The Moderating Effects of Moral Injury and Discrimination Trauma on Women Physician Trainees' Well-Being.

Abstract

Background: Graduate medical trainees are positioned to experience high rates of negative well-being due to the demanding and hierarchical nature of this time in their careers. Focusing on the well-being of physician trainees is required to ensure a better future of medicine. A novel avenue of examining physician trainee well-being is through understanding the effects of moral injury and discrimination trauma in overall well-being.

Objective: This secondary data analysis examines the moderating role of discrimination trauma and moral injury on six well-being metrics cross-sectionally at baseline and 4 months postcoaching intervention, respectively.

Design: This is a secondary, cross-sectional analysis using survey data collected at two time points.

Participants: The participants in this study (n = 1017) are women physician trainees in the USA.

Main measures: The predictor measures are as follows: Moral Injury Symptom Scale- Healthcare Providers and Trauma Symptoms of Discrimination Scale. The outcome measures are as follows: Maslach's Burnout Inventory, Young Impostor Scale, Self-Compassion Scale, and Secure Flourishing Index.

Key results: At baseline, discrimination trauma moderates the relationship among moral injury with impostor syndrome and self-compassion. After the coaching intervention, moral injury moderates the effect of the intervention on impostor syndrome.

Conclusions: The results of this secondary analysis emphasize the role moral injury and discrimination play in overall well-being, specifically through the experiences of self-compassion and impostor syndrome. This study calls for early measurement and mitigation efforts of both moral injury and discrimination trauma, which may effect well-being for graduate medical trainees and lessen the impact of our coaching intervention.