As an osteopathic physician and first-year resident with the UTRGV School of Medicine, Alehli Silguero said she’s given patients cancer diagnoses and announced pregnancies.

Silguero said the conversations she’s had can weigh on the mental health of physicians.

“From patient to patient, the emotional variations are just wild — and that definitely weighs on us,” Silguero said. “How can I help if I’m not willing to help myself first, or am ignoring my needs first? That's definitely going to affect patient care."

Silguero said the high-stress nature of the medical field puts her and other medical students and doctors at an increased risk for burnout, and mental health challenges.

“I know many that did not graduate due to the reason of not asking for help or not getting the help needed in time, and they were going to be amazing physicians,” Silguero said.

To help students like Silguero, the UTRGV School of Medicine is launching a new app, Fortify Resilience, to provide mental health resources for UTRGV resident physicians.

The app is being funded through a $1.75 million grant. Fortify Resilience will offer self-assessments and personalized well-being recommendations.

“We look at things like self-compassion, psychological flexibility, quality of life,” UTRGV Director of Integrated Behavioral Resources Deepu George said. “Once they get their results, we have associated evidence-based behavioral interventions for them to do in order for them to improve that score overtime.”

George helped create the app, and he said it's something he wants to expand beyond UTRGV in the future.

When the app launches this spring, it will be free for UTRGV resident physicians through the Google and Apple app stores.

Watch the video above for the full story.