Medical Student Well-being Outcomes After a Novel Shared Meal and Resiliency Skills Course.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Medical student well-being is a major problem. The authors aimed to assess well-being outcomes 6-months after a novel extracurricular shared meal and resiliency course. METHODS: We implemented the course during 3 academic years (2018-2020). Participants received surveys assessing resilience, perspective-taking, self-compassion, and empathy at 4 timepoints. We used linear mixed effects models to assess changes from baseline to post-course assessments for the 3-year aggregate and pre-COVID and early-COVID time periods. RESULTS: One week and 6 months post-course, resilience, perspective-taking, and self-compassion scores improved (P < 0.01). Notably, resilience changed significantly only during early-COVID (P < 0.01), not pre-COVID (P = 0.16). For scores with evidence-based interpretation cut-offs, no clinical changes occurred. DISCUSSION: Several well-being measures statistically improved post-course but did not change clinically. Qualitative studies may better capture meaningful well-being outcome impact.