Interventions to improve the well-being of medical learners in Canada: a scoping review.

backgroundMedical education affects learner well-being. We explored the breadth and depth of interventions to improve the well-being of medical learners in Canada.

methodsWe searched MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL and PsycINFO from inception to July 11, 2020, using the Arksey-O'Malley, 5-stage, scoping review method. We included interventions to improve well-being across 5 wellness domains (i.e., social, mental, physical, intellectual, occupational) for medical learners in Canada, grouped as undergraduate or graduate nonmedical (i.e., health sciences) students, undergraduate medical students or postgraduate medical students (i.e., residents). We categorized interventions as targeting the individual (learner), program (i.e., in which learners are enrolled) or system (i.e., higher education or health care) levels.

resultsOf 1753 studies identified, we included 65 interventions that aimed to improve well-being in 10 202 medical learners, published from 1972 through 2020; 52 (80%) were uncontrolled trials. The median year for intervention implementation was 2010 (range 1971-2018) and the median length was 3 months (range 1 h-48 mo). Most (

interpretationMany Canadian medical schools address intellectual, occupational and social well-being by targeting interventions at medical learners. Important emphasis on the mental and physical well-being of medical learners in Canada warrants further exploration.