Trauma Exposure Response: How Secondary Trauma Affects Personal and Professional Life

Well-being, both psychological and emotional, is crucial to the development of the competent, caring physician. The ACGME calls on sponsoring institutions to educate learners about topics related to well-being. Trauma exposure response, also known as secondary trauma, is a common phenomenon experienced by physicians. It is important to recognize and mitigate the effects of trauma exposure response, as it can have profound effects on personal and professional lives. We found no MedEdPORTAL resources on trauma exposure response or secondary trauma that include physicians as the audience.

This 1-hour, interactive session was developed to embed a wellness program into protected time for residents and fellows across the institution. The session was led by a faculty member and consisted of an interactive presentation and a small-group discussion.

Twenty-eight of 32 programs at our institution participated in the sessions. This included a total of 292 residents and fellows to whom this session was offered. The session was successful in meeting the educational objectives and was rated as valuable or extremely valuable by most residents and fellows. Trainees appreciated protected time for this discussion and valued the opportunity to have open, honest conversations with their colleagues.

This effective session delivered meaningful content about trauma exposure response and reviewed coping strategies. Institutional support of protected time was a success factor. The sessions were well received by residents and fellows and can be used across disciplines.