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Stress Management and Resilience Training Among Department of Medicine Faculty: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial

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Abstract

Background

Physician distress is common and related to numerous factors involving physicians’ personal and professional lives. The present study was designed to assess the effect of a Stress Management and Resiliency Training (SMART) program for increasing resiliency and quality of life, and decreasing stress and anxiety among Department of Medicine (DOM) physicians at a tertiary care medical center.

Participants

Forty DOM physicians were randomized in a wait-list controlled clinical trial to either the SMART intervention or a wait-list control group for 8 weeks. The intervention involved a single 90 min one-on-one training in the SMART program. Primary outcome measures assessed at baseline and week 8 included the Connor Davidson Resilience Scale (CDRS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Smith Anxiety Scale (SAS) and Linear Analog Self Assessment Scale (LASA).

Results

Thirty-two physicians completed the study. A statistically significant improvement in resiliency, perceived stress, anxiety, and overall quality of life at 8 weeks was observed in the study arm compared to the wait-list control arm: CDRS: mean ± SD change from baseline +9.8 ± 9.6 vs. -0.8 ± 8.2, t(30) = 3.18, p = 0.003; PSS: -5.4 ± 8.1 vs. +2.2 ± 6.1, t(30) = -2.76, p = 0.010; SAS: -11.8 ± 12.3 vs.+ 2.9 ± 8.9, t(30) = -3.62, p = 0.001; and LASA: +0.4 ± 1.4 vs. -0.6 ± 1.0, t(30) = 2.29, p = 0.029.

Conclusions

A brief training to enhance resilience and decrease stress among physicians using the SMART program was feasible. Further, the intervention provided statistically significant improvement in resilience, stress, anxiety, and overall quality of life. In the future, larger clinical trials with longer follow-up and possibly wider dissemination of this intervention are warranted.

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Contributors

There were no additional contributors.

Funding Sources

Department of Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN

Prior Presentations

None.

Conflict of Interest

None disclosed.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Complementary and Integrative Medicine Program, Division of General Internal Medicine, Mayo Clinic, 200 First Street SW, Rochester, MN, 55905, USA

    Amit Sood MD., MSc. & Kavita Prasad MD.

  2. Department of Biomedical Statistics and Informatics, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Darrell Schroeder MS.

  3. Division of Preventive, Occupational and Aerospace Medicine, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA

    Prathibha Varkey MBBS

Authors
  1. Amit Sood MD., MSc.
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  2. Kavita Prasad MD.
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  3. Darrell Schroeder MS.
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  4. Prathibha Varkey MBBS
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Correspondence to Amit Sood MD., MSc..

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Sood, A., Prasad, K., Schroeder, D. et al. Stress Management and Resilience Training Among Department of Medicine Faculty: A Pilot Randomized Clinical Trial. J GEN INTERN MED 26, 858–861 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-011-1640-x

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11606-011-1640-x

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