PS6-09: THE WELLNESS CRISIS FACING SURGICAL RESIDENTS: EXPERIENCES AT ONE INSTITUTION
Jessica Felton, MD, Sarah Kidd-Romero, Natalia Kubicki, MD, Stephen M Kavic, MD; University of Maryland

Background:  In 2017, the ACGME program guidelines changed to include a section that requires programs to optimize resident and faculty member well-being.  However, there is poor understanding of general surgery resident wellness and there are few well-established wellness programs.  We sought to evaluate and understand the wellness of general surgery residents at a single institution.

Methods:  We created a novel 50-question anonymous survey with Likert scales to assess burnout, depression, and wellness that was distributed to the general surgery residents at one time point.  Univariate analysis was performed focusing on wellness and wellness changes, and bivariate analysis was performed to determine the association between certain wellness variables and gender, age, and PGY level.

Results:  Thirty-five of 55 residents participated in the survey.  Most residents (57%) reported excellent social support.  Ten residents (29%) reported previously seeking professional mental health treatment.  About half the residents (48%) reported being slightly overweight or very overweight, and weight varied by age (p = 0.01).  Over half the residents (54%) reported gaining weight during residency.  Almost 70% of residents reported coming to work while having an ongoing family issue, and 77% came to work at least once while ill.  Also, 40% of residents reported not having a primary care provider to visit.  Fourteen residents (40%) reported that their wellness worsened over the previous academic year, while 7 (20%) reported that it remained the same and 11 (31%) reported that it improved.  The reported wellness changes did not differ by gender (p = 0.2817) but they did differ significantly by PGY level (p < 0.01), with the majority (73%) of junior residents (PGY1/2) reporting worsening wellness.  Residents cited various reasons for worsening wellness, including lack of personal and family time, little time to exercise or eat healthy, inability to attend to doctor’s appointments, lack of support, and feeling burnt out. 

Conclusions:  The overall wellness of the general surgery residents at our institution varies greatly.  Poor wellness may lead to inferior patient care, burnout and depression, and negative resident morale.  Residency programs need to implement programming to address wellness deficiencies.