Abstract | May 4, 2021
A Night of Resilience: Second Annual Mental Health Programming Event for Tulane University School of Medicine
Learning Objectives
- Provide mental health programming to their medical students at respective institutions;
- Use pre- and post-surveys to determine if students learned the lessons the event planners were hoping for.
Background:
The need to address medical students’ mental health has grown significantly in recent years. At Tulane University School of Medicine (TUSOM), several groups including the Office of Student Affairs, Phoenix Society, Psychiatry Interest Group, and the Mental Health and Wellness Coalition are dedicated to the mental health and well-being of students.
A 2017 study on student-centered approaches to well-being mapped student-identified indicators to their self-care. The study suggested that effective wellness programing should create a culture that supports self-care and addresses maladaptive strategies. Other studies have found that contributors to burnout include the fear of failure, self-doubt, and imposter syndrome. The Night of Resilience was a program created to address the issues of how to survive setbacks and self-doubt while providing a creative outlet for mentors and peers to share stories of resilience. Following a successful inaugural event, the Night of Resilience returned for a second annual event featuring similar stories and music centered around resilience. This year, the focus was on the definition of resilience and whether this event could accurately depict the colloquial understanding of what medical students believe resilience is.
Methods:
A slideshow of faculty and students’ struggles was gathered through a Google Form survey sent to TUSOM student and faculty listservs. Speakers and performers were invited prior to the event. Food was catered with funds provided by TUSOM Office of Student Affairs and Phoenix Society. A pre-survey was completed at the start of the event that featured a single question: define resilience. A post- survey was emailed to attendees who signed in at the event. Questions ranged from new definitions of resilience to enjoyability of various aspects of the event.
Outcome:
Pre-survey: 32 of 57 (56%) attendees completed the pre-survey. 25 (78%) of the respondents reported a theme of overcoming challenges as the definition of resilience. Example responses included phrases such as “the will to get back up”, “bouncing back”, and “the ability to face challenges”.
Post-survey:
15 (26%) attendees completed the post-survey. 12 (80%) of the respondents answered “No” to whether their definition of “resilience” has changed. 100% of respondents identified “Knowing others have struggled to get to where they are” as a theme. The most well-received component of the event was the keynote speaker, Dr. Elma LeDoux (4.9/5 rating). Dr. LeDoux’s keynote addressed her personal experiences of resilience, including stories of how she became involved in medicine, her struggle to cope with death and hardship, and her ability to overcome such challenges. Her examples were not dissimilar to many medical students who aspire to become strong-willed physicians, and allowed students to connect well with her story. Using the feedback provided from this event, the TUSOM Mental Health and Wellness Coalition will be working with future Tulane groups to improve future well-being related events.
