Clinical Trial Details
— Status: Completed
Administrative data
| NCT number |
NCT06193694 |
| Other study ID # |
Coaching RCT |
| Secondary ID |
|
| Status |
Completed |
| Phase |
N/A
|
| First received |
|
| Last updated |
|
| Start date |
February 11, 2022 |
| Est. completion date |
December 4, 2023 |
Study information
| Verified date |
December 2023 |
| Source |
Memorial Healthcare System |
| Contact |
n/a |
| Is FDA regulated |
No |
| Health authority |
|
| Study type |
Interventional
|
Clinical Trial Summary
Coaching is a useful tool that uses positivity and goal directed behaviors to increase
resiliency and reduce physician burnout.
Objectives: Based on the principles of positive psychology, the objectives of the study are
to improve early career pediatric surgeon (as defined by years 1-3 out of training) well-
being, workplace satisfaction, decrease burnout and improve resiliency of both the coaches
and early career pediatric surgeons.
Description:
Coaching is used in business and many other career paths to help the individual define and
create their own goals and strategies for achieving those goals. The Professional Development
Coaching Program applies this model to help our residents in their professional development
as physicians. While early career pediatric surgeons may have multiple evaluators and
mentors, a coaching program provides them the opportunity for a nonsupervisory American
Pediatric Surgical Association member to assist them in purely a coaching role. This program
is based on the Massachusetts General Hospital Coaching program that was successfully
developed and rolled out in 2011. This program was evaluated from 2012-present, and based on
its success, it has since been adopted by >20 internal medicine residency programs around the
country. Additionally, a similar program was piloted in 2018 to evaluate the program's
success with remote coaching through the Association of Women Surgeons and the investigators
have completed a program with remote coaching of pediatric surgery trainees by American
Pediatric Surgical Association members that is now ongoing as a quality review project. The
investigators would like to pursue a randomized coaching intervention and evaluation across
early career pediatric surgeons to understand the impact of this program and its
generalizability to surgical subspecialties and surgeons in the first 3 years of practice.
The goal of the Professional Development Coaching Program is to allow early career pediatric
surgeons to understand their development over time, find meaning and purpose in their work,
and identify their strengths and how to use these to overcome challenges and stressors.
Additionally, the program connects early career pediatric surgeons with a seasoned faculty
member who will work with them, grow to know them in-depth over time, and provide meaningful
guidance throughout the relationship. There is an additional benefit to the coaches
themselves, who are able to connect with other faculty coaches in a rewarding way that
provides faculty development in leadership development and positive psychology, and space to
interact with a group of like-minded physicians.
The program design will be mirrored on the American Pediatric Surgical Association Trainee
Coaching Program - Each early career pediatric surgeon is assigned a Professional Development
Coach, who is an American Pediatric Surgical Association member from a different program than
theirs who has volunteered their time as a coach and has previously participated in the
trainee program, thus allowing them to have more advanced coaching skills. Professional
Development Coaches are assigned 1- 2 early career pediatric surgeons and are responsible for
meeting with them quarterly to review evaluations, encourage reflection, provide guidance,
and motivate them to set learning goals. Once early career pediatric surgeons are matched
with their coach, they remain paired with their coach for the duration of the study (1 year).
There is a one-year curriculum based on positive psychology and leadership development that
is based on quarterly meetings. The faculty coaches receive 6 hours of training in positive
psychology coaching during the study period.
Based on prior program evaluation, residents engage in the coaching program enthusiastically,
and those who engage report lower levels of burnout, greater resiliency, greater satisfaction
with their training experience, improved responses to stressors at work and in their personal
life, and have increased opportunities for reflection and feedback. The investigators would
like to study the Professional Development Coaching Program in this specific specialty and
stage of practice, as it differs from prior evaluations, by engaging in a randomized trial
comparing coaching to usual mentoring and well-being practices, and if successful, provide an
opportunity for crossover in year 2 where coaching is then extended to all early career
pediatric surgeons. This is unique in that coaching of peers can be challenging for novice
coaches, thus this study seeks to study early career pediatric surgeons coached by coaches 6
or more years out of training who have had some prior coaching experience to see if this
model is effective.
This study would be carried out through the American Pediatric Surgical Association network.
All early career pediatric surgeons will be offered enrollment in the study. A baseline
survey will be obtained to allow for randomization to either coaching, or usual mentoring and
well-being practices that exist in the residency and/or fellowship. The investigators will
quantitatively survey the early career pediatric surgeons and coaches regarding their
experiences with and assessment of the Professional Development Coaching Program at the end
of each year of the study period.
