Keeping Residents Well: How Important Are Perceptions of Program Support and Psychological Safety to Resident Wellness?

PURPOSE: We aimed to test whether measures of resident well-being correlated with perceptions of program support and psychological safety. BACKGROUND: Trainee well-being is a crucial component of developing competent and skilled OB/GYN physicians. While there are several measures of well-being collected at the national-level, there is little insight in the role of individual programs to foster trainee well-being. Perceived organizational and psychological safety are two constructs that can help identify cultural aspects of the clinical learning environment that may relate to trainee well-being. METHODS: OBGYN residents in a training program were recruited to complete an IRB-approved survey through paper and electronic methods between May-June 2018. Measures included the Survey of Perceived Organizational Support (POS), Psychological Safety Scale (PS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), Wayne State Wellness Scale (RWS) and Physician Well-Being Index (PWBI); all demonstrate validity and reliability evidence to assess factors of well-being and cultural aspects of the training program. Results: 20 OBGYN residents completed our survey. Results indicated a strong relationship between perceived organizational support and wellness (r=.62, P DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that there is a strong relationship between trainee wellness and the cultural measures of support and safety, especially between psychological safety and negative indicators of well-being (e.g., feeling burnt out from work, feelings of irritation). Further research should include interventions to improve perceptions of support and safety.