TORONTO – Studies have demonstrated that up to 50% of medical residents meet criteria for burnout, but a new initiative aims to change that worrisome trend.
At the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting, Michael Dolinger, MD, shared initial results from ResiLIEnCE (Resident-led Initiative to Empower a Change in Culture and Promote Resilience), a curriculum that is being carried out at Cohen Children’s Medical Center, New York. “We know that medical residents are a prime target for work burnout,” said Dr. Dolinger, one of the center’s pediatric chief residents, in an interview. “We wanted to study what we can do to combat that burnout on a daily basis, a monthly basis, and a longitudinal basis. How specific can we get so it’s portable, and that other programs can adapt what we are doing to help reduce this burnout?”
Doug Brunk/MDedge News
Dr. Michael Dolinger
Interventions were enacted during traditional pediatric resident work hours to improve attendance. These included a resident-led wellness committee with faculty leadership and wellness champions, a longitudinal noon conference lecture series on nutrition (with topics such as how to eat on a budget and quick meal options), financial health (with topics such as student loan repayment, budgeting on a resident’s salary, and retirement planning), mindfulness, and resiliency. Optional activities after work included personal fitness boot camps, a book club, a minority support group, and other peer interest groups. Maslach Burnout Inventories were distributed to residents before implementation of the curriculum and at 3-month intervals. Surveys at the completion of activities assessed the effectiveness of sessions.
A total of 100 pediatric residents were surveyed. Dr. Dolinger reported that before implementation of the curriculum, 41.0% of third-year residents admitted to “feeling burned out from my work” and to “feeling more callous since I took this job,” while 8.8% of rising first-year residents admitted to feeling burned out prior to starting residency. In addition, 3 months after the curriculum began, 48.0% of first-year, 23.5% of second-year, and 83.3% of third-year residents reported believing that residency interfered with their personal wellness.
Analysis of the curriculum’s impact is ongoing, but Dr. Dolinger reported that among those who attended a nutrition series, 80% of residents planned to eat healthier, while only 15% reported eating healthy prior to the session. Among those who attended a financial series, 50% of those who did not previously contribute to their retirement planned to do so. In addition, 80% of residents who attended a resident fitness workshop joined a local fitness center, compared with only 20% of residents prior. Among those who attended a lecture series on resiliency, 90% of residents indicated that they were able to reflect on a negative patient experience and learn something valuable.
“Hopefully this curriculum helps reduce the overall burnout in our residents over time, by increasing their aspects of well-being and promoting resilience for them individually,” Dr. Dolinger said.
The initiative was funded by the Association of Pediatric Program Directors via the Harvey Aiges Memorial Trainee Investigator Award. Dr. Dolinger reported having no financial disclosures.