Published wellness interventions used by various specialties
| Wellness interventions used by residency programs | |||||||
| Article title | Author | Date | Specialty | Location | # of participants | Intervention components | Assessment |
| A strategy for wellness in a pathology residency program: enhancing chances of success during an epidemic of burnout | Saint Martin et al | 2018 | Pathology | Chicago, IL | 17 | Wellness training for individual, programme and institution; wellness talks; resilience coaches; modify mentorship programme; mindfulness practices; volunteer opportunities; fitness centre discounts. | Satisfaction and utilisation survey |
| Anesthesia resident wellness program at University of Saskatchewan: concept and development; content and delivery | Chakravarti et al | 2015 | Anaesthesia | Canada | 31 | Modular curriculum with eight topics: wellness, resilience, professionalism, occupational wellness, emotional wellness, financial wellness & career management, team building, situational awareness. Peer support curriculum, self-directed learning activities, overall department wellness programme. | Survey and focus groups |
| Impact of family medicine resident wellness curriculum: a feasibility study | Runyan et al | 2013 | Family Medicine | Worcester, MA | 36 | 1 month wellness curriculum for PGY-2 residents led by behaviour science faculty focusing on burnout, empathy, stress and self-compassion. | MBI, Self-Compassion Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Jefferson Empathy Scale |
| Implementation of small group reflection rounds at an emergency medicine residency program | Wen et al | 2011 | Emergency Medicine | Boston, MA | 9 | Small group reflection rounds: 1 hour monthly sessions with faculty facilitators to discuss difficult ethical or interpersonal encounters. | Satisfaction survey |
| Current wellness practices among otolaryngology residencies | O’Brien et al | 2017 | ENT | Muli | 107 | Faculty mentoring, wellness lecture, no-cost mental health resources, seminars in mindfulness, financially supported social events, allowed time off for appointments. | Survey |
| Feasibility of comprehensive wellness and suicide prevention program: a decade of caring for physicians in training and practice | Ey et al | 2011 | Multi | Portland, OR | 906 | Individual counselling, psychiatric evaluation, wellness workshops. | Utilisation rates of services, satisfaction ratings |
| Perspectives from a residency training program following the implementation of a wellness initiative | Buchholz et al | 2015 | Neurosurgery | Charleston, SC | 10 | Wellness lectures, weekly 1 hour team exercise, healthy food choices at conferences, progressive exercise, sleep and dietary goal setting. | Satisfaction survey |
| Perceived value of a program to promote surgical resident well being | Salles et al | 2012 | Surgery | Stanford, CA | 76 | Balance in life programme with six components: refrigerator stocked with healthy food and drinks; after-hours guide; psychological counselling sessions; resident mentorship programme; class rep system; social events. | MBI, Dupuy Psychological Well Being Scale and Grit |
| Wellness program for anesthesiology residents: a randomized controlled trial | Saadat et al | 2012 | Anaesthesia | New Haven, CT | 60 | Three groups: wellness intervention (16 1.5 hour-sessions on coping with work and family stress); no treatment control with release time; no treatment control with routine duties. | Multiple instruments including National Survey on Drug Abuse |
| Does implementation of a corporate wellness initiative improve burnout? | Hart et al | 2017 | Emergency Medicine | Minneapolis, MN | 46 | Trial of wellness programmes (The Happiness Practice) originating from other industries. | MBI and reactions data |
| A program to prevent burnout, depression, anxiety in first-year pediatric residents | Slavin et al | 2016 | Paediatrics | St. Louis, MO | 17 | Three facet programme: stress reduction & finding meaning in medicine; ethics including approach to difficult patients or medical mistakes; organisational approach. | MBI, Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, State-Trait Anxiety Inventory |
| Operation La Sierra: a novel wellness initiative for the neuro surgery residents | Fargen et al | 2015 | Neurosurgery | Charleston, SC | 9 | FitBits, wellness lectures, weekly exercise sessions with a trainer and healthy food choices at morning conferences. | Body composition testing, satisfaction survey |
| Evidence-based longitudinal curriculum for resident physician wellness: 2017 resident wellness consensus summit | Arnold et al | 2017 | Emergency Medicine | Multi | 30 | Foundational modules: Intro to Wellness; Self Care Series (Sleep to Financial Wellness); Physician Suicide & Self Help; Clinical Care Series; Wellness in the Workplace; Dealing with Medical Errors & Shame. | ‘Wellness Think Tank’ |
| Resident physician wellness curriculum: a study of efficacy and satisfaction | Lefebvre et al | 2019 | Emergency Medicine | Canada | 58 | Two components: scheduled meetings with dedicated faculty wellness mentor; wellness lectures related to fitness, healthy food preparation and financial planning. | Brief Resident Wellness Profile and SF-8 Health Survey |
| Resident-led organisational initiatives to reduce burnout and improve wellness | Mari et al | 2019 | Psychiatry | Boston, MA | 39 | On-Call Task Force and Food Action Team to improve on-call experience, financially supported social events, designated ‘wellness day’, mindfulness didactics, recommended primary care providers. | Copenhagen Burnout Inventory |
| Evaluation of a formal wellness curriculum to reduce burnout in anaesthesia residents: a pilot study | Brainard et al | 2019 | Anaesthesia | Aurora, CO | 39 | Didactics, interactive sessions on mindfulness, peer-mentoring program, monthly wellness education articles, wellness reference card, confidential monitored wellness email address, quarterly resident group dinners. | MBI |
| A comprehensive residency wellness curriculum | Zradzinski et al | 2020 | Emergency Medicine | Atlanta, GA | 106 | Workshops on seven wellness domains: emotional, occupational, financial, physical, intellectual, social and spiritual. | MBI, satisfaction survey |
| Designing well-being: using design thinking to engage residents in developing well-being interventions | Thomas et al | 2020 | Internal Medicine | San Francisco, CA | 18 | Design thinking programme with four workshops to discuss and solve well-being problems. Themes included community and connection, space for reflection, peer support and availability of individualised wellness. | Post-intervention interviews |
Separated by date of publication, specialty, location of residency programme, number of residents who participated in the intervention, description of the intervention components and method of assessment.
MBI, Maslach Burnout Inventory.