Educating Anesthesiology Residents and Their Support Persons to Improve Understanding and Increase Wellness: A...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Anesthesiology
• Resident Wellness

Background:

• Burnout is a significant issue for anesthesiology residents due to demanding work environments.
• The Family Anesthesia Experience (FAX) program aims to support residents and their families.
• This study evaluates FAX's impact on first-year clinical anesthesiology (CA1) residents' well-being.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of the Family Anesthesia Experience (FAX) program.
• To evaluate the impact of FAX on perceived stress, burnout, and psychological wellness in CA1 residents.
• To measure changes in support persons' understanding of residency demands.

Main Methods:

• A prospective, multisite evaluation study across 15 anesthesiology residency programs.
• Comparison of a FAX intervention group (88 CA1 residents) with a historical control group (302 CA1 residents).
• Surveys assessed perceived stress, burnout, depression, psychological wellness, and social support; support persons' understanding was also tracked.

Main Results:

• Residents in the FAX group showed reduced perceived stress at 6 months post-intervention (P=.021).
• Support persons in the FAX group reported significantly increased understanding of residency demands at 6 and 12 months (P=.001, P=.039).
• First-generation physicians reported greater improvements in family support compared to non-first-generation peers (P=.033).

Conclusions:

• The Family Anesthesia Experience (FAX) program can decrease perceived stress in anesthesiology residents for up to six months.
• Engaging residents and their support networks in wellness programs can enhance resident well-being.
• FAX particularly benefits first-generation physicians by improving perceived family support.