The READ-SG Study: Effect of Peer-Facilitated Small Group Discussions

Not Applicable

Completed

• Conditions: Burnout, Professional; Emotional Intelligence; Peer Influence
• Interventions: Behavioral: READ-SG Sessions

• Registration Number: NCT03163251
• Lead Sponsor: Columbia University

Brief Summary

This study evaluates the effect of peer facilitated monthly small group topic-based small group discussions on various themes common to physician training that pertain to aspects of humanism on rates of burnout. Attendance to these sessions and completion of the surveys is voluntary.

Detailed Description

It is widely known that physicians have rates of suicide that are far higher than in other professions: 70% higher for men and 250-400% higher for women. While the reasoning behind why this occurs has not been well elucidated, physicians do face some unique challenges including the responsibilities of the lives of others, a duty to always uphold the highest level of a moral and ethical standard, as well as being faced with both physical and emotional exhaustion. Trainees in particular seem at risk due to the rigors of the job in addition to the stress of the rapid expansion of the physical and emotional expectations put upon them.

To the investigator's knowledge, there has yet to be any study that has shown any beneficial outcomes regarding burnout using a small group curriculum among physician trainees that also encompasses analysis of the effect of an intervention on the emotional development of trainees. However, there has been a randomized trial on the effect of small groups for junior attendings that showed decreased rates of depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and physician burnout in the intervention group. The implications of such programs on the trainee population could result in decreased levels of physician/ trainee burnout, depression, and potentially even suicide, aside from providing trainees with a sense of increased job satisfaction.

While many people in the scientific community judge the success of a physician by their medical achievements and diagnostic acumen, many patients judge the successes of their doctors based on empathy, communication, and bedside manner. While many resources exist to teach residents about the science of medicine, there does not exist to my knowledge a standardized curriculum to teach residents about the humanistic side of medicine and the importance of emotional development. Implementing such a curriculum could provide exactly what is missing from formal residency training as it stands now. Such a program that could be easily adapted to a large number of trainees would seem to be beneficial and also be in line with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME)'s core competencies intended for residents to improve on patient care, professionalism, and interpersonal communication.

Peer support and teamwork seem like logical coping mechanisms for a vulnerable population that can feel isolated, such as physician trainees. The study aims to elucidate whether the peer-facilitated READ-SG method is effective at reducing burnout, as assessed by the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the gold standard in the field of assessing burnout, as well as to gauge the perceived effect of each session on participants' professional development and symptoms of burnout.

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2016-06-01
• Study First Submitted: 2017-05-19
• Study First Submitted QC: 2017-05-19
• Study First Posted: 2017-05-23
• Primary Completion: 2018-07-01
• Study Completion: 2018-07-01
• Status Verified: 2021-08
• Last Update Submitted: 2021-08-13
• Last Update Posted: 2021-08-17

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 137

Inclusion Criteria

• Internal Medicine trainees in the PGY-1 through PGY-3 years at New York Presbyterian - Columbia University Medical Center.

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Exclusion Criteria

• Not open to anyone outside of the Internal Medicine trainees at New York Presbyterian - Columbia University Medical Center.

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Study & Design

• Study Type: INTERVENTIONAL
• Study Design: SINGLE_GROUP

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
READ-SG Cohort	READ-SG Sessions	Each post-graduate year (PGY) will receive the intervention of a monthly peer-facilitated small group sessions (READ-SG Sessions) based on topics that are common to residency training and based on themes regarding humanism in medicine.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Change in Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) Personal Accomplishment Score (section 1)	Baseline, 1 year	This is designed to prospectively measure whether the intervention affects and/or mitigates burnout rates over residency training. The survey has 3 sections.
Change in Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) Depersonalization Score (section 2)	Baseline, 1 year	This is designed to prospectively measure whether the intervention affects and/or mitigates burnout rates over residency training. The survey has 3 sections.
Change in Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS) Emotional Exhaustion Score (section 3)	Baseline, 1 year	This is designed to prospectively measure whether the intervention affects and/or mitigates burnout rates over residency training. The survey has 3 sections.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Dose response relationship ratio	Up to 1 year	This is designed to evaluate whether there is a dose response relationship between the number of sessions attended and the effect of the sessions on burnout scores, measured by p-value.
Change in Likert-scale Score	Baseline, monthly for up to 1 year	This is designed to validate whether the READ-SG Study Survey correlate with the already validated single-question/abbreviated burnout questions.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

Columbia University Medical Center; 🇺🇸 New York, New York, United States