Do emergency medicine residents have access to healthy food options during work hours?

Background: Relatively little data describe how diet and food choices impact trainee well-being despite evidence that diet impacts both physical and mental health. The objective was to describe food options available to emergency medicine (EM) residents when on duty.

Methods: A survey utilizing closed-ended, binary, rank-order responses was developed by experts in graduate medical education and wellness; it was piloted, revised, and then electronically distributed to 211 EM residency programs over 2 weeks in 2021. The program director (PD) or associate PD was invited to participate.

Results: A total of 114 EM programs participated (54%). The primary teaching site included 43 community hospitals, 23 county hospitals, and 48 university hospitals. Resident access to an onsite hospital cafeteria was most common (97%); other onsite options were vending machines (87%), fresh food fridges (34%), national chains (32%), local restaurants (25%), food trucks (30%), and farmer's markets (11%). More than one-third (38%) reported that onsite options did not include healthy food, 26% reported being dissatisfied with onsite food, and 35% rarely or never purchased food onsite. Most programs (89%) do not have a dedicated "meal break" for residents while on duty. Few residency programs include diet or nutrition classes or counseling. When programs sponsor meals during residency events, nutritional value and dietary considerations were ranked less important than cost of food and convenience.

Conclusions: Access to healthy food options is not always available during scheduled resident work hours, and dedicated meal breaks are infrequent. These data should inform institutional initiatives to improve the health and well-being of resident physicians.