Learning Environment – Clinician Well-Being Knowledge Hub

The Stanford Model of Professional Fulfillment

NAM — Mon, 13 Dec 2021 01:28:25 +0000

This dimension describes the organizational work environment, values and behaviors that promote self-care, personal and professional growth, and compassion that physicians and scientists have for themselves, their colleagues and their patients and beneficiaries of their innovations.

Guidebook for Promoting Well-Being during the COVID-19 Pandemic

NAM — Fri, 10 Jul 2020 19:06:57 +0000

The following guidebook, published by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, provides a comprehensive approach to promoting well-being during the COVID-19 Pandemic. It contains crisis strategies for planning and preparation before a surge, implementing a crisis management plan, and dealing with the aftermath of a surge and its impact on healthcare workers.

Medical Training Programs Need to Care About Physician Burnout. Should the Rest of Us?

NAM — Thu, 19 Sep 2019 19:11:20 +0000

In this opinion article, Timothy Hoff discusses his thoughts on who’s to blame in the rising rates of physician burnout. He points out how this growing problem has been largely ignored by medical schools and residency/fellowship programs for years. Rather, the blame is focused on external factors of health care despite the fact that medical students and residents already have high rates of burnout before entering practice. The students are viewed more as employees than talented assets that need significant investment to develop fully. Additionally, the culture around these programs overemphasize academic credentials while ignoring other skills such as resilience and emotional intelligence. When the role models in medical training themselves are also burnt out, this cycle continues to pass onto newer generations. Many other industries differ in the way that their “most prized talent” is treated from this aspect.

The Embedded Counseling Model: An Application for Dental Students

NAM — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 13:36:46 +0000

The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a counseling office on dental students at the University of Iowa College of Dentistry & Dental Clinics during their first three academic semesters. A full time psychologist was hired to provide in house counseling sessions to individual students. During clinical assessment, data was gathered on students’ psychological history and high risk behaviors. An outcome rating scale was utilized after each session to assess overall psychotherapy outcome. Results found a positive correlation between the number of counseling appointments and overall functioning. The most significant increase followed after the sessions. This suggests that counseling offices are efficient in promoting well-being of students and further research is needed in this area so that faculty can best meet the needs of their students.

Tackling Stress Management, Addiction, and Suicide Prevention in a Predoctoral Dental Curriculum

NAM — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 13:32:12 +0000

This article, published in Predoctoral Dental Education describes a module designed by the University Of British Columbia Faculty Of Dentistry to address stress management and suicide prevention in dental education. The course includes standardized patients, guest lectures, in-class activities, video presentations, and self-reflections. The purpose of the module is to increase discussion of stress in dentistry curriculum and awareness in dental students. Follow up studies with students who have taken the module are needed to determine its impact on health behaviors.

Perceived Stress and Well-Being Among Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy Students

NAM — Wed, 18 Sep 2019 13:17:57 +0000

This study explores the perception of stress and well-being amongst undergraduate dental hygiene and therapy students at the University of Portsmouth Dental Academy. A questionnaire was given to students measuring their perception of levels of stress and well-being. Results found that a majority of students reported levels of stress, depression, and anxiety that were within normal ranges. All reported having high levels of positive well-being. While previous studies have made the assumption that stress in undergraduate dental training is debilitating, this current study shows that students experiencing stress are reported to be positively-functioning individuals.

Improving Environments for Learning in the Health Professions

NAM — Tue, 10 Sep 2019 16:24:59 +0000

This publication from the Macy Foundation provides a comprehensive set of recommendations aimed to improve the clinical learning environment. It contains a list of resources such as commissioned papers and case studies distributed at a conference about discussing major interventions in the field. The Foundation assembled leaders from health professions education, health professions learners, and representatives from accrediting bodies to identify interventions designed to improve health profession’s learning environments and offer a vision for a high functioning learning environment.

A Look in the Mirror: The Role of Medical Training in Physician Burnout

NAM — Thu, 15 Aug 2019 19:14:19 +0000

In the following article, published in NEJM Catalyst, Rich Joseph discusses the trend of “MD drop out” due to the institutional norms and medical training environment, which instigate physician burnout. Because patient care is top priority, there is an unspoken tendency to consider changes to the work environment and training process as less important — even when these changes would clearly benefit patient care. The author recommends that all residents have representatives who have real negotiating power with hospital leadership to protect their own well-being and to champion patient safety. Furthermore, physicians need to be not only patient advocates, but also social activists, and should therefore be offered formal training in effective communication and leadership of multidisciplinary teams.

A Curriculum to Foster Resident Resilience

NAM — Wed, 31 Jul 2019 14:55:31 +0000

Published in MedEdPORTAL, the following study examines the effectiveness of a resilience curriculum consisting of novel skill-building workshops to help cultivate resilience intended. Specifically, sessions allow for identification of and reflection on stressful clinical events and consist of resilience-enhancing exercises, including setting realistic goals, managing expectations, letting go after medical errors, and finding gratitude. Furthermore, small-group reflections help participants discuss challenges with peers. Intended for all residents, the curriculum also addresses Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education milestones in professionalism, identification of system error, and advocating for system improvement. Overall, sessions were well received by interns and majority of attendees felt more comfortable talking about burnout and medical errors and learned new ways to approach challenges.

The Benefits of Pass-Fail Grading on Stress, Mood, and Group Cohesion in Medical Students

NAM — Wed, 31 Jul 2019 14:48:00 +0000

This study, published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, measures the effect of a pass-fail grading system on stress, mood, group cohesion, and test anxiety in medical students. Students graded with the pass-fail system had less perceived stress and greater group cohesion at the end of their second year of coursework. Moreover, the pass-fail group had better, but not statistically significant, mood. However, no significant differences are reported in test-taking anxiety and United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 board scores.