Coaching Program to Address Burnout, Well-being, and Professional Development in Pediatric Surgery Trainees: A Randomized Controlled Trial.

Objective: To assess impact of participation in a positive psychology coaching program on trainee burnout and well-being.

Background: Coaching using principles of positive psychology can improve well-being and reduce physician burnout. We hypothesized that participation in a coaching program would improve pediatric surgery trainee well-being.

Methods: With IRB approval, a coaching program was implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic (September 2020 to July 2021) in the American Pediatric Surgical Association. Volunteer pediatric surgery trainees (n=43) were randomized to receive either one-on-one quarterly virtual coaching (n=22) from a pediatric surgeon trained in coaching skills or wellness reading materials (n=21). Participants completed prestudy and poststudy surveys containing validated measures, including positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishment, professional fulfillment, burnout, self-valuation, gratitude, coping skills, and workplace experiences. Results were analyzed using the Wilcoxon rank sum test, Kruskal-Wallis test, or χ 2 test.

Results: Forty trainees (93%) completed both the baseline and year-end surveys and were included in the analysis. Twenty-five (64%) were female, mean age 35.7 (SD 2.3), and 65% were first-year fellows. Coached trainees showed an improved change in positive emotion, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishment ( P =0.034), burnout ( P =0.024), and gratitude ( P =0.03) scores from precoaching to postcoaching compared with noncoached trainees. Coping skills also improved. More coaching sessions were associated with higher self-valuation scores ( P =0.042), and more opportunities to reflect were associated with improved burnout and self-valuation.

Conclusions: Despite the stress and challenges of medicine during COVID-19, a virtual positive psychology coaching program provided benefits in well-being and burnout to pediatric surgery trainees. Coaching should be integrated into existing wellness programs to support the acquisition of coping skills that help trainees cope with the stressors they will face during their careers.