Wellness The Role of the Resident Wellness Chief in Contributing to the Well-Being of Residents

The Role of the Resident Wellness Chief in Contributing to the WellBeing of Residents

By Megan Anderson, DO

Emergency medicine (EM) residency is a fast-paced, adrenaline-filled marathon of hands-on learning where residents are forced to pivot minute-to-minute between the highs and lows of patient care. It is no wonder topics such as well-being, burnout, and mindfulness have been brought to the forefront of discussion among EM residency programs, especially during COVID-19. Given this, general, residency is a time where areas of wellness such as mental and physical health are placed on the back burner due to time and energy limitations. Ironically, it is optimized wellness itself that can improve energy levels, sleep hygiene, confidence, mood, and overall career satisfaction. As physicians, we strive to improve the health of our patients; however, we cannot effectively take care of others if we are not first taking care of ourselves. It is for these reasons that interventions from a wellness chief are essential to an EM residency program.

“Wellness” is defined differently by everyone. While some residents find wellness in physical activity or being outdoors, other residents may discover wellness from reading a book for pleasure in a quiet space. Traditionally, there are seven components of wellbeing: 1.) emotional, 2.) physical, 3.) intellectual, 4.) spiritual, 5.) social, 6.) environmental, and 7.) financial. As the wellness chief of the Medical College of Wisconsin EM residency program, I wanted to discover what “wellness” meant to each of our residents so that I would have a more effective impact on resident well-being. To assess components of wellness that our residents valued most, I created a survey for residents to complete at the beginning of the academic year. The survey was voluntary, and most responses were submitted by our PGY1 residents, followed by PGY-3, then

“As physicians, we strive to improve the health of our patients; however, we cannot effectively take care of others if we are not first taking care of ourselves. It is for these reasons that interventions from a wellness chief are essential to an EM residency program.”

PGY-2, with a total of 17 submissions for a program of 35 residents. The figure below is a graph revealing the results of this survey with the top contributing factors of resident wellness.

When asked to choose “the top five activities that personally make you well” from a list of options, an overwhelming proportion (15/17 or 88%) of residents selected “spending time with friends, family, and co-workers.” Most residents (13/17 or 76%) also felt that spending time in nature positively impacted their wellness. Additionally, both free food and physical fitness was found to be beneficial to 12 of the 17 residents (70%). Given that these four activities were chosen by a substantial number of residents, I felt it imperative to focus on implementing or continuing wellness initiatives related to these areas (e.g., group events, exercise encouragement, and increased opportunities for free food at conferences or in the resident lounge). As for the remainder of the options, a smaller majority of residents (9/17 or 53%) listed time alone, time with animals, or pleasure reading as an activity that contributes to their wellness. With this data in mind, we have begun discussions around starting a book club and bringing service animals to conference on occasion. Finally, the last three options were selected by fewer than half of the residents; listed in order these include games/competitions (8/17 or 47%), cooking (3/17 or 17%), and therapy (0/17 or 0%). While only a minority of residents chose some of these options, it is helpful to keep them in mind for future activities. Also, it is interesting to note that in this group of individuals, no residents felt that therapy would contribute to their wellness. While we already have mental health resources in place, it is helpful to know that other interventions may be a better option for these residents.

As stated above, in response to these submissions, our wellness committee has been able to address different components of wellness through peer guided suggestions. We have started a non-medical, ED-wide book club and are planning for a cookbook competitionthemed journal club. During warmweather months, we get together once a month for “Sunday Funday,” during which a group of EM faculty, residents, family members, and pets are encouraged to walk one of the many Greater Milwaukee trails together, ending with food and beverages. I have created a mentorship program called “Life Support” in which we match residents and attendings based on survey results focusing on academic/personal interests. Additionally, our department participates in a biannual physical fitness competition between our “house groups” to encourage physical health. We have embedded resident bonding opportunities and games into conference days with free breakfast/ coffee at every conference. Finally, we have an array of mental health programs such as our peer support system “SOS” as well as a new initiative called “Talk-o Tuesday” where small groups of EM residents can choose to get together over tacos to discuss difficult cases or stressors of residency.

Ultimately, the role of wellness chief is dynamic and persistent throughout the academic year as morale fluctuates rotation by rotation and season to season. My goal with this survey and my intention overall is to not only positively impact the wellness of each of our residents individually this year but to teach them how to be well going forward in their life and careers.

WELLNESS SURVEY

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr. Anderson is a PGY3 emergency medicine resident at Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, WI. She is passionate about wellness and its implications on the operations/administration aspect of emergency medicine. She was selected as a fellow of CORD’s Mini-Fellowship in Wellness Leadership.