Utilizing Theory to Understand and Combat Resident Burnout - The Role of a Resident Wellness Committee

Physician burnout and depression varies throughout a physician's career and is highest during residency, with a prevalence of 60%. Developing an infrastructure within a residency program that promotes well-being is necessary to provide the skills needed by residents to prevent burnout during their career as clinicians. Moreover, research has demonstrated that organization level wellness interventions, such as residency program initiatives, are more effective at decreasing burnout as opposed to individual interventions. Participants will be introduced to the job-demands theory to better understand the factors that lead to strain or burnout. Most notably strain is highest in occupations where there is high demand and low control which correlates with the high rates of burnout noted amongst residents/fellows. Participants will be tasked with identifying the demands that residents encounter during residency that can contribute to this strain. We will then discuss how resources can be used to mitigate this strain utilizing the job demand resource theory. Participants will be tasked with considering the organizational level wellness resources that are already available at their respective program. Furthermore, we will present specific resources that program directors can provide at an organizational level to assess and improve resident wellness. We will highlight the impact of a Resident Wellness Committee to be a catalyst for these resources and discuss how the formation of our RWC transformed the culture of our internal medicine program.

Speakers

• Desiree Burroughs-Ray, MD
• Amanda Roberts, C-TAGME
• Camden Hastings, MD
• Christian Salcedo , MD

Additional Information

Year Published: 2023 - APDIM Fall Meeting