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Increasing Medical Student Well-being Through Gratitude Journaling

C

Centre hospitalier de l'Université de Montréal (CHUM)

Status

Completed

Conditions

Stress, Psychological

Treatments

Behavioral: Gratitude journaling

Study type

Interventional

Funder types

Other

Identifiers

Details and patient eligibility

About

Clerkship causes significant stress to medical students. Some interventions to increase well-being have been described but none have been studied prospectively in this context.

The primary objective of this study is to examine the effects of gratitude journaling on medical clerks' perceived well-being.

Students will be randomised to one of two groups: gratitude journaling or no intervention. The participants of the experimental group will be asked to complete an online gratitude journal 3 times per week and will be compared to the participants in the control group.

The students in both groups will answer a standardised questionnaire evaluating well-being before and after their surgical rotation.

Those randomised to the intervention group will perform gratitude journaling three times a week during their surgical rotation. This activity consists of writing something that made them feel happy during their day.

Those randomised in the control group (no intervention) will proceed with their normal rotation, without additional gratitude journaling.

The main outcome will be evaluated by comparing the well-being at the end of the surgical rotation as evaluated by a composite well-being assessment scale between both groups.

Full description

Medical education involves 2 years of rotations in different medical and surgical specialties. These cause significant stress to clerks, in particular during the surgery rotation. In other professional fields, mindfulness techniques have shown only small to moderate effect on mental health compared to the control group.

An alternative approach to increasing well-being is gratitude journaling. A study examining this approach in student populations demonstrated enhanced well-being and life satisfaction.

The primary objective of this study is to examine the effects of gratitude journaling on medical clerks' perceived well-being.

Students will be randomised to one of two groups: gratitude journaling or no intervention. The participants of the experimental group will be asked to complete an online gratitude journal 3 times per week and will be compared to the participants in the control group.

The students in both groups will answer a standardised questionnaire evaluating well-being before and after their surgical rotation.

Those randomised to the intervention group will perform gratitude journaling three times a week during their surgical rotation. This activity consists of writing something that made them feel happy during their day.

Those randomised in the control group (no intervention) will proceed with their normal rotation, without additional gratitude journaling.

The main outcome will be evaluated by comparing the well-being at the end of the surgical rotation as evaluated by a composite well-being assessment scale between both groups.

Enrollment

53 patients

Sex

All

Ages

18+ years old

Volunteers

No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

  • Medical students at the University of Montreal about to begin their surgical clerkship rotation.

Exclusion criteria

Trial design

Primary purpose

Prevention

Allocation

Randomized

Interventional model

Parallel Assignment

Masking

Double Blind

53 participants in 2 patient groups

Gratitude journaling
Experimental group
Description:
Students perform gratitude journaling 3 times per week on a form. This activity consists of writing elements of their day that brought happiness to them. Can be in keyword form or in sentences.
Treatment:
Behavioral: Gratitude journaling
No intervention
No Intervention group
Description:
Students proceed with their surgical clerkship as is standard in our institution.

Trial contacts and locations

1

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Data sourced from clinicaltrials.gov

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