14-16 November 2026 · Valencia

Program

Three days.
Keynotes & workshops.
A shared framework for change.

Plenaries, keynotes, panels and parallel workshops across three days in Valencia. All sessions in English. Designed by the international expert committee. The program may be subject to change.

Day-by-day.

All times Central European Time · Sessions translated EN / ES

Day 1 · Saturday 14 November

Day 1 of 3

Concept to application: setting the field, defining ownership, naming the high-risk threats.

Time
Session
14:00
Welcome

Welcome address from the Committee

WBD Expert Committee

14:15
Plenary

Physician Well-Being Today: From Concept to Application Across Individuals and Systems

 

Chair: Jonathan RippProfessor of Medicine, Medical Education and Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, and Dean for Well-Being and Resilience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), USA 

14:15-14:35

Phua Ghee Chee · Deputy CEO, Singapore General Hospital; Group Director of Staff Wellness, SingHealth, Singapore

14:35-14:45

Q&A

14:45
Keynote

From Burnout to System Accountability: Building the Infrastructure for Physician Well-Being

 

Chair: Jamile Ashmore, Chief Wellness Officer and Director of Medical Psychology at Baylor Scott & White – The Heart Hospital; Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Texas A&M College of Medicine, USA

14:45-15:05

Heather Farley · VP of Professional Satisfaction, American Medical Association (AMA), USA

15:05-15:15

Q&A

15:15
Break

Well-Being refreshment break

16:00
Session 1

The Elephant in the Room: Addressing High-Risk Threats to Physician Well-Being

 

ChairMercedes Hurtrado-SarrioProfessor at the University of Valencia; Ophthalmologist; President of the Medical College of Valencia, Spain 

16:00-16:10

Physician well-being in crisis and disaster contexts: sustaining performance under extreme demand

Jose M. Martín-Moreno · Professor of Preventive Medicine and Public Health, University of Valencia, Spain

16:10-16:20

Emotional challenges physicians face and how to emerge scarred but healed

Egidio J. da Silva · Consultant Anaesthetist and Clinical Director, Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham, UK

16:20-16:30

Preventing Physician Suicide: Whose Responsibility Is It?

Lalith Wijedoru · Social Health Consultant; former Consultant Paediatric Emergency Physician, NHS, UK

16:30-16:40

Physical and mental wellbeing risks among UK healthcare workers from diverse ethnic and migration backgrounds

Asta Medisauskaite · Principal Research Fellow · UCL Medical School, UK

16:40-17:00

Panel discussion

17:00
Keynote

Keynote: to be announced

 

Chair: Phua Ghee CheeDeputy CEO of Singapore General Hospital and SingHealth’s Group Director of Staff WellnessSingapore

17:00-17:20

Tomas Zapata · Unit Head, Health Workforce and Service Delivery, Division of Health Systems, WHO Regional Office for Europe, Denmark

17:20-17:30

Q&A

17:30
Break

Short break

17:40
Session 2

Innovation & AI in Physician Well-Being: Promise, Limits, and Pitfalls

 

Chair: Corinne Isnard Bagnis, Professor of NephrologySorbonne University; Senior Clinician at AP-HP, France 

17:40-17:52

The AI-Era physician: Redefining Professional Identity, Meaning and Fulfilment
Jai RaoDeputy Chair in the SingHealth Staff Wellness Council, Singapore  

17:52-18:02

What actually improves well-being vs what just improves efficiency

Ioana Gheonea · Professor, University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova; Chair, Young European Society of Radiology Committee, Romania

18:02-18:12

AI productivity paradox in Radiology
Maija Radziņa, Tenured Professor in Radiology and Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, Riga Stradins University, Latvia

18:12-18:30

Panel discussion: opportunities and challenges of integrating digital tools and AI into healthcare professional well-being strategies

Corinne Isnard Bagnis · Professor of Nephrology, Sorbonne University; Senior Clinician at AP-HP, France

Ioana Gheonea · Professor at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova; Chairperson of the Young European Society of Radiology Committee, Romania

Patricia Udaondo · Associate Professor of Ophthalmology, University of Valencia, Spain

Maija Radziņa · Tenured Professor in Radiology and Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare, Riga Stradins University, Latvia
Jai RaoDeputy Chair in the SingHealth Staff Wellness Council, Singapore 

18:30

Plenary

Stellium Talk

TBA

18:45

Reception

Harmony in Health: a sustainable welcome reception

Open to all delegates and partners

Day 2 · Sunday 15 November

Day 2 of 3

Leadership, culture and sustainable practice, building the systems back better.

