Stress levels of Flemish emergency medicine residents and the implications for clinical practice and education

Background mergency physicians are often confronted with challenging situations. As acute stress can adversely affect the health of physicians and the safety of patients, both could benefit from the integration of performance psychology insights in the education of physicians. A better understanding of stress is a prerequisite for the successful integration of a stress management program into residency training. Methods All Flemish emergency medicine residents were questioned about stressors, perceived stress, and the impact of stress on their performance. Furthermore, participants were asked to evaluate the role of training in performance under stress during residency. Results The response rate was 47.0%. Almost half of the residents indicated to be moderately to highly stressed. Half of the residents said that their performance could improve significantly if they could control their stress completely. The large majority of the residents (91.5%) indicated to see an advantage in increased training in performance enhancing techniques during residency. Conclusion Although a training program could considerably contribute to reduce stress levels and its impact on performance, there is a gap between the needs of residents and the current training program. An evidence-based education program in stress reduction is urgently warranted.