Objective:

To assess neurology residents’ perspectives on the impact of structured wellness initiatives on perceived well-being and workload.

Background:

Burnout among neurology trainees can adversely affect clinical performance and patient care. To address this, a multifaceted wellness initiative was introduced that included establishment of a Neurology Wellness Committee (NWC) to coordinate regular social events, creation of a departmental wellness budget, addition of an advanced practice provider (APP) to inpatient services to reduce resident workload, implementation of reading and research electives without clinical duties, and monthly “shout-out” emails from program leadership recognizing resident achievements.

Design/Methods:

This quality improvement project utilized an anonymous electronic survey distributed to all residents after implementation of the wellness interventions. Survey items assessed perceptions of wellness importance, satisfaction with specific initiatives, and perceived workload. Responses were collected on a five-point Likert scale and analyzed descriptively.

Results:

Twenty of twenty-two residents (91%) completed the survey. Wellness was considered extremely important by 85% and somewhat important by 15%. The NWC was viewed as having a very positive (80%) or positive (15%) impact. During inpatient rotations, 60% reported working fewer than 70 hours per week. Ninety-five percent agreed that the presence of an APP improved workload balance and wellness. Reading electives were rated very positive by 85%, and research electives by 80%. Shout-out emails were viewed as very positive by 50%, positive by 25%, and neutral by 25%. Wellness events such as golfing or bowling were well received—50% “loved” them and 45% wished they occurred more frequently. Eighty-five percent rated the dedicated wellness budget as very positive.

Conclusions:

Residents identified wellness as a major priority during training. Structured initiatives—including a dedicated wellness committee, workload reduction strategies, and protected time for non-clinical enrichment—had a strong perceived impact on resident well-being and may serve as a model for burnout mitigation in neurology training programs.