Empowering Residents to Process Distressing Events: A Debriefing Workshop

Adverse events are common in medical training and practice, which can lead to distress among providers. One method of coping with distress is debriefing, which has been shown to improve participants' ability to manage their grief and has been associated with lower rates of burnout.

We designed this 2-hour workshop to provide senior residents with the knowledge and skills to lead debriefing sessions within their teams. In this curriculum, we have included a workshop facilitator's guide, didactic information reviewing the components of effective debriefing, a video of a sample debriefing, two videos demonstrating potential debriefing challenges, small-group practice cases, a debriefing pocket card resource, and pre- and postworkshop survey evaluations.

Twenty second-year pediatric and medicine-pediatric residents were included in the pilot study of this workshop. They reported an average of 2.2 (SD = 2.4) distressing events in the preceding month. None of the residents had received previous training in debriefing, and only 10% had previously led a debriefing session. Pre- and postintervention surveys demonstrated significant increases in resident comfort in and likelihood of leading a debriefing session, as well as in recognition of personal distress.

This workshop serves as one model to enhance training and education regarding debriefing in residency training programs. The issue of distress is not unique to residents, and although this training was initially designed for that population, it could easily be adapted to reach a broader audience of medical trainees and providers.