Residency Wellness

In the Department of Surgery and the General Surgery Residency Program at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, we have created and launched our “Wellbeing Program.” The objectives of our program include:

• Teaching our future surgeons techniques to reduce burnout and to increase resiliency,
• Augmenting traditional surgical training as to develop surgeons who are increasingly competent in the changing world, and 
• Improving patient safety, quality, and satisfaction.

To achieve these goals, the Program encompasses four pillars that characterize the professional and personal values of the residents: physical, mental, social, and professional (Figure below). 

Each pillar has a defined agenda. Residents who desire to take part will have the opportunity to engage in a voluntary study to determine if implementation of the program has an impact on the stated objectives (Table below).

Resident Ryan Hendrix, MD (PGY-3) Talks on Wellbeing Program:

1. Hendrix RJ, Beqari JB, Mackey E, Davids JS, Torres U, Larkin AC, LaFemina J. Correlation of Burnout and Depression in General Surgery Residents Using the PRIME-MD Patient Questionnaire. American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, October 2019, oral presentation

2. Hendrix RJ, Beqari JB, Winton M, Davids JS, Torres U, Larkin AC, LaFemina J. Wellbeing Program Demonstrates Early Improvement in General Surgery Residency. American College of Surgeons Clinical Congress, October 2018, oral presentation

3. Hendrix RJ, Beqari JB, Winton M, Davids JS, Torres U, Larkin AC, LaFemina J. Wellbeing Program Demonstrates Early Improvement in General Surgery Residency. New England Surgical Society Annual Meeting, September 2018, poster presentation

Dr. Michael Winton and Dr. Jennifer LaFemina recently published an invited article on the Wellbeing program at UMass in Worcester Medicine. The article may be found at: http://wdms.org/PDF/0917WOMED_final.pdf