• Carmen Axisa, Louise Nash, Patrick Kelly, and Simon Willcock.
• Lecturer, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney, Sydney, NSW, and; PhD Candidate, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
• Australas Psychiatry. 2019 Jun 1; 27 (3): 255-261.

ObjectiveTo evaluate the effectiveness of a workshop intervention to promote wellbeing for Australian physician trainees using a randomized-controlled design.MethodsParticipants were randomly assigned into intervention and control groups. The intervention group attended a half-day workshop. Outcome measures included depression anxiety stress scale, professional quality of life scale and alcohol use disorders identification test. Demographic and work/life factors were measured. Measurements were recorded at baseline, 3 and 6 months, and the workshop was evaluated by participants.ResultsHigh rates of burnout (76%) and secondary traumatic stress (91%) were detected among study participants and around half met screening criteria for depression (52%), anxiety (46%) and stress (50%) at baseline. Workshop evaluations showed that participants agreed that the training was relevant to their needs (96%) and met their expectations (92%). There was a small reduction in alcohol use, depression and burnout in the intervention group compared with the control group at 6 months, but these changes did not reach statistical significance.ConclusionHigh rates of psychological morbidity detected in the study suggest that physician trainees are a vulnerable group who may benefit from initiatives that promote wellbeing and changes in the workplace to reduce distress.

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