Archive for: November, 2009
Monday’s Poll: Helicopter parents
There’s no question that taking an active roll in your child’s education is important. But, one would think that by the time that child became a medical student or resident, the parent would realize its time to let Junior fly from the nest on his own.
Unfortunately for program directors and coordinators, this is not the case. At the 4th Annual Residency Program Management Workshop, Tracy Sanson, MD presented a wonderful session on educating the different generations of learners in residency programs today.
During the discussion about Generations X and Y, the topic of helicopter parents came up. . . you know, parents that hover over their children.
One coordinator said that she has received a phone call from a resident’s parent who was concerned that one of the attending physicians had been a little harsh with her. Another program director said that he had received a call from a parent after the resident received a negative evaluation.
Obviously, this is the exception rather than the rule, but are you prepared to take this call from a parent?
Sanson says when a parent calls her, she says, “I appreciate your interest in your child’s training, but this situation is between Dr. X and I. He/she and I will handle this as adults and colleagues.”
Have you received calls from parents concerned about their child’s performance, or feelings? Take our poll and tell us how you handled it in the comment box.
Faculty development tips and ideas
This month’s issue of RPA features a lengthy story on how to build a faculty development program from scratch. Of course, you can’t write a story on faculty development without talking about what topics to cover and how to actually get faculty members to attend the sessions. Here are a few tips I picked up from my sources.
Faculty members are often too busy with their patient care responsibilities to attend educational session, so you must schedule around them. Try scheduling early morning, lunch time, or dinner time sessions when they typically do not see patients.
Also plan sessions before or after other important meetings faculty members have to attend. For example, if they attend a monthly division meeting from 8am-10am, then schedule a faculty development workshop at 10:30am while they’re already out of the patient care mode.
When it comes to selecting topics, the trick is to pick subjects that lend themselves to interactive exercises. Nobody wants to sit through an hour-long lecture. Use case studies, roll play, panel discussions, small group exercises to tackle some of the following topics:
- Evaluating learners/how to fill out an evaluation form accurately
- Managing the problem learner
- Incorporating the ACGME competencies in your teaching
- Evidence-based medicine for the busy clinician
Highlighting that the program appreciates faculty members’ teaching efforts is also important. Consider writing a quarterly newsletter focusing on the program’s educational efforts. In the newsletter, recognize a faculty educator and his or her teaching efforts.
You can also include helpful information for the faculty, such as journal articles on teaching methods, new rotations, days that residents will be out because of Board exams, and new educational initiatives.
What does your program do to promote faculty development? What topics are some of your most popular? Leave a comment in the box below.
Residency recruitment requirement reminder
Recruitment season is such a busy time for program administrators. There are so many things to tell the applicants, like who we are, where we are, why you should come here, how to get here, what to do here. . . the list goes on and on.
Monday’s Poll: Policies for keeping documentation
During the 4th Annual Residency Program Management Workshop, Ruth Nawotniak asked the audience how many people had unlimited space for storing documentation, resident files, applications, etc. Literally, one very lucky person raised her hand.
Residency program quarterly report template
A few weeks ago, Molly Ostrowski, surgery coordinator, won free registration for the 4th Annual Residency Program Management Workshop. Her entry was featured on Residency Manager Blog.
As the post describes, Ostrowski began compiling quarterly reports that give a snapshot of how the program is complying with ACGME requirements. I interviewed Ostrowski and her program director, Dane Smith, MD for an RPA article and got even more great information about the reports, how she puts them together, and how Smith and Ostrowski hope to use them as documentation of program improvements for an upcoming site visit.
Because so many blog readers asked for a sample report, I uploaded a template for the quarterly report. I hope you find it helpful. Download it from our Forms and Documents page.
Thanks for sharing, Molly!
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