“We’re all going through it”: impact of an online group coaching program for medical trainees: a qualitative analysis
Open accessAbstract
Background: Trainees in graduate medical education are affected by burnout at disproportionate rates. Trainees experience tremendous growth in clinical skills and reasoning, however little time is dedicated to metacognition to process their experiences or deliberate identity formation to create individualized definitions of success and wellbeing. The purpose of this study was to understand the perspectives and experiences of trainees who participated in a 6-month, web-based, group coaching program for women residents in training. Methods: Better Together Physician Coaching is a six-month, self-paced, online, asynchronous, coaching program with multiple components including live coaching calls, unlimited written coaching, and self-study modules. Semi-structured interviews of seventeen participants of Better Together from twelve GME programs within a single institution in Colorado were conducted from May to June of 2021. All identified as women and had participated in a 6-month coaching program. Both inductive and deductive methods were used in collecting and analyzing the data with an aim to understand learners’ perceptions of the coaching program, including “how and why” the coaching program affected training experiences and wellbeing. Results: Three main themes emerged as benefits to the coaching program from the data: 1) practicing metacognition as a tool for healthy coping 2) building a sense of community, and 3) the value of a customizable experience. Conclusions: Female trainees who participated in a group coaching program expressed that they found value in learning how to cope with stressors through metacognition-focused coaching. They also described that building a community and being able to customize the experience were positive aspects of the program. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05280964. Date of registration: March 15th 2022. Retrospectively registered. URL of trial registry record.
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Personal growth is a resident/fellow outcome.
“| Personal growth | Resident/fellow | [53,110] | |”
From Coaching in undergraduate and graduate medical education: a scoping review of success factors, barriers, and outcomes (2026) · cites this paper as [53]
The Results (page not specified) describe residents reporting growth in self-compassion, a changed mindset, and improved relationships after group coaching. The study participants were residents; our copy does not establish personal growth as an outcome for fellows. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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- Authors
- Mann, A., Fainstad, T., Shah, P., Dieujuste, N., Thurmon, K., Dunbar, K., & Jones, C.
- Affiliations
- Veterans Health Administration (US)
- University of Colorado Anschutz (US)
- University of Denver (US)
- Denver Health Medical Center (US)
- Children's Hospital Colorado (US)
- Corresponding author
- Mann, Adrienne
- Fainstad, Tyra
- Venue
- BMC Medical Education
- Published
- 2022-09-13
- Volume
- 22
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 675-675
- ISSN
- 1472-6920 (ISSN-L)
- PMC
- PMC9468533
- OpenAlex
- W4295761977
- Cited by
- 24
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 9 · 2023: 1
- FWCI
- 6.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Locations
- BMC Medical Education (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Healthcare professionals’ stress and burnout
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Innovations in Medical Education
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Applied Psychology › Coaching Methods and Impact
- Keywords
- physician burnout, graduate medical education, women residents, metacognition, stress coping, sense of community, well-being, identity construction
- MeSH terms
- Mentoring, Adaptation, Psychological, Burnout, Professional, Female, Health Status, Humans, Physicians
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