• Sondra Zabar, Kathleen Hanley, Margaret Horlick, Patrick Cocks, Lisa Altshuler, Amanda Watsula-Morley, Russell Berman, Mark Hochberg, Donna Phillips, Adina Kalet, and Colleen Gillespie.
• Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and Clinical Innovation, NYU School of Medicine, 550 First Avenue, New York, NY, 10016, USA. Sondra.Zabar@nyulangone.org.
• J Gen Intern Med. 2019 May 1; 34 (5): 773-777.

BackgroundFew programs train residents in recognizing and responding to distressed colleagues at risk for suicide.AimTo assess interns' ability to identify a struggling colleague, describe resources, and recognize that physicians can and should help colleagues in trouble.SettingResidency programs at an academic medical center.ParticipantsOne hundred forty-five interns.Program DesignAn OSCE case was designed to give interns practice and feedback on their skills in recognizing a colleague in distress and recommending the appropriate course of action. Embedded in a patient "sign-out" case, standardized health professionals (SHP) portrayed a resident with depressed mood and an underlying drinking problem. The SHP assessed intern skills in assessing symptoms and directing the resident to seek help.Program EvaluationInterns appreciated the opportunity to practice addressing this situation. Debriefing the case led to productive conversations between faculty and residents on available resources. Interns' skills require further development: while 60% of interns asked about their colleague's emotional state, only one-third screened for depression and just under half explored suicidal ideation. Only 32% directed the colleague to specific resources for his depression (higher among those that checked his emotional state, 54%, or screened for depression, 80%).DiscussionThis OSCE case identified varying intern skill levels for identifying and assessing a struggling colleague while also providing experiential learning and supporting a culture of addressing peer wellness.

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