INTERN HEALTH
STUDY
ABOUT THE STUDY
The Intern Health Study is an NIH-funded longitudinal cohort study that assesses stress and mood in medical interns at institutions around the US and China, enrolling 1500 to 3000 new interns each year. We are hopeful that data collected in this study will further understanding of the psychological, genetic, and program factors involved in the development of depression under stress, and make a real change in the residency experience.
STUDY COMPONENTS
Principal Investigator
Salivary DNA kits and fitness trackers (if applicable) will be mailed within 2-4 weeks of enrollment.
CONTACT
Srijan Sen MD, PhD
Frances and Kenneth Eisenberg Professor of Depression and Neurosciences
Director, Eisenberg Family Depression Center
University of Michigan
SURVEYS: Participants will complete short follow-up surveys through the MyDataHelps App. Surveys will contain questions pertaining to personality traits, stressful life events, and psychological symptoms.
DAILY MOOD: Participants will receive notifications on their mobile device prompting them to rate their daily mood on a scale of 1 to 10.
FITNESS TRACKER (US only): Participants will regularly wear a Fitbit, Apple Watch, or Garmin watch for the purpose of measuring daily activity and sleep. Steps, sleep, and mood data for the past week, month, and year will display in the app.
DNA (US only): Because we are interested in the relationship between psychological, environmental, and genetic factors, participants will also be asked to submit a salivary DNA sample via postal mail. Participants will have the option to receive their raw genomic data for personal use.
APPLE SENSORKIT (optional): Apple Sensorkit is a new and highly secure framework that will allow us to retrieve additional passive data and metrics from an iPhone’s sensors (e.g. keyboard usage patterns, ambient light). We believe this is a promising new avenue for capturing novel passive data that could critically inform the development of real-time interventions to improve physician well-being. Participation in this aspect of the study will be completely optional. Learn more about SensorKit here.
We have designed this study to ensure complete security and confidentiality of the information participants provide.
ELIGIBILITY
If you will be beginning your medical internship in Summer 2023, you are eligible for our study!
GETTING STARTED
1) After getting your invitation email, follow the instructions to read the consent form, complete the initial survey and register for a MyDataHelps (MDH) account. If you have not received an invitation, but meet our eligibility requirements, please email us.
2) Download the MyDataHelps (MDH) app and log in to your account using the same user credentials to complete your enrollment.
3) If you already have a compatible fitness tracker (Fitbit, Apple Watch, or Garmin) you intend to use for the study, follow the instructions to connect your device after enrolling. You can expect to receive your $50 Amazon code via email within 1-2 weeks.
4) Submit your first Daily Mood survey.
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