Time
Session
09:00
Workshops

Parallel workshops

 

Workshop 1 · Beyond Burnout: Boundaries, Recovery, and Sustainable Performance in Healthcare

Milan Mehta · NHS General Practitioner; Stress Management Coach, UK

 

Workshop 2 · Micro-Recovery in Motion: Reimagining Wellbeing in Healthcare Systems

Yasmine Weeks · General Practitioner; ADHD Physical Health Specialist, NHS, UK

10:00
Plenary

Well-Being-Centered Leadership: Building Community, Trust, and Engagement

 

Chair: Jonathan RippProfessor of Medicine, Medical Education and Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, and Dean for Well-Being and Resilience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), USA

10:00-10:20

Jamile Ashmore · Chief Wellness Officer and Director of Medical Psychology, Baylor Scott & White, The Heart Hospital; Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Texas A&M College of Medicine, USA

10:20-10:30

Q&A

10:30

Break

Well-Being refreshment break

10:45-10:55

Can the Practice of Medicine be a Spiritual Practice? The Coevolution of the Fields of Physician Wellbeing and Prosocial Emotions. Implications for the doctor at the bedside
Leif Hass, Wellbeing Champion, Sutter Health, Advisor on Health and Healthcare, UC Berkeley’s Greater Good Science Center, USA

11:00
Session 3

Mental and Physical Health Strategies for Sustainable Performance in Clinical Practice

Proven techniques and tools for best results · individual skills plus organizational enablers · when self-care is appropriate vs insufficient

 

Chair: James Brunning, Consultant Anaesthetist, Wellbeing Lead for Medical Staff; Final FRCA Examiner, Wellbeing Course Director; Breathwork Instructor; PGCME; Certificate in Clinical Hypnosis (British Society of Medical and Dental Hypnosis), UK

11:00-11:10

The silver lining between being hurt and being heard

Diana Ionescu · Clinical Professor of Pathology, University of British Columbia; Medical Director, Cervical Cancer Screening Laboratory and Clinical Trials, BCCA Laboratories, Canada

11:10-11:20

The challenge of teaching mindfulness and compassion as non-technical skills of healthcare professionals

Corinne Isnard Bagnis · Professor of Nephrology, Sorbonne University; Senior Clinician at AP-HP (Paris), France

11:20-11:30

Mental Health in UK Resident Doctors: Prevalence and Strategies for Improvement

Hammaad Khalid · Resident Doctor, Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, UK

11:30-11:50

Panel discussion

11:50
Session 4

Empowering Workplaces: Designing Well-Being-Focused Work Environments

 

Chair: Laurie GreggChief Well-being Officer (CWO), Sutter Independent Physicians & Sutter Medical Center Sacramento; USA 

11:50-12:00

From Overseas to Overwhelmed: Well-Being Challenges Unique to International Medical Graduates from South Asia in the NHS

Sandeep Buddha · Consultant Stroke Physician, North Bristol NHS Trust; Cardiff Metropolitan University, UK

12:00-12:20

Designing a Well-Being-Focused Hospital

Philip Yu · Chief Medical Executive, Sutter Medical Center Sacramento, USA

Laurie Gregg · Chief Well-being Officer, Sutter Independent Physicians & Sutter Medical Center Sacramento, USA

12:20-12:30

Burnout is a Design Flaw: Re-engineering Surgical Pathways to Protect Clinician Well-Being and Improve Patient Outcomes

Pratap Dutta · Consultant Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon, Skin Cancer Lead, Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust, UK

12:30-12:40

From Compassion to Culture: Leadership Models for Well-Being-Focused Healthcare Workplaces

Shreedhar Aranganathan · Consultant Spinal Surgeon; Member, Commonwealth Leadership Institute (CLI), UK

12:40-13:00

Panel discussion

13:00
Lunch

Well-Being lunch break

13:45
Workshops

Parallel workshops

 

Workshop 1 · Find your Joy of Medicine through mindfulness and connections

Irina Korman · Internal Medicine Physician; Member of the Board of Directors, Sierra Foothills Medical Society, USA

 

Workshop 2 · Steady Under Pressure: practical regulation skills for stress and distress in medicine

James Brunning · Consultant Anaesthetist; Final FRCA Examiner; Trust Wellbeing Lead; SOMA Breath Instructor, UK

14:45
Panel

Advisory Board panel

15:30
Plenary

Organizational Commitment to Well-Being: What does it look like and how to get started?

 

Chair: Nigel GirgrahChief Wellness Officer, Ochsner Health, USA 

15:30-15:50

Jonathan Ripp · Dean for Well-Being and Resilience; Professor of Medicine, Medical Education and Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), USA

15:50-16:00

Q&A

16:00
Break

Well-Being refreshment break

16:30-19:00
Workshops

Parallel workshops

16:30-17:45

Workshop 1 · Building Resilience & Mindfulness: practical strategies for daily practice

Diana Ionescu · Clinical Professor of Pathology, University of British Columbia; Medical Director, BCCA Laboratories, Canada

16:30-17:45

Workshop 2 · Designing a Comprehensive Organisational Physician Well-Being Program (governance, funding, evaluation)

Jonathan Ripp · Dean for Well-Being and Resilience, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), USA

Phua Ghee Chee · Deputy CEO, Singapore General Hospital; Group Director of Staff Wellness, SingHealth, Singapore

