WS1a-02: WELL-BEING ASSESSMENT IN SURGICAL TRAINING PROGRAMS
Halle B Ellison, MD; Geisinger
Committee on Graduate Surgical Education

Introduction: Physician burnout, a phenomenon affecting both learners and faculty, is experienced at an alarming rate of >50%. Burnout rates are estimated to be 50-70% among trainees and 40% among practicing surgeons. There has been increased awareness and action surrounding physician burnout and data correlating burnout with decreased patient safety and patient satisfaction and increased health care costs.

Well-being instruction and assessment are now components of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Common Program Requirements (CPR). While access to assessment tools is required, there is a paucity of information regarding application of results. As educators continue to seek to identify burnout, approaches to apply the results beyond access to mental health professionals should be explored. The purpose of this workshop is to help surgical educators develop an understanding of well-being assessment tools and an action plan based on the results.

Learning Objectives: By the end of the workshop, participants will be able to:

1. Describe why well-being assessment is necessary
2. Review assessment tools for learner and faculty well-being
3. Discuss approaches to implementing assessment tools and strategies for application of results

Methods: This will be an interactive session led by the ASE Graduate Surgical Education Committee. Teaching methods include didactic presentation, participant activity, and group discussion. The outline is:

Part 1: Background – Review of physician burnout and changes to ACGME CPR (5 minutes)

Part 2: Didactic presentation – Review assessment tools available for learners and faculty (20 minutes)

Part 3: Group discussion –What are the goals of well-being assessment for learners and faculty? How frequently should assessment tools be administered to learners and faculty? Who should have access to results for each group? ( 50 minutes)                        

Part 4: Conclusion – Discussion and application for program leaders - implementation strategies and future directions (15 minutes)

Conclusion: Incorporating well-being assessment is necessary in surgical training. Implementing assessment tools may help identify learners or faculty who may benefit from intervention. Developing a framework for action will be valuable for individuals as well as program and departmental leaders and may improve the well-being of surgeons in training and throughout their careers.