"You've Got Gratitude!"- A Multispecialty and Multi-institution Program Encouraging Expressions of Gratitude

Mariam Maksutova; Michael T Kemp; Sriganesh B Sharma; Mary Shen; Lisa Leininger; Andrew A Singer; Mackenzie Krueger; Grace J Kim; Gifty Kwakye; Hasan B Alam; Gurjit Sandhu

doi:10.1016/j.jsurg.2023.08.009

"You've Got Gratitude!"- A Multispecialty and Multi-institution Program Encouraging Expressions of Gratitude

J Surg Educ. 2023 Dec;80(12):1741-1744. doi: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2023.08.009. Epub 2023 Sep 16.

Authors

Affiliations

¹ Department of Surgery, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Electronic address: mmaksut@umich.edu.
² Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
³ Department of Surgery, Graduate Medical Education Program Administrator, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
⁴ Department of Surgery, Surgical Education Administrative Manager, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois.
⁵ Department of Pediatrics, Division of Pediatric Gastroenterology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
⁶ Department of Surgery, Section of Minimally Invasive Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
⁷ Department of Surgery, Section of Colorectal Surgery, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan.
⁸ Department of Surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago, Illinois.

PMID: 37723013
DOI: 10.1016/j.jsurg.2023.08.009

Abstract

Objective: Efforts to improve physician well-being have focused on gratitude, which predicts health and happiness. Despite reported benefits, expressions of gratitude in healthcare can seem infrequent. Here, we describe Gratitude-Grams, an intervention to cultivate expressions of gratitude throughout a department.

Methods/approach: Piloted in our Department of Surgery and adopted by others, Gratitude-Grams employs a web-based platform (Qualtrics). Program feedback was solicited during teaching conferences using an anonymous department survey.

Results: Gratitude-Grams streamlines and encourages expressions of gratitude while minimizing maintenance, cost, and time. The platform has been highly utilized and well-received in our Department of Surgery.

Conclusion: Expressing and receiving gratitude has been shown to be critical for well-being. Gratitude-Grams is a highly utilized, simple, and attainable system to support expressions of gratitude and is ready for rapid implementation.

Keywords: gratitude; physician well-being; wellness.

MeSH terms

Humans
Physicians*
Surveys and Questionnaires