17:45-18:00

Technical break

18:00-19:00

Workshop 3 · Peer Support Pearls

Laurie Gregg · Chief Well-being Officer, Sutter Independent Physicians & Sutter Medical Center Sacramento, USA

Mibhali Bhalala · Obstetrician-Gynaecologist, Lifestyle Medicine; ACOG, USA

Judy Kimelman · former Obstetrician-Gynaecologist; Fellow, ACOG, USA

18:00-19:00

Workshop 4 · Shift Happens: Connection, Failure, and Finding Belonging in Medicine

Yasmin Rahman · GP, Educator, Trainer, Appraiser, Mentor; Programme Director, New to Leadership (North Central & North East London), UK

Day 3 · Monday 16 November

Day 3 of 3

From insight to action: the 6-12 month roadmap and the Valencia commitments.

Time
Session
09:00
Plenary

Physician and Healthcare Workforce Well-Being Programs: Lessons from Real-World Implementation

09:00-09:20

Nigel Girgrah · Chief Wellness Officer, Ochsner Health, USA

09:20-09:30

Q&A

09:30
Session 5

Innovation & AI in Physician Well-Being: Promise, Limits, and Pitfalls (Part II)

 

Chair: Ioanna GheoneaProfessor at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Chairperson of the Young European Society of Radiology Committee, Romania 

09:30-09:40

Can AI reduce physician burnout? From hype to real clinical impact

Salvador García-Delpech · Medical Director, AIKEN Clinic, Spain

09:40-09:50

The Health Workforce as Health Infrastructure: From Burnout Prevention to Health System Resilience

Roxana Mittler-Matica · Physician; Board-certified Neurosurgeon; Engineer; Chief Medical Officer, Germany

09:50-10:00

AI as a clinical ally: reducing workload and redefining sustainable medical practice

Patricia Udaondo · AIKEN Clinic, Spain

10:00-10:15

Panel discussion

10:15

Break

Well-Being refreshment break

10:30-10:40

The 3W Reset: A Simple Mental Health Check-In for Doctors 
Omobolanle Kazeem, Public health expert and Consultant Paediatrician in Obesity and DiabetesNHS, UK

11:00
Session 6

Harmonizing Lives: Boundaries, Recovery, and Sustainable Performance

Energy management · recovery and how systems could support it · role modelling by leadership

 

ChairDiana IonescuClinical Professor of Pathology, University of British Columbia; Medical Director, Cervical Cancer Screening Laboratory and Clinical Trials at BCCA Laboratories, Canada

11:00-11:10

Educate. Recharge. Perform: Lessons from a pilot Medics’ Wellness & Education Meeting

Svetlana Galitzine · Consultant Anaesthetist, Nuffield Department of Anaesthetics, Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK

11:10-11:20

You Can't Self-Care Your Way Out of a Broken System: Rethinking Physician Well-Being

Johanna Janku · MD, Specialist in Gynecology and Obstetrics; Psychosexual Clinician, Switzerland

11:20-11:30

You cannot care for others if you do not care for yourself first

Caroline Justich · Patient Advocate; Past Chairperson & Member, European Society of Radiology Patient Advisory Group, Austria

11:30-11:40

Longevity for Surgeons: Addressing Reduced Healthspan in the Surgical Profession 
Lachezar DobrichkovVascular and Endovascular Surgeon · Sofiamed University General Hospital, Bulgaria 

11:40-12:00

Panel discussion

12:00

Closing panel

Looking Ahead: Shared Commitments and Next Steps in Physician Well-Being

Panellists

 

Jonathan Ripp · Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS), USA

Jamile Ashmore · Chief Wellness Officer and Director of Medical Psychology, Baylor Scott & White, The Heart Hospital; Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine, Texas A&M College of Medicine, USA

Phua Ghee Chee · Singapore General Hospital; SingHealth, Singapore

Diana Ionescu · University of British Columbia, Canada

Mercedes Hurtado Sarrió · Professor, University of Valencia; Ophthalmologist; President, Medical College of Valencia, Spain

Ioana Gheonea · University of Medicine and Pharmacy of Craiova, Romania

12:30-13:30

Lunch

Well-Being light refreshment lunch

* The program could be subject to changes.

Six tracks. Pick your path.

Track 01

Physician well-being & system accountability

Where individual responsibility ends and institutional duty begins. The defining question of the field.

Track 02

High-risk threats to well-being

Suicide, severe burnout, moral injury. The conversations the profession needs to be having out loud.

Track 03

AI & innovation applications

Promise, limits, pitfalls. The vendor pitch versus the evidence.

Track 04

Work-environment design

Empowering workplaces. Psychologically safe and supportive cultures by design, not by accident.

Track 05

Implementation lessons

Real-world programs from the systems that actually moved the needle.

Track 06

Leadership & sustainable performance

Boundaries, recovery, well-being-centred leadership. The leadership skills the next generation needs.

Accreditation

CME credits.

An application has been made to the UEMS EACCME® for CME/CPD accreditation of this event.