The Impact of a Personal Finance Education Course on Financial Confidence and Markers of Financial Stress among Medical Residents: A Longitudinal Pilot Study.

OBJECTIVES: The adverse effects of physician stress on health system performance are well documented. Financial stress is a notable cause of anxiety in medical residents; however, most residency programs lack formal, comprehensive financial education programs. Early single-center studies link financial education interventions to improved immediate fiscal well-being, but programs evaluating its long-term effects are lacking. METHODS: Fifty (50) Emergency Medicine and Internal Medicine resident physicians from CommonSpirit Health's St. Joseph's Medical Center in Stockton, CA and Mercy One Medical Center in Des Moines, IA participated in a virtual 8-hour financial education course in April 2022. Participants completed pre-, post-, and 18-month follow-up course surveys to measure financial confidence in seven financial domains and six markers of stress of financial origin (SOFO). RESULTS: Forty (40) of 50 residents (80%) completed the pre-and post-course surveys and 19 (38%) completed pre-, post-, and 18-month follow-up surveys. Immediately after the course, there was a statistically significant increase in financial confidence in all seven course domains (p < 0.01) and a significant reduction in SOFO markers (p < 0.01-0.02). At 18 months, financial confidence markers remained increased in most course domains, except related to debt and mortgage, passive income, and taxes. There was a strong association between financial confidence and SOFO immediately post course. Residents with low financial confidence were 15 times as likely to experience SOFO than those with higher financial confidence (p = 0.02). These associations did not persistent at 18 months. CONCLUSION: Financial stress is a major contributor to anxiety among physician trainees. Our financial education program demonstrated a significant impact on financial confidence and markers of SOFO, especially in the short term. This offers promising results for personal finance education to serve as a feasible intervention to address physician stress but suggests the need for longitudinal education to maintain its beneficial effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]