The Counselor Led Resident Wellness Study

NCT07053111 | Active Not Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 23347451
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 21
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

Residency is a challenging time in a physician's career. The investigators hope this study will provide a new wellness support model for residency programs to use for resident physicians. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of a wellness support model for residency programs that is lead by licensed counselors. The investigators expect that participating resident physicians will feel and perform better in their job and your life with this additional support.

Conditions

Burnout, Healthcare Workers; Anxiety; Wellness Program; Depression Not Otherwise Specified

Keywords

Randomized Controlled Trial; Resident Wellness; Counselor

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• The World Health Organization-Five Well-Being Index (WHO-5)

  The WHO-5 is a self-report instrument measuring mental well-being. It consists of five statements relating to the past two weeks. Each statement is rated on a 6-point scale, with higher scores indicating better mental well-being. Specifically, a score of 0 indicates the participant taking the survey has "At no time" experienced the statement in question, while a score of 5 indicates the participant experiences the statement "All of the time." A gradient of numbers in between 0-5 represents increasing in frequency of the given experience. The instrument has been translated into over 30 languages.

  Approximately 10 months

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Patient Health Questionnaire 9 (PHQ - 9)

  ~10 months

• GAD 7

  ~10 months

Study Arms (2)

Counselor Wellness Intervention

EXPERIMENTAL

Evidenced based, counselor lead wellness intervention that will provide psychoeducational peer support/peer process groups. Topics may include: work/life balance, resilience building, stress management, self- care practices, imposter syndrome, psychological effects, compassion fatigue, peer support, and mindfulness practices. Other evidence based therapeutic concepts, such as Cognitive Behavior Therapy (CBT) and Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), may also be introduced as appropriate. The intervention group will also receive standard access to all mental health and wellness interventions at the university.

Behavioral: Wellness Intervention

Control Group

NO INTERVENTION

Standard access to all mental health and wellness interventions at the university.

Interventions

Wellness Intervention BEHAVIORAL

Licensed counselors will provide evidence based curricula on the following: work/life balance, resilience building, stress management, self- care practices, imposter syndrome, psychological effects, compassion fatigue, peer support, and mindfulness practices.

Counselor Wellness Intervention

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• All internal medicine residents at the University of Nevada, Reno whose continuity clinic site is the University Health (UNR Plumas) Clinic for the 2025-2026 academic year will be offered the opportunity to participate.

You may not qualify if:

• Must be a UNR internal medicine resident as described above
• Residents must be interested/willing to participate

Sponsors & Collaborators

• University of Nevada, Reno: lead

Study Sites (1)

University Health Internal Medicine Clinic

Reno, Nevada, 89519, United States

Location

Related Publications (15)

• Topp CW, Ostergaard SD, Sondergaard S, Bech P. The WHO-5 Well-Being Index: a systematic review of the literature. Psychother Psychosom. 2015;84(3):167-76. doi: 10.1159/000376585. Epub 2015 Mar 28.

  PMID: 25831962 BACKGROUND

• Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JB, Monahan PO, Lowe B. Anxiety disorders in primary care: prevalence, impairment, comorbidity, and detection. Ann Intern Med. 2007 Mar 6;146(5):317-25. doi: 10.7326/0003-4819-146-5-200703060-00004.

  PMID: 17339617 BACKGROUND

• Kroenke K, Spitzer RL, Williams JB. The PHQ-9: validity of a brief depression severity measure. J Gen Intern Med. 2001 Sep;16(9):606-13. doi: 10.1046/j.1525-1497.2001.016009606.x.

  PMID: 11556941 BACKGROUND

• Butler AC, Chapman JE, Forman EM, Beck AT. The empirical status of cognitive-behavioral therapy: a review of meta-analyses. Clin Psychol Rev. 2006 Jan;26(1):17-31. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2005.07.003. Epub 2005 Sep 30.

  PMID: 16199119 BACKGROUND

• Eskander J, Rajaguru PP, Greenberg PB. Evaluating Wellness Interventions for Resident Physicians: A Systematic Review. J Grad Med Educ. 2021 Feb;13(1):58-69. doi: 10.4300/JGME-D-20-00359.1. Epub 2020 Dec 31.

