Enhance residency program coordinator communication with faculty

By: Julie McCoy June 8th, 2009

Coordinators are the face of the residency program–regularly communicating with everyone from the GME office, to the ACGME, and specialty boards.

This interaction is central to your job, and it can be extremely frustrating when you can’t get what you need from various stakeholders. As I wrote in the May 2009 issue of RPA, coordinators at the ACGME’s 2009 Educational Conference said faculty members are the worst offenders. Think about it, how many times have you had to leave voice mails or send e-mails requesting an evaluation or updated CV? Some coordinators I know get so desperate for a response that they camp outside the faculty member’s office until he or she returns.

Improve your relationship with faculty with the following four tips:

Introduce yourself. At department events or during down time between candidate interviews, chat with faculty members. Find out about their interests, families, and hobbies. It’s more difficult for someone to ignore you if they know who you are.
Do some detective work. Find out when faculty members have down time or regularly spend time in their offices. Try approaching them during those times for requests. Also, ask faculty members what method of communication they prefer you use when you need to reach them. What’s the point in leaving a voice mail for someone who is always on e-mail, or sending an e-mail to someone who is tied to their pager?
Recognize what faculty members do for resident education. If you notice faculty members who are always (okay, mostly) timely with paperwork or do a lot for the residents, send them an e-mail to recognize their efforts. Mention their dedication or specific resident-related activities to the program director so he or she can also acknowledge their contributions. If possible (with the okay of your program director and/or department chair), track their contributions to the residency program. Some coordinators create a tracking sheet, and turn it into the program director and/or department chair who takes this information into consideration during faculty members’ annual reviews.
Meet with new faculty members. When new faculty members come on board, sit down with them to review your program’s evaluation system and process. During this training, explain your role, responsibilities, why you may contact them, and the importance of complying with your requests.

How do you foster relationships with faculty members? Leave a comment below.

Comments(1) Program Management, Residency Program Alert

Comments

By Cindy Chuidian on July 17th, 2009 at 2:14 pm

There is no motivation quite like resident and student evals on faculty when it comes time for promotion or academic appointments! I use this as a wonderful little carrot to get them to do their evaluations and invest time and energy in teaching!