In Reply We thank Stergiopoulos et al and Osinski et al for their interest in our article examining general surgery resident grit and wellness.1 Both groups bring up important points that deserve additional discussion.
We agree with both groups of authors that systems-level interventions are likely more meaningful and effective at addressing well-being.2 However, in our qualitative work, we interviewed nearly 400 surgeons at 15 different programs about resident wellness and found an inordinate amount of interest in the idea that personal resilience or grit is the key to preventing burnout. As a result, we sought to provide data to inform the ongoing discussion about the relevance of grit.