  PMID: 33680302 BACKGROUND

• Underdahl L, Ditri M, Duthely LM. Physician Burnout: Evidence-Based Roadmaps to Prioritizing and Supporting Personal Wellbeing. J Healthc Leadersh. 2024 Jan 4;16:15-27. doi: 10.2147/JHL.S389245. eCollection 2024.

  PMID: 38192639 BACKGROUND

• Boet S, Etherington C, Dion PM, Desjardins C, Kaur M, Ly V, Denis-LeBlanc M, Andreas C, Sriharan A. Impact of coaching on physician wellness: A systematic review. PLoS One. 2023 Feb 7;18(2):e0281406. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0281406. eCollection 2023.

  PMID: 36749760 BACKGROUND

• Mann A, Shah AN, Thibodeau PS, Dyrbye L, Syed A, Woodward MA, Thurmon K, Jones CD, Dunbar KS, Fainstad T. Online Well-Being Group Coaching Program for Women Physician Trainees: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Netw Open. 2023 Oct 2;6(10):e2335541. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.35541.

  PMID: 37792378 BACKGROUND

• Palamara K, Chu JT, Chang Y, Yu L, Cosco D, Higgins S, Tulsky A, Mourad R, Singh S, Steinhauser K, Donelan K. Who Benefits Most? A Multisite Study of Coaching and Resident Well-being. J Gen Intern Med. 2022 Feb;37(3):539-547. doi: 10.1007/s11606-021-06903-5. Epub 2021 Jun 7.

  PMID: 34100238 BACKGROUND

• Solms L, van Vianen A, Koen J, Theeboom T, de Pagter APJ, De Hoog M; Challenge & Support Research Network. Turning the tide: a quasi-experimental study on a coaching intervention to reduce burn-out symptoms and foster personal resources among medical residents and specialists in the Netherlands. BMJ Open. 2021 Jan 25;11(1):e041708. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-041708.

  PMID: 33495254 BACKGROUND

• Sofka S, Lerfald N, Reece J, Davisson L, Howsare J, Thompson J. Universal Well-Being Assessment Associated With Increased Resident Utilization of Mental Health Resources and Decrease in Professionalism Breaches. J Grad Med Educ. 2021 Feb;13(1):83-88. doi: 10.4300/JGME-D-20-00352.1. Epub 2020 Dec 31.

  PMID: 33680305 BACKGROUND

• Raimo J, LaVine S, Spielmann K, Akerman M, Friedman KA, Katona K, Chaudhry S. The Correlation of Stress in Residency With Future Stress and Burnout: A 10-Year Prospective Cohort Study. J Grad Med Educ. 2018 Oct;10(5):524-531. doi: 10.4300/JGME-D-18-00273.1.

  PMID: 30386477 BACKGROUND

• Salyers MP, Bonfils KA, Luther L, Firmin RL, White DA, Adams EL, Rollins AL. The Relationship Between Professional Burnout and Quality and Safety in Healthcare: A Meta-Analysis. J Gen Intern Med. 2017 Apr;32(4):475-482. doi: 10.1007/s11606-016-3886-9. Epub 2016 Oct 26.

  PMID: 27785668 BACKGROUND

• Neumann M, Edelhauser F, Tauschel D, Fischer MR, Wirtz M, Woopen C, Haramati A, Scheffer C. Empathy decline and its reasons: a systematic review of studies with medical students and residents. Acad Med. 2011 Aug;86(8):996-1009. doi: 10.1097/ACM.0b013e318221e615.

  PMID: 21670661 BACKGROUND

• Harvey SB, Epstein RM, Glozier N, Petrie K, Strudwick J, Gayed A, Dean K, Henderson M. Mental illness and suicide among physicians. Lancet. 2021 Sep 4;398(10303):920-930. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01596-8.

  PMID: 34481571 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Burnout, Psychological; Anxiety Disorders

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Stress, Psychological; Behavioral Symptoms; Behavior; Mental Disorders

Study Officials

• Sean Kandel, DO

  University of Nevada, Reno

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: PREVENTION
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Associate Professor Internal Medicine

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: June 30, 2025
• First Posted: July 8, 2025
• Study Start: July 11, 2025
• Primary Completion: May 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 1, 2026
• Last Updated: May 5, 2026

Record last verified: 2025-09

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will not share

Locations

US (1)