72. IMPROVING COMPLIANCE: PEDIATRIC RESIDENT ACCOUNTABILITY USING PEER PRESSURE

Abstract

University of Florida Pediatric Residency program developed peer groups, or collaborative professional communities (CPCs), to maintain compliance with mandatory tasks and improve overall resident wellness. Prior to 2017, residents were regularly reminded to complete mandatory tasks by the medical education staff. For the 2017-18 academic year, administrative pressure was replaced with peer pressure through the introduction of CPCs. CPCs meet for monthly educational events and compete for quarterly wellness prizes awarded to the CPC with the highest compliance in various work-related tasks. Pediatric residents were compared before and after the introduction of CPCs, corresponding to Post Graduate Year (PGY) 1,2 residents in the 2016-17 year and PGY 2,3 residents in 2017-18. Compliance was determined per resident for completion of 4 faculty evaluations per academic quarter and duty hour logging within 14 days. Yearly wellness data were collected by the Pediatric Residency Burnout Resilience Study Consortium (PRBRSC). The transition from administrative to peer pressure did not significantly change resident compliance with completion of quarterly faculty evaluations (Panel A). Though a reduction in duty hour logging compliance was observed, the decrease in compliance from 88% to 76% was not of practical significance (Panel B). Overall, residents reported no significant change in metrics of cognitive and effective mindfulness, resilience, perceived stress, spirituality, or physical and mental health. A reduction in burnout scores was reported for the PGY3 residents for the 2017-18 academic year (0%) compared to 2016-17 (31%). From these data, it would suggest that CPC activities have fostered team spirit that could improve resident well-being. Additionally, the transition to CPCs reduced the burden on staff to enforce compliance, anecdotally allowing for higher staff wellness. Peer pressure was determined to be sufficient for maintaining resident compliance and CPCs will continue to be utilized at our institution. Overall, our project established the usefulness of peer groups for the betterment of medical education programs.