Work

Impact of a peer-to-peer coaching program on emergency medicine residents: a pre-post intervention study

Year: 2025

Type: article

Abstract: BACKGROUND: The inherent stress of change, increased responsibilities, and lack of guidance associated with the transition to residency often result in disillusionment, emotional exhaustion, and depersonalization ultimately affecting patient care. A possible solution that has been proposed is to implement coaching programs for residents, especially since such programs have been shown to improve physician well-being, communication, and goal setting. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of peer-to-peer coaching on first-year emergency medicine residents. METHODS: A baseline pre-intervention survey was administered to 25 first-year emergency medicine residents, assessing emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, resilience, goal setting, perceived impact of coaching, perceived level of support from their peers and residency program, and self-confidence. The coaches were fourth-year emergency medicine residents, conducting the coaching sessions using the GROW (Goal, Reality, Options, Way forward) model. At the end of the six-month coaching period, the survey was re-administered, and pre- and post-intervention results were compared. RESULTS: The participants reported more emotional exhaustion (p = 0.062) and depersonalization (p = 0.203) in the post-intervention survey, indicating that coaching possibly did not benefit these domains. No statistically significant change in resilience was measured (p = 0.932). Attitudes toward goal setting may be improved by coaching, though the finding was statistically insignificant (p = 0.089). Responses in the follow-up survey also indicate that perceptions toward the residency program and coaching improved significantly (p = 0.039). CONCLUSION: Peer-to-peer coaching may positively impact residents' professional fulfilment, personal development, peer-to-peer communication, patient communication and more. Developing peer-to-peer coaching programs and continually improving them may contribute to healthier, more effective residents, and potentially improve patient care and outcomes.

Source: BMC Medical Education

DOI: 10.1186/s12909-025-08046-1

Authors: Raiyan Y. Almaini, Nawaf M. Alkharashi, Mohammed Z. Alshalhoub, Atheer F. Almutairi, Abeer B. Alfadhliah, Zeyad A. Almatroudi

Institutions: King Saud bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, King Abdulaziz Medical City, King Abdullah International Medical Research Center, National Guard Health Affairs

Language: English

Topic: Coaching Methods and Impact

Subfield: Applied Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, Quality education

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $2,990