A few months ago, the ALiEM Chief Resident Incubator launched a nation-wide competition to find the best EM residency wellness ideas out there. Today we announce the winner, Dr. Kory Gebhardt and the Northwestern EM residency program. Thanks to the Chief Resident Incubator’s sponsor EBSCO Health/DynaMed Plus for generously underwriting this grant, which focuses on the crucial and often underappreciated aspect of graduate medical education and training — wellness.
Today marks the ends of EM Wellness Week, but only the beginning for Dr. Gebhardt et al’s year-long, structured wellness curriculum for the Northwestern EM residency program.
EBSCO Health/DynaMed Plus EM Residency Wellness Grant Winning Proposal
A prospective assessment of emergency medicine resident physician wellness
The Project Team
- Kory Gebhardt, MD (PGY-4, Chief Resident)
- Carrie Pinchbeck, MD (PGY-3)
- Logan Weygandt, MD, MPH (PGY-3)
- Dave Lu, MD, MBE (Faculty Advisor)
Description
In 2015, the Northwestern University EM Wellness Committee was launched and conducted a pilot study to formally measure burnout and other validated markers of wellness among the EM residents. Consistent with other studies from around the country, there were high levels of burnout. The objective of the proposed project is to investigate the impact of specific wellness interventions on NUEM resident burnout and wellness, which includes formal education, small group workshops, and extracurriculum team-building activities. Using a secure platform, the Wellness Committee will periodic measure resident burnout and wellness using validated instruments, such as the Maslach Burnout Inventory, Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, Patient Health Questionnaire-2 depression screen, and the Epworth Sleepiness Scale.
Congratulations to the NUEM Wellness Committee for their creative and scholarly approach to addressing wellness in graduate medical education. We look forward to hearing about updates and your findings.