Resident Wellness Initiative: Improving Physical Activity, Nutrition Education and Mental Health of Residents

The health and mental health benefits of physical activity, quality sleep and optimal nutritional habits are innumerable and widely reported. Unfortunately, resident physicians report participation in physical activity at reduced rates compared with the general population. Reasons for limited physical activity include fatigue and lack of free time to dedicate to exercise. The lack of exercise is combined with variable sleep patterns due to call schedules, as well as deterioration of nutritional habits, leads to weight gain and overall decline in the health of the resident physician population. Another neurosurgery department has implemented a similar program for their resident physicians and found improvements in weight, biometric markers and increased cardiovascular tolerance of physical activity.

The activity goals are derived from the 2013 the American Heart Association/American College of Cardiology Guidelines on lifestyle management to reduce cardiovascular risk, with considerations made for different levels of ability among the participants, as well as limitations time.

Fitness Protocol: The investigators will view any activity as better than no activity. The program will begin with activities geared toward the least fit/active resident to encourage participation from all levels of ability. The investigators will need options to increase intensity or difficulty for more advanced participants. Prior to introduction of the fitness regimen, the investigators would discuss appropriate progression of activity with a fitness expert. The proposed progression through various fitness goals is noted by type and timeline below.

Step Goal: Each participant will be asked to wear a fitness tracker to quantify steps walked per day, among other health parameters. Goals will be set for number of steps per day and per week, with incremental increase through the course of the program.

Cardiac Activity: Goals will be suggested for participants to complete cardiac activity through the course of their week. This may be running, which would overlap with the step goals, biking, or another cardiac exercise of the participants' preference. The goal will increase gradually over the course of the program.