The Impact of a 4-Domain Wellness-Initiative Curriculum on Internal Medicine Resident Physicians.

A structured well-being curriculum for medical residents, covering cognitive distortions, mindfulness, creative outlets, and self-compassion, improved knowledge and positively influenced personal and professional lives. Before the curriculum, an average of 22.7% of residents reported moderate or higher knowledge across domains; after completion, this rose to 77.3%. Of participants, 58.6% found the knowledge moderately or extremely influential in their professional lives, and 83.6% in their personal lives. No significant differences were observed between second- and third-year residents. The findings suggest that group-based well-being training can shift mindsets toward purpose and engagement, though larger studies are needed.

Study at a glance

Abstract

There is a trend toward fostering well-being, or the state of being happy and healthy, within the medical community. Historically, resident physicians have faced high rates of distress during training. A structured well-being curriculum in residency programs may shift residents' mindsets from survival and resilience to one centered on purpose, engagement, and joy. An original well-being curriculum was administered to residents in person at a single institution every 5 weeks for approximately 10 well-being workshops, totaling around 20 hours of curriculum exposure during every academic year. The well-being curriculum was divided into 4 domains: cognitive distortions and problematic mindsets, mindfulness and meditation, creative outlets, and self-compassion.Residents exposed to at least 1 year of the well-being curriculum were asked to answer an anonymous survey. Four questions were asked for each of the 4 domains. The first and second questions asked how familiar they were with the topic before and after the workshops on a scale of 1-5 of familiarity. The third and fourth questions asked how much the knowledge acquired influenced their professional and personal life on a scale of 1-5 of influence. Before curriculum exposure, the average for moderate or higher levels of knowledge across all domains was 22.7%, which improved to 77.3% after curriculum completion. Overall, 58.6% of participants felt the knowledge of the domains was moderately or extremely influential in their professional lives and 83.6% in their personal lives. There were no significant differences between post-graduate year 2 and post-graduate year 3 residents for any domains examined before and after the wellness workshops. A 4-domain well-being curriculum practiced in a group setting positively impacted participating residents in their personal and professional lives. Further studies need to be performed on a larger scale to assess if the curriculum fits the needs of the broader medical community.