The Office of Student Wellness serves ALL students enrolled in the Tufts Health Sciences programs, in person and online. We offer a variety of free and low-cost wellness events, both in person and virtual, throughout the year to provide stress management education, improve overall health and well-being, and build a community of compassionate healthcare professionals-in-training. Our newsletter, This Week in Wellness, arrives in your inbox late Friday afternoon and always includes an up-to-date schedule of events for the week ahead and sign-up links for programs with attendance limits.
Participate in your community by attending our signature events!
Wellness Gathering and Pet Therapy: Take a study break and join classmates, staff from the Office of Student Wellness, and members of our community for tea, coffee, snacks, and a visit from friendly emotional support dogs. We’ll have a variety of goodies available, both sweet and savory, to boost your energy.
My absolute favorite wellness activity that I've enjoyed is the dog therapy. As someone who has had dogs in the past, I know the love and joy that they can bring you. So whenever I've come to the dog therapy sessions, I've been stressed, dealing with a lot of exams and a full schedule. It has really shifted my focus from negative to positive. And really giving me that time to interact with the dog has brightened my day and set me up to have a great rest of the day and a great week.
Wendy Mauti, D25
Pop-Up Tea: Join us for afternoon tea, sweets, and community. Members of the Office of Student Wellness team will be on hand to chat informally and answer your wellness questions. Many pop-up teas feature activities, such as card making, adding to a gratitude tree, and other easy projects to take your mind off of stress for a bit. We hold pop-up teas in our office and in other community locations.
Time for Pause: Midday is a great time to pause and reset in preparation for afternoon classes and activities. Join us in person or virtually for a short guided mindfulness practice followed by informal conversations about applying mindfulness to your everyday activities both in your personal life and your educational/professional world.
Pre-Exam Huddle: Request an in-person or virtual visit from our in-house mindfulness instructor to guide your class through a 5-minute diaphragmatic breathing exercise to help calm pre-exam jitters.
Yoga: Tired from hours of sitting at your computer, in class, or in the lab? The Office of Student Wellness offers free weekly yoga sessions, alternating between lunchtime and early evening, to help you relax, reset, or unwind. Your body will thank you for taking time to join these beginner-friendly classes.
Wellness Week: Every October we celebrate the many dimensions of wellness with our fall step challenge, lunch and learn sessions focused on embracing Winter in Boston, navigating Seasonal Affective Disorder, and the opportunity to build your own Mason Jar salads and overnight oats to go, to name just a few activities you are likely to see on the schedule.
Annual Blue Hills Hike: Although our academic activities are centered in our urban campus in Boston’s Chinatown, opportunities to explore the great outdoors are closer than one might expect. The annual Blue Hills Hike provides students with a round-trip bus ride to nearby Blue Hills Reservation, a 7,000 acre state park with 125 miles of trails, varied terrain, and beautiful views.
Apple Picking Trip: Enjoying New England’s beautiful fall colors, crisp temperatures, and abundant apple harvest are among the many joys of going to school in the greater Boston area. To make it easy for students to enjoy a slice of fall in New England, we sponsor buses to transport students from the Boston Health Sciences Campus to a local orchard for an afternoon of picking apples, eating cider doughnuts, and soaking up the atmosphere and fresh air.
I really love the Fall in Boston. Seeing the colors change, going apple picking, carving pumpkins, and going on hay rides. That's been the best season here.
Melissa Calica, M25
Winter Warm-Up: Although it’s called Spring Semester, we all know it starts in Winter, so it boosts our mood to warm up together after the new year gets rolling. Watch for activities such as skating at the Boston Common Frog Pond, chair massages, a celebration with a chocolate fountain and rose sale, and other Valentine’s Day festivities.
Stress-Less Week: By late April, stress is high on our campus, so we invite all students to stress less for a week. Typical activities include our Spring Step Challenge, virtual 5K, 10-minute chair massage sessions, an ice cream social, and an opportunity to share destressing tips within our community.