Faculty and Resident Well-being Survey

Q: Who is being surveyed?

A: All University of Colorado School of Medicine paid faculty (≥0.5 FTE) who started prior to July 31, 2025, and all residents/fellows are invited to participate.

Q: Do all faculty and residents/fellows get the same survey?

A: No. There are two versions: one for clinical faculty and residents/fellows, and another for scientists and non-clinical faculty. Administrative data (e.g., NPI number, department) determines which version you receive. Some items differ by group (e.g., EHR questions are not relevant for scientists). Each survey also uses branching logic to ensure participants are only asked questions most relevant to their role.

Q: What types of questions are included?

A: The survey includes validated tools to assess well-being (e.g., burnout, professional fulfillment) and contributing factors, provided through the Professional Well-being Academic Consortium (PWAC), which allows comparisons with up to 30 peer academic medical centers. It also includes custom CU SOM items tailored to local needs; these do not have national benchmarks.

Q: What is the difference between a confidential and an anonymous survey?

A: Anonymous surveys collect no identifying information. Confidential surveys, like this one, protect your identity through secure data handling. The survey is administered by an independent vendor (SullivanLuallin Group), and your personal information will not be shared with CU SOM.

Q: Where can I learn more about privacy and confidentiality?

A: When you click the survey link, you’ll land on a page with details about privacy and confidentiality. After reviewing this information, you can decide whether to proceed. We encourage you to participate—your feedback directly informs improvements to the faculty and trainee experience.

Q: How does this survey relate to the Children's Hospital Colorado (CHCO) Med Staff Survey?

A: CU SOM and CHCO leaders have partnered to combine their surveys into a single effort, reducing the burden on faculty. A small number of CHCO-specific items are asked only of faculty credentialed at CHCO. These questions inform CHCO leaders and help track progress on pillar goals.

Q: How does this survey relate to surveys administered by UCHealth?

A: UCHealth (UCH) uses the CU SOM faculty survey to assess well-being and experiences at UCH sites. Respondents indicate their primary practice site, and site-specific results are shared with the appropriate leaders. UCH also administers a separate safety climate survey, and we appreciate faculty completing both.

Q: How does this survey relate to the Housestaff Association (HSA) Survey?

A: The Housestaff Association (HSA) conducts an annual survey to guide advocacy priorities for HSA leaders and to inform actions by the University of Colorado School of Medicine (CU SOM) and our clinical partners. Both HSA and CU SOM leadership share a commitment to better understanding residents’ and fellows’ experiences across clinical settings and departments, and to driving improvements in the training environment.

To minimize redundancy, efforts have been made to align—but not duplicate—items across the HSA Survey and the CU SOM Resident and Fellow Survey. The CU SOM survey is designed to complement the HSA Survey by providing:

• National benchmarking: Specialty-specific comparisons to national residency and fellowship data.
• Expanded domains: Questions on leadership behaviors, clinical efficiency and work environment, EHR (EPIC) usability, sense of belonging, mentoring, peer support, gratitude, and respect.
• Open feedback: Opportunities to share confidential free-text comments, reviewed by CU SOM leadership, on how the school can better support you during training.
• Longitudinal tracking: Program-level data to monitor progress over time.

Together, the two surveys offer a more complete picture of the trainee experience and inform improvements at multiple levels of leadership.

Q: How does this survey relate to the ACGME Resident/Fellow Survey?

A: The ACGME Resident/Fellow Survey is designed to monitor compliance with accreditation requirements and focuses on areas such as clinical experiences, faculty supervision and teaching, evaluation, educational content, resources, patient safety and teamwork, professionalism, and diversity and inclusion.

The CU SOM Resident and Fellow Survey is intended to complement—not duplicate—the ACGME survey. Specifically, it will:

• Enable comparisons between faculty and resident/fellow experiences.
• Include institution-specific items that inform program, departmental, and school-level improvement efforts.
• Incorporate nationally validated scales assessing burnout, professional fulfillment, leadership behaviors, belonging, and other key dimensions.

Q: Who is the benchmark group?

A: Benchmark groups are set by Professional Well-being Academic Consortium (PWAC), which includes up to 30 academic medical centers.

• Physicians are compared by specialty (e.g., endocrinologists to endocrinologists nationally).
• APPs are compared within their specialty (e.g., orthopedic APPs to orthopedic APPs nationally).
• Scientists are compared as one combined national group.
• Licensed mental health professionals also have national benchmarks.
• No current benchmarks exist for PTs, OTs, respiratory therapists, or optometrists; they are grouped under “other clinicians.” Click here to learn more.

Q: How are survey results shared?

A: Results are shared transparently across CU SOM, the Anschutz Medical Campus, and clinical affiliates. Reports are provided by department (and, for larger departments, by division/section) and by role (e.g., physician, APP, scientist). To protect confidentiality, reports are only generated if at least five individuals respond.

Q: How do I interpret the results?

A: Survey reports include:

• Comparison with benchmarks: Results are compared to national specialty- or role-specific benchmarks where available.
• Comparison with CU SOM overall: Results show how your group compares to the broader CU SOM community (clinicians, residents/fellows, or scientists).
• Heatmaps: Visual summaries of drivers of well-being (e.g., EHR hassles, peer support) relative to CU SOM overall or national benchmarks. Red areas highlight where action is most needed.

Q: Where can I find results from previous surveys?

A: Faculty and residents/fellows invited to complete the survey can access departmental results here. An overview of prior survey results is available to all current faculty and residents/fellows here.

Q: What actions have resulted from past surveys?

A: Faculty feedback has directly informed improvements across CU SOM and clinical partners. Visit our website to see examples of actions taken and priorities set based on previous surveys.