Archive for: July, 2008
Can you make residency safe?
During a recent interview I conducted for a Residency Program Alert article, the person I was speaking with asked a really interesting question: Can you make residencies safe?
I thought this really touched on an issue at the heart of residency programs and quality improvement. Sure, there are obvious risks to having trainees with immature skills practice medicine on real people— that’s why people joke never to check into the hospital in July or August when the interns are new, right?
But this program director said that there are several aspects inherent in the design of residency programs that make them safe, including:
- Multiple levels of redundancy
- Structure that encourages academic question and problem solving
- Interest in documentation, data collection, and evaluations
- Team approach to patient care
Graduate medical education professionals should leverage these assets when developing patient safety and quality improvement projects.
Residency orientation is over!
Congratulations to those of you who made it through orientation! You’ve armed your interns with most of the information they need to know to make it though their residency. Still … it’s often up to the coordinator to continue helping them transition. I’ve heard of several things coordinators do to help them adjust. If you’re considering taking a new resident under your wing, try some of these ideas:
- Give interns the low down on the best—and cheapest— eats in town
- If you have children, compare notes with your residents who also have children about the best spots for play dates, birthday parties, and pediatricians
- Organize offsite social activities to help residents bond with one another
One coordinator I’ve spoken to goes as far as giving advice—when asked—about car buying and parenting, attending condominium closings, and even had residents over for Christmas dinner. Although not everyone will be comfortable with that, it would build a great bond…
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