging web-based stories, investigative reporting, and newsletters, to podcasts, webcasts, and consensus meetings. We will also include live programming with local and visiting scholars, clinicians, chefs, farmers, athletes, coaches, environmentalists, artists, wellness practitioners, and a wide array of other local and global contributors to the important conversations around well-being.

Weekend 1 Oct. 14, 2023

• Introduction to Wellness – Scott Fishman, M.D.
• Our Microbiome – Maria Marco, Ph.D.
• Busy But Fit – Brandee Waite, M.D.

Weekend 2 Oct. 21, 2023

• The “How” and “Why” of Fitness – Judd Van Sickle, M.S., M.B.A.
• Improving Our Diet for Disease Prevention: A Special Focus on Cancer – Gerardo Mackenzie, Ph.D.
• Empowered Eating: The Intersection of Agriculture and Individual Wellness – Skyler Hanka, MSc, NBC-HWC

Weekend 3 Oct. 28, 2023

• Exercise and Nutrition to Extend an Active Life – Keith Baar, Ph.D.
• Supplements: Who Needs Them? – Robert Bonakdar, M.D.
• Perspective of a Primary Care Physician: What I did not learn in Medical School but I learned from my patients – Victor Baquero, M.D.

Weekend 4 Nov. 4, 2023

• A Personal Approach to Wellness and the Environment – Craig McNamara
• Mind-Body Medicine: Tools for a Well Mind and Body – Michelle Dossett, M.D., Ph.D., M.P.H.
• Using a Wellness Lens to Address the Planet’s Wicked Problems – Jonna Mazet, D.V.M., M.P.V.M., Ph.D.

Please join us for a free immersive wellness experience! Each weekend after the online lecture, we will offer participants the opportunity to attend a wellness elective focused on food, movement, or agriculture. You may choose to attend one experience of all of them! Please register in advance, as spots are limited. Click on the date link below to register for each individual class.