Introduction: As of the new Common Program Requirements released July 1, 2017 the ACGME believes that emotional and physical wellness are important in medical trainees. Given the paucity of wellness information in the neurosurgical literature, we sought to assess the features of wellness programs throughout neurosurgical residencies – specifically answering whether residency location or size impacted the presence of a wellness program.
Methods: The authors partnered with the Society of Neurological Surgeons to send a twenty-question wellness survey (Figure 1) to program directors of all 116 MD and DO neurosurgical residency programs in the United States. Programs were divided into the following locations: Northeast, South, Midwest and West. Program size was dichotomized into programs with 1 – 2 and >2 – 4 residents per year. The survey was sent via e-mail 3 times from February 10, 2017 – March 30, 2017. Responses were obtained in a blinded fashion.
Results: The survey response rate was 62%. While only 35% of neurosurgical residencies had a defined wellness program, residencies located in the West had significantly more wellness programs (90%) compared to residencies located in the Northeast (28%), South (30%) and Midwest (18%) (p < 0.001). However, there was no statistical difference in wellness programs when comparing programs by size (p = 0.726). On a scale of 1 to 100, program directors felt that the presence of a wellness program was somewhat important for resident health (mean 61, 95% confidence interval [CI] 55 – 67) and somewhat important to incoming neurosurgery residents (mean 65, 95% CI 59 – 72).
Conclusions: The majority of neurosurgical residencies do not have a wellness program. Programs located in the West have more wellness programs compared to residencies in other geographical regions, and program size does not appear to impact the presence of a wellness program
Patient Care: This research may help neurosurgery faculty create a wellness program for their own neurosurgical residency, which could decrease resident burnout and improve patient care.
Learning Objectives: By the conclusion of this session participants should be able to: 1) Describe the current state of wellness programs within US neurosurgical residencies. 2) Discuss, in small groups, the importance of physical and emotional well-being within residency. 3) Create a structured wellness program for their own residency.