Anesthesiology Resident Wellness Program at the University of Saskatchewan: concept and development

We describe the need for an anesthesiology resident wellness program (ARWP) and the challenges associated with its development and implementation. We also present the results of a preliminary program evaluation.

We conducted a needs assessment of Canadian anesthesiology residency programs for a formal ARWP. This endeavor involved both a cross-sectional survey and a focus group of Canadian anesthesiology residency training program directors (PDs). Following the development and implementation of an ARWP at our own university, we conducted an evaluation. The quantitative data are reported using descriptive statistics. Common themes were generated from qualitative data through an iterative process.

Among the 18 PDs across Canada, 10 (56%) responded to the needs assessment. The PDs identified that resident wellness was important to the delivery of their programs but that very few had a formal wellness curriculum. This informed the further development of the ARWP over two years to comprise a Modular Curriculum, a Peer Support Curriculum, Self-Directed Learning Activities, and a Department Wellness Program. Online evaluation of the ARWP was completed by 28 of 31 (90%) of our anesthesiology residents, who reported high levels of satisfaction with the ARWP, the relevance of the topics, and the applicability of skills and information to both work and daily life. Respondents identified Team Building Activities, Mentorship and Orientation, Resident Wellness Nights, and Transitions to Practice Night as the most valuable components of the ARWP.

After identifying the need for a formal ARWP in Canada, we implemented one at the University of Saskatchewan. We found high levels of overall resident satisfaction with the program.