Lower Bucks Hospital Residencies - Sports Day May 10, 2022

Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, and Podiatry joined together to take a break from work life and enjoy friendly, but competitive relay races, raffle prizes, thoughtful activities, and healthy Mediterranean food from Zoe's kitchen! Discussed nutrition and healthy options for breakfast, lunch, and dinner during residency. Topped events and discussions off with a game of soccer! 

Best activity: Anonymously writing kind words or something special about each resident on a notecard, then given to resident at the end. This was done to remind everyone of their value and how grateful we are to be part of this community. 

Results Survey – LBH Residency Sports Day

1. What was the general understanding of the purpose of the project/program by participants?
The goal of Sports Day was to incorporate activities that encompass the four domains of wellness: professional, physical, psychological, and social. The participants of the project understood that the purpose of LBH’s event is to promote activities and events that provide team building activities, encourage camaraderie amongst our program, increase communication, and facilitate relationships. Participants/residents were aware that the goal was to encourage and facilitate well-being and balance within our 3 residency programs.

2. During the project/program, what tangible tools or strategies were demonstrated or taught (i.e., coping skills for wellness and life balance)?
Because the nature of our approach to promote well-being was a Sports Day, physical activities and sports were utilized and team-building skills were used to learn how to communicate and problem solve with co-residents across all programs. Not only did this provide exercise and activity that residents perhaps don’t have the time to fulfill on their own, it also provided a space outside of work for camaraderie and teamwork. These activities also helped demonstrate the importance of nutrition, physical activity and fostering relationships outside of the hospital on mental health and developing a work-life balance.

3. What word(s) best describes how you feel when you are experiencing stress or well-being imbalance?
Words expressed by the residents were: overwhelmed, unsupported, anxious, fatigued, isolated\

4. What suggestions do you have to increase the probability of success for the project/program for other institutions?
Our suggestion would be to incorporate a Sports Day similar to ours in all residency programs. Because of the generalized approach of the event, the ability to reproduce and create an environment outside of the workplace helps motivate individuals to continue working as a team and supporting one another upon returning to work. There are parameters of the Sports Day that can also be catered specifically toward the interests of the residents and variable sports and activities can be incorporated based upon interest, also encouraging residents to bring their families to allow partners and kids to help strengthen and develop a network of support. Perhaps creating this as a ‘National Residents Sports Day’ could help promote a day or week that residency programs all across the nation could participate and share a network of activities and photos and an idea to continue this for years to come. This would initially and ultimately require buy-in from program leadership and hospital administration to support the need for resident wellness to prevent burnout.

5. What do you intend to do, upon returning to work, that you learned and practiced during the activity, that will improve your response to stressful situations?
The most learned attitude that would be practiced within the hospital or within any stressful situation is to commit to a positive attitude, while remaining patient to understand the situation. Sports Day allowed us to recognize that we can not only lean on our co-residents during times of stress but the importance of continued conversations