Resident Physician and Medical Academic Faculty Burnout

Physician burnout finds its roots in both undergraduate and graduate medical education and has emerged as an important cause of academic faculty turnover. Recognition of the need for resiliency training has led to the development and implementation of wellness programmes throughout the country and world. This chapter examines the causes and potential solutions of combating resident physician and academic faculty burnout in medical education. The authors reviewed current literature on wellness programmes in medical education, including both traditional and curricular approaches and provide a template for creating a well-rounded wellness programme to promote resident physician and academic faculty wellness.

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF RESILIENCY TRAINING TO IMPROVE FAMILY WELL-BEING AMONG WOMEN EXPERIENCED SEXUAL VIOLENCE IN ACEH

Sexual harassment has many negative impacts on the victims, both physically and psychologically. Women as victims of sexual harassment feel difficulties when they interact in social environment. The psychological impact on the victim will result in prolonged trauma and depression which can then lead to unhealthy attitudes such as insecurity, excessive fear, and disturbed mental conditions. For this reason, this study aimed to examine the effectiveness of resiliency training to improve family well-being among women victims of sexual violence in Aceh. The number of participants recruited were 7 women who have experienced sexual violence in PSAA Aceh. The research design used a one group pretest-posttest design and the data were collected using family well-being scale. The results of data analysis indicated that the provision of resiliency training did not have a significant contribution on increasing family well-being. This could be explained because the incidents of sexual violence experienced by the subjects have happened several years ago, so they have adapted to their families to the presence of children born from the sexual violence.

I’m No Superman: fostering physician resilience through guided group discussion of Scrubs

Background Almost half of trainees experience burnout during their career. Despite the Accreditation Council on Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) recommendation that training programs enact well-being curricula, there is no proven method of addressing this difficult topic. Methods We created a curriculum addressing physician resiliency and well-being, designed for an Internal Medicine Residency Program. This curriculum utilized episodes from a medical television series, Scrubs, to facilitate a monthly, 1-h faculty guided discussion group. We collected informal feedback and abbreviated Maslach Burnout Inventories (aMBI) monthly and conducted a formal focus group after 6 months to gauge its effectiveness. Results The curriculum was successfully conducted for 12 months with each session averaging 18–20 residents. Residents reported high satisfaction, stating it was more enjoyable and helpful than traditional resiliency training. 19 of 24 residents (79 %) completed a baseline aMBI, and 17 of 20 residents (85 %) who attended the most recent session completed the 6-month follow-up, showing a non-significant 1-point improvement in all subsets of the aMBI. Conclusions This novel, low-cost, easily implemented curriculum addressed resiliency and burn-out in an Internal Medicine Residency. It was extremely well received and can easily be expanded to other training programs or to providers outside of training.

Mitigating the Impact of Reemergence From a Pandemic on Healthcare

ABSTRACT Healthcare workers have never faced a medical crisis that compares to the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic. This modern-day pandemic fight draws parallels to a war. Because of these similarities, it would make sense that the experiences frontline providers have when transitioning to a normal healthcare routine would emulate experiences service members voice when reintegrating home from a battlefield. These common experiences include a unified mission, an exhausting, adrenaline-packed responsibility, and a celebrity-like status to the public. The pandemic response consumed healthcare with one united mission, but as we reemerge from the pandemic and restore other aspects of our healthcare system, multiple missions develop and compete. Returning to a common routine and regular status can manifest feelings of disappointment in healthcare workers’ everyday lives and career choices and lead to a reexamination of priorities and professions. As an organization with a focus on high reliability, mitigating the harm to staff and delivery system may be our new priority. The risk of not facing this situation head on is a potential exodus of seasoned professionals contemplating their future and selecting other career paths, thus draining the current institutional knowledge and potentially deterring future generations from healthcare. Leaders in the healthcare industry need to take a proactive stance in addressing this reemergence. Integrated, proactive programming is needed utilizing evidence-based resiliency training from professional organizations such as the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the Department of Health and Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, as well as the existing Department of Defense programs. The Veterans Affairs has the backbone to develop and offer these programs and make a positive difference with Employee Whole Health efforts. Organized, evidence-based programming such as second victim education, mindfulness, and other personal skill building could be key to improving the lifelong well-being of our caregivers.

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Resilience Training and Emotion Regulation on Psychological Well-being and Self-efficacy of Firefighters

Background and Objective: Firefighters are at risk of mental health deterioration due to their stressful jobs, and psychological skills training plays a positive role in this regard. This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of resiliency training and emotion-regulation training on the psychological well-being and self-efficacy of firefighters. Materials and Methods: This was an experimental study with a multi-group pretest-posttest control group design. In autumn 2018, forty-five Ardabil firefighters selected by simple random sampling were randomly assigned into three groups of resiliency-training (n=15), emotion-regulation-training (n=15), and control (n=15). All three groups completed the demographic questionnaire, Ryff’s Psychological Well-Being Scale, and General Self-Efficacy Scale (​Scherer et al., 1982) in the pre-test and post-test stages. The collected data were analysed using SPSS software (version16) through the analysis of covariance and Bonferroni post hoc test. Results: Resiliency training and emotion-regulation had a significant effect on one’s psychological well-being and self-efficacy. The results of the post hoc test also indicated that the effectiveness of resiliency training and emotion-regulation on one’s self-efficacy was significantly different and resiliency training was more effective than emotion-regulation training. Conclusions: Resiliency training and emotion-regulation training were effective on the psychological well-being and self-efficacy of firefighters.

The Text Effect: Stress Management and Resiliency Training Pilot for Resident Physicians

Background and Objectives: Burnout is common among resident physicians. Studies show that those who engage in stress management and mindful practice have improved empathy and lower rates of mood disturbance. This study piloted a program entitled Stress Management and Resiliency Training for Residents (SMART-R) with Family Medicine (FM) and Ob-Gyn residents at an academic medical center. Methods: The 6-hour SMART-R program, which teaches relaxation strategies, stress awareness, and adaptive coping, was mandatory for all years of residency and delivered in three 2-hour sessions during protected didactic time. Interested residents received a weekly phone text message with mindfulness and resiliency reminders to enhance practice between sessions. We measured burnout, empathy, perceived stress, mindful attention awareness, mind body practices, and program satisfaction. Results: There were 14 matched pre/post surveys (six FM, eight Ob-Gyn), of which 10 (five FM; five Ob-Gyn) opted to receive weekly texts. Empathy, stress, and burnout remained stable over time. Those who received the weekly texts showed a significant increase in mindful attention awareness and trended toward lower perceived stress compared to those who did not receive texts. Half of those surveyed felt the training should be mandatory and 71% would recommend it to colleagues. While 93% thought it was important to know the current research on mind-body medicine to guide patients, only 29% felt they knew much about this. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the positive impact a 6-hour stress management and resiliency intervention can have on resident physicians. Unlike other studies that have shown decreased empathy and increased stress and burnout over time, these features remained stable over the academic year. Weekly text reminders supported the training and suggest potential benefit to enhance stress management training for medical professionals.