Interprofessional Group Intervention to Promote Faculty Wellbeing and Engagement

To test the hypothesis that an intervention involving self-facilitated interprofessional group meetings would result in improvement in wellbeing and to determine whether use of a written curriculum provided increased benefit, the following study is conducted:

Practicing clinical faculty in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Massachusetts General Hospital were recruited to participate in three monthly small groups over dinner. Participants were randomized to a control group, which met without any specified guidelines for discussion content, or to receive an intervention which consisted of a one-page discussion guide addressing themes relevant to challenges in the healthcare environment: reframing challenging patient interactions; embracing uncertainty in work; and coping with errors, near misses, and bad outcomes. Outcomes included burnout, empowerment and engagement in work, stress from uncertainty assessed using validated metrics, and perception of of collegiality and community.

All participants were also offered the option of participating in evaluation of biomarkers. To test the hypothesis that an increased sense of bonding and relational connection, and reduced stress levels would be reflected by changes in hormone levels during the meeting and over the course of the study. Faculty who opted into this portion of the study gave the following samples:

Urine Oxytocin before and after the first and third group meetings Salivary Oxytocin before and after the first and third group meetings Salivary Cortisol before and after the first and third group meetings Hair Cortisol at the beginning of the study and at the end of the study (a roughly three month interval).

An optional focus group was conducted after the three monthly sessions.

All participants signed a consent form prior to participating in the study.