Establishing habits that promote a better work-life balance
WellMedix was established in 2021 by Swansea-based orthopaedic surgeons Mr Matthew Dodd and Mr Michael Cronin, with the first meeting being a simple workshop focused on recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The first retreat took place in Zermatt in February 2022. The success of that event, and the positive response from the medical professionals who attended, gave the team the confidence to develop the idea into an annual series of meetings in similarly inspiring locations.
WellMedix ’23, ’24, ’25 and ’26 were held at Hôtel Le Petit Dru in Morzine in the French Alps, with each year building on the last.
WellMedix UK launched in 2025 at Mountain Yoga in Cardiff, allowing us to bring many of the talks and sessions developed in Morzine to a wider UK-based audience.
WellMedix ’27 returns to Hôtel Le Petit Dru in Morzine from 18–21 January 2027. The meeting continues to evolve, but its purpose remains the same: to create a relaxed and engaging forum where medical professionals can step away from work, learn, share ideas and think about how to improve their health, wellbeing and working lives.
I never fully appreciated the importance of finding time for myself until the pandemic. Realising the time I spend skiing each year gives me a chance to decompress and raise my happiness index. Only during the pandemic did I fully appreciate how necessary this was for my general well-being. The benefits of our first meeting in Zermatt '22, as the world began to re-open, re-inforced this for us all as we met and discussed the impact the restrictions and workloads had upon our lives. We believe the time is right to create an environment where medics have the opportunity to meet, discuss and experience this together.
Mr Matthew Dodd, Orthopaedic Surgeon, Co-Founder of WellMedix
Michael Cronin
BSc, MBBS, FRCS (Tr & Ortho)
Mike was a co-founder of WellMedix in 2022. Having spent several years personally investigating and attempting to improve his own well-being, COVID hit with it's not uncommon consequences! The idea of helping other medics in the same way seemed even more important than ever and hence, with Matt, the concept of WellMedix was born.
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Matthew Dodd
BSc MB BS Dip. Sports Med. FRCS (Tr & Orth)
WellMedix was created when we realised we were not alone in coping with difficulty personal and work issues they were facing and how much that had been amplified while recovering from the pandemic. Set out with the intention of expanding those discussions and involving others. Hopefully giving medical professionals the chance to decompress and discuss different aspects of their working and personal lives beyond the medicine.
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Oliver Warren
BSc(Hons) MBBS(Hons.) MD(Res.) FRCS(Gen.Surg.)
Oliver is passionate about health, fitness and wellbeing and has become increasingly interested on how to integrate holistic functional medicine into his surgical practice. He tries to balance the demands placed on him by a busy clinical practice, and significant leadership roles, with time spent with his family, and maintaining his own mental and physical health and wellbeing. This however is an ongoing struggle and one he does not profess to have conquered!
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