Money Talks: Pilot Financial Wellness Programs to Promote Positive Financial Planning Behaviors Among Residents

Abstract

ProblemGraduate medical education programs and national organizations are becoming more involved in promoting trainee financial wellness. Current literature reports residents have poor financial knowledge, high debt levels, low concern about their finances, and deficits in financial preparedness, but there has been little published on best practices for implementing financial wellness programs for residents or measuring meaningful outcomes of such programs.

Systematic review of personal finance training for physicians and a proposed curriculum

“… 10 13 30 33 38 online supplemental table A3 lists the reconciled scores for each criterion of the modified Côté-Turgeon assessment tool as well as the total score for each study. Bar-Or 38 and Ng 33 tied for the top score. The number of conflicts requiring reconciliation varied: Dhaliwal: 1 conflict 30 ; Boehnke, Walsh and Ng: 2 conflicts each 2 11 33 ; Bar-Or: 3 conflicts 38 ; Shappell 4: conflicts 13 ; Mizell: 5 conflicts 32 ; Liebzeit: 7 conflicts 57 ; Grewal: 7 conflicts 10 and Meleca: 10 conflicts.…”

It Is Time for Financial Wellness Curricular Interventions

“…The report “Money Talks: Pilot Financial Wellness Programs to Promote Positive Financial Planning Behaviors Among Residents,” by Ng and colleagues is an important step toward incorporating financial wellness into graduate medical education (GME) and demonstrates potential positive outcomes associated with implementation. 1…”

“…Specifically, scheduling and curricular fit appear to have been issues at all 3 institutions. 1 One institution had to limit the curriculum to PGY-1 residents and the others had to deliver sessions at night. 1 If GME hopes to address the financial wellness of learners, curricular interventions need to be available for all learners and delivered during the hours of usual work.…”

It Is Time for Financial Wellness Curricular Interventions

“…We appreciate the report by Ng and colleagues regarding their implementation of financial wellness programs at multiple residency programs. 1 As the authors discuss the prospect of programs creating dedicated sessions in the middle of residency schedules, we urge medical educators to take this initiative a step back in the medical education continuum by employing an elective course in financial literacy during medical school. Although the authors mention that financial literacy is relatively poor amongst residents, 1 the same or worse financial wellness has been found in the medical student community; current school-provided financial sessions have not been found to be impactful.…”

“…Such flexibility allows for a robust and complete course that may span multiple weeks, as opposed to a 90-minute session that was created as the intervention for the study of discussion. 1 An elective rotation with an online component is a practical consideration for inclusion into medical syllabi, and allows for even greater flexibility for scheduling and the possibility of contribution to its curriculum from multiple institutions in any geographic region. Few medical schools have implemented formal financial courses of this nature, but one has recently found particular success with a virtual interface for the entirety of the curriculum.…”