The objective of the current study (PERSIST) is to 1) determine acceptability of an 8-session (16 week) group curriculum on personal resilience skills for residents in the Duke General Surgery Program, and 2) examine changes in professional fulfillment, depression symptomatology, anxiety symptomatology, and self-valuation, and positive wellbeing (flourishing) at the end of the program and 3-month follow-up compared to baseline, 3) examine performance on surgery training metrics compared to the mean performance of non-participants. Participants will be residents active in the Duke General Surgery Program. There will be one group of Junior Assistant Residents (JAR, N = 10) and one group of Senior Assistant Residents (SAR, N =10), which will be conducted separately. At baseline, all participants will complete questionnaires related personal resilience, including professional fulfillment (professional fulfillment, work exhaustion, interpersonal disengagement), depression symptoms, anxiety, symptoms, self-valuation, flourishing, and psychosocial working conditions. At post-treatment (end of session 8), participants will complete the baseline questionnaires (with the exception of psychosocial working conditions), as well as a questionnaire assessing acceptability of the group experience and content. The post-treatment questionnaires will be repeated as a 3-month follow-up. All study activities are considered low risk, and there the training is expected to have the benefit of teaching lasting skills to promote professional and personal resilience. To protect participant confidentiality, surgery staff and faculty will not have access linkage between study variables and participant identity.
Age range
25 Years
Sex
ALL
See this in plain English?
AI-rewrites the medical criteria so a patient or caregiver can understand them. Always confirm with the trial site.
Bring these to your next appointment. They're a starting point for a shared conversation — not a sign you qualify or a recommendation to enrol.
Generated to help you prepare — always confirm anything about your own eligibility and care with the study team and your doctor.
The trial coordinator is the person who runs the study day to day. These cover the practical side — logistics, costs, and what taking part would actually mean for your life. The study team confirms whether you meet the criteria; these are questions to ask, not a sign you qualify.
A starting point for the conversation — always confirm anything about your own eligibility, costs, and care with the study team and your doctor.
Program Acceptability as measured by participant attendance in mean percent
Timeframe: Intervention end - 16 weeks
Program Acceptability as measured by Questionnaire
Timeframe: Intervention end - 16 weeks
Professional Well-being as measured by the Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI)
Timeframe: 3 months post-intervention
Personal Well-being as measured by the Self-Valuation (S-V) scale
Timeframe: 3 months post-intervention
Positive well-being as assessed by the Flourishing Scale (FS)
Timeframe: 3 months post-intervention
Exhaustion as measured by the Professional Fulfillment Index (PFI)
Timeframe: 3 months post-intervention
Anxiety symptoms as measured by the General Anxiety Disorder-7 questionnaire (GAD-7)
Timeframe: 3 months post-intervention
Depression symptoms as measured by the 8-item version of the Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-8)
Timeframe: 3 months post-intervention