Third Trial - Study Details

Trial Timeline

Annual Departmental Evaluation

Using an innovative, advanced mixed-methods approach, we will study workplace inclusion and surgeon well-being at departments of surgery around the country. Our annual evaluation will consist of:

1. a survey of residents and faculty, conducted in partnership with the ACGME, querying self-reported beliefs, perceptions of the work and learning environment, and individual well-being
2. an Intervention Inventory to assess existing inclusion and well-being initiatives/resources
3. observations, interviews, and focus groups at a selection of departments to learn about novel initiatives and to understand implementation
4. data obtained from third-parties (e.g., AAMC) or requested from departments directly to further triangulate areas of opportunity in inclusion and well-being

Intervention

The THIRD Trial intervention to be randomized will consist of:

1. a department-specific report of their performance on various inclusion and well-being metrics. These will expand upon the Learning Environment & Resident Well-Being reports disseminated during the SECOND Trial (Figure 1). All data items will reflect each department’s performance in comparison to other departments in the country (e.g., their quartile of faculty burnout).
2. access to (1) our THIRD Trial Toolkit (Figure 2), populated with interventions from other departments of surgery, other fields of medicine, other professions, and/or organizational psychology.
3. guided implementation support, including (a) learning collaboratives for vice chairs of DEI, (b) a safe space “sounding board” working group for department chairs, (c) access to coaches with regular webinars to discuss specific interventions, and (d) one-on-one consultations with our team.
4. centralized resources, including (a) a National Grand Rounds series, comprised of high-profile expert speakers, covering historical context, current state, and success stories, to be hosted by departments of surgery on a rotating basis and streamed virtually to all others, (b) National Peer and Mentorship Networks to connect minoritized residents and faculty with peers and mentors at other institutions, (c) a pilot program to support minoritized residents who are struggling and their programs.

Refining the Toolkit

Based upon our annual survey and regular contact with enrolled departments, we will closely track work ongoing in each department. We will assess the impact of each intervention’s local implementation, using all available data. By synthesizing quantitative and qualitative data across all intervention arm programs, we will identify the most impactful interventions for each context and incorporate these data into the final THIRD Trial Toolkit, which will be made open-access at the end of the Trial.