Improving Resident Physician Well-Being Through Institutional Implementation of Lifestyle Medicine Education

Abstract

Background: Physician burnout, recognized in ICD-11 as an occupational phenomenon from chronic workplace stress, remains under-addressed in residency training. Lifestyle medicine (LM) provides practical tools at individual and system levels, though applications for residents are not well documented. Objective: To describe LM interventions across 3 levels at 1 academic center: (A) institution-wide well-being programming, (B) program-level systems changes with retention outcomes, and (C) an individual Plan of Action for Resilience (PAR) with resident well-being scores. Methods: Approaches were consolidated into one framework. (A) Chief wellness residents and coordinators characterized well-being activities across 34 programs; (B) on-time graduation, late graduation, and attrition rates were compared before and after systems changes including LM education and protected time; (C) residents completed the Mayo Clinic Resident & Fellow Well-Being Index (RF-WBI) with PAR at baseline and 6-12 months, matched anonymously. Results: (A) All programs reported at least one LM pillar, most often social connection, stress management, and physical activity. (B) On-time graduation improved from 47% to 77% and attrition declined from 35% to 10% (χ² P < .03). C) PAR participants had lower RF-WBI distress scores (mean 1.2 vs 2.9, P < .004). Conclusions: LM interventions across levels were feasible and associated with improved well-being and program outcomes.