Foundational Programs to Combat Clinician Stress

Summary

This is a prospective, randomized, controlled clinical trial in which clinicians from University of Pennsylvania Health Systems (UPHS) including Penn Medicine- Lancaster General Health (LGH) and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) are offered a well-known program to help reduce clinician burnout: Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) Breathing and Sahaj Meditation Intervention.

Conditions

• Burnout, Professional
• Stress, Psychological
• Stress, Physiological
• Psychological Well-Being
• Mind-Body Therapies
• Work Related Stress

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

Sudarshan Kriya Yoga (SKY) Breathing and Sahaj Meditation

The SKY intervention is comprised of a week of baseline HRV and sleep metric readings, followed by an onboarding week of 3-day, 3.5 hours/day, online SKY workshops with a live instructor (10.5 hours total), followed by weekly online follow-up sessions with a live instructor (1 hour each) for a period of 4 weeks. Clinicians also practice on their own daily for 45 minutes during these 4 weeks and wear an Oura Ring continuously. They do not have to do their daily practice on the days that they have a follow-up session. Well-being and burnout metrics will be assessed using PFI Week 1, Week 4, and Week 6. Evaluation of the impact of the program on other factors as measured by other questionnaires Week 1 and Week 6. HRV and sleep metrics will be used as a physiologic marker of well-being and will be measured continuously via Oura Ring.

OTHER

Health Education Program (HEP)

The HEP coaches will provide these sessions online with an initial onboarding week of 2-day, 3 hours/day online HEP workshop followed by weekly online follow up sessions for 2 hours each with a live instructor. They will also pursue 45 min of daily practice for a period of 4 weeks. They do not have to do their daily practice on the days that they have a follow-up session. Well-being and burnout metrics will be assessed using PFI Week 1, Week 4, and Week 6. Evaluation of the impact of the program on other factors as measured by other questionnaires Week 1 and Week 6. HRV and sleep metrics will be used as a physiologic marker of well-being and will be measured continuously via Oura Ring.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Massachusetts General Hospital

  collaborator OTHER

• Lancaster General Hospital

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Mrinalini Meesala, MD · Penn Medicine / Lancaster General Hospital

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

NONE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

25 Years

Max Age

70 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2025-09-15

Primary Completion

2026-05-31

Completion

2026-05-31

Countries

• United States

Study Locations