Mayo Clinic Family Medicine Resident Wellness Study

The objectives of this study are to better understand the association between sleep characteristics (sleep disruptions and deprivations) during overnight shifts and mental fatigue among medical residents, and to explore the feasibility of a virtual, tailored exercise program on sleep characteristics, subjective mental fatigue, and burnout level among residents in family medicine.

The purpose of the proposed study is two-fold: 1) to better understand the association between sleep characteristics (sleep disruptions and deprivations) during overnight shifts and mental fatigue among medical residents; and 2) to explore the feasibility of a three-week tailored, virtual exercise program on sleep characteristics, subjective mental fatigue, and burnout level among residents in family medicine. It is hypothesized that: 1) the greater the number of average sleep disruptions, and the greater the sleep deprivation, the greater the acute mental fatigue during overnight shifts reported by the family medicine residents; 2) the number of average sleep disruptions and the magnitude of sleep deprivation are greater during overnight shifts than non-overnight shifts among family medicine residents; and 3) a three-week tailored virtual exercise program will significantly increase the amount of physical activity throughout the day and reduce the levels of mental fatigue and perceived burnout during overnight shifts.