Online Well-Being Group Coaching Program for Women Physician Trainees: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Physician Well-being
• Psychological Interventions

Background:

• Physician burnout disproportionately affects women and begins during training.
• Professional coaching shows promise for improving physician well-being, but generalizable evidence is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the generalizability of a web-based group coaching program for women physician trainees.
• To evaluate the program's impact on burnout and other well-being indicators.

Main Methods:

• A 4-month, web-based, group coaching intervention was delivered to women physician trainees across 26 institutions.
• A randomized clinical trial design was used with 1017 participants.
• Primary outcomes included changes in emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal achievement using the Maslach Burnout Inventory.

Main Results:

• The intervention group showed significant decreases in emotional exhaustion (P<.001) and depersonalization (P<.001) compared to the control group.
• Significant improvements were observed in self-compassion and flourishing, alongside reductions in impostor syndrome and moral injury.
• Sensitivity analyses confirmed the robustness of these findings.

Conclusions:

• Web-based professional group coaching is an effective intervention for improving well-being and mitigating burnout in women physician trainees.
• This approach offers a scalable solution to support the mental health of physicians during their training years.