BACKGROUND: Residents are exposed to a variety of clinical experiences that trigger wide-ranging emotions and, in severe cases, cause significant psychological distress. METHODS: OB/GYN residents were asked to complete an anonymous survey consisting of a validated Professional Quality of Life Scale (ProQOL) and additional questions related to their experience with critical incidents (CI) and debriefing. ProQOL (maximum score of 50) measures three constructs: Compassion Satisfaction, Secondary Trauma Stress, and Burnout; each is scored separately and correlated to a low-average-high scale. RESULTS: Response rate was 83% (25/30). Mean ProQOL scores correlated with an average level of compassion satisfaction (39.8±6.3), a low level of secondary trauma stress (22±4.8), and an average level of burnout (25.6±5.4). The majority of residents (68%) experienced a CI; 70% reported two or more. Among those involved in a CI, 53% reported never having debriefed and 82% felt they never or only sometimes received adequate support to process such events. All residents experiencing a CI felt the event(s) at least sometimes changed their clinical practice. Most residents (88%) believe post-incident debriefing sessions would be helpful. DISCUSSION: At our institution, OB/GYN residents experience an average professional quality of life. Furthermore, residents commonly experience CI but have little opportunity to debrief. Additional work is needed to better understand the professional quality of life of OB/GYN residents nationwide and how they react to and cope with critical incidents.

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OBJECTIVE: SARS-CoV2 prompted drastic changes in healthcare delivery to reduce community spread, including swift integration of telehealth. As Yale New Haven Hospital's Women's Center (WC) transitioned prenatal care to telehealth, we sought to ensure assessment of blood pressure (BP), recognizing increased risk of ajog.org

BACKGROUND: Healthcare professionals commonly confront suffering and death as well as other unique sources of stress. The cumulative effects of these experiences can be psychologically taxing, particularly on trainees. Debriefing has been proposed as a way to alleviate work-related stress. Minimal data exist about the role of debriefing during medical training. METHODS: Eligibility included all OBGYN residents at a single academic hospital. Participants completed surveys immediately prior to and following a 2-hour teaching module on critical incidents in medicine. Using a Likert scale, participants responded to statements that evaluated their perceptions of CI debriefing, familiarity with identifying CI, and comfort with post-incident debriefing. Responses were analyzed using a paired samples t test. RESULTS: Twelve participants were enrolled; 46% reported having experienced a CI. Following the teaching module, participants showed increased comfort identifying CI (P=.025), initiating a debriefing (P=.005) and facilitating a debriefing (P=.003). Following the teaching module, participants reported a stronger belief that post-incident debriefing is useful (P=.046), that learning to lead a debriefing is useful to their work (P=.017), and that they could identify situations where team members might require further interventions beyond debriefing (P=.007). DISCUSSION: Incidents experienced as critical by OBGYN residents are common. Our teaching module may positively affect how residents confront and process CI. Future studies are needed to assess the long-term impact of debriefing on resident wellbeing and patient care.