“I Cannot Take This Any More!”: Preparing Interns to Identify and Help a Struggling Colleague

Abstract

Background: Few programs train residents in recognizing and responding to distressed colleagues at risk for suicide. Aim: To assess interns’ ability to identify a struggling colleague, describe resources, and recognize that physicians can and should help colleagues in trouble. Setting: Residency programs at an academic medical center. Participants: One hundred forty-five interns. Program Design: An OSCE case was designed to give interns practice and feedback on their skills in recognizing a colleague in distress and recommending the appropriate course of action. Embedded in a patient “sign-out” case, standardized health professionals (SHP) portrayed a resident with depressed mood and an underlying drinking problem. The SHP assessed intern skills in assessing symptoms and directing the resident to seek help. Program Evaluation: Interns appreciated the opportunity to practice addressing this situation. Debriefing the case led to productive conversations between faculty and residents on available resources. Interns’ skills require further development: while 60% of interns asked about their colleague’s emotional state, only one-third screened for depression and just under half explored suicidal ideation. Only 32% directed the colleague to specific resources for his depression (higher among those that checked his emotional state, 54%, or screened for depression, 80%). Discussion: This OSCE case identified varying intern skill levels for identifying and assessing a struggling colleague while also providing experiential learning and supporting a culture of addressing peer wellness.