Author Archive for: Sally Miller
Fellowship forum: Create a welcoming Web site for prospective applicants
July 29th, 2009 
Ahhhhhh. All your fellows are now safely ensconced into their subspecialties, and all of your national data are submitted. Sigh of relief!
But, wait! There’s one more important thing for fellowship coordinators to do before heading for the beach (mountains, desert, mom and dad’s…). It’s time to update your own program’s Web site because clear-thinking residents are already looking around at subspecialty options.
Fellowship Forum: From Match to orientation
June 17th, 2009
According to the NRMP General Schedule of Dates, it looks like fellowship programs Match at all different times of the year:
- Allergy & immunology in May
- Internal medicine and radiology in June
- OB/GYN and anesthesiology in October
- Ophthalmology in December
- Pediatric and surgery fellowships in any month you can name
So what happens during all the time between Match Day and when the new fellows actually arrive for orientation?
We used to keep in vague touch with the incoming fellows, but these folks kept contacting us to be sure they were expected. And we’d wonder if they were still coming. Although the NRMP makes matching a legal issue, it’s still a “long time – no see” situation.
To settle our nerves about this communication gap, we now send a letter of confirmation” immediately following the Match Day. Here’s what’s in it:
- A personal welcome for the fellow, to the institution, department, and program.
- The official training dates expected for the coming year.
- The date they must arrive for GME orientation, if earlier than the department orientation.
- The post graduate year (PGY) they will be upon entering.
- Notice of when they can expect to receive the GMEC Contract or Agreement of Appointment, which will include proposed salary, perks, credentialing process, and other information.
- Contact information for the program director and coordinator.
- Signature of the program director.
- Request that they sign the letter and return a copy to you.
This form of correspondence provides an extra secure feeling, so we coordinators can breathe easier until the next July first, and the beginning of the new academic year.
p.s. Good luck with your Match this year, whenever it is!
How do you keep in touch with your fellows and avoid the long-time-no-see problem? Leave a comment in the box below.
Fellowships and Residencies: New Best Friends!
May 21st, 2009
How much attention do you pay to the relationship between subspecialty programs and their core/parent residency programs? Chances are, not enough.
The ACGME has many requirements regarding the residency-fellowship relationship. When I first started in this administrator position, I expected that the subspecialties would be all over the map with ACGME compliance. Sure enough, some programs had their documentation in order, some had a little bit of this and little bit of that, and some had virtually none. So we had to get everyone whistling to the same RRC tune, to establish a “reporting relationship” between the parent/core and the subspecialty while respecting individuality.
Alas and alack! The newly-minted (July 2009) Core Requirements for Internal Medicine state that the residency program must “supervise” the subspecialties. At our next Fellowship Program Directors’ meeting, we are together, as a team, going to decide just how to better comply with this direct mandate.
I know that not everyone who reads this blog is involved with an internal medicine program, but I get the feeling that other specialties are going to be moving in this same direction.
So, here’s a tip: If you don’t work much with the residency program in your department, you’ll want to check with who does. Find out exactly what type and how much “supervision” or “oversight” is required on both ends. Your residency program and your subspecialties might just become “new best friends” in satisfying your RRC!
I’m interested to hear how other programs–internal medicine and other specialties– handle and document communication/oversight/supervision between the core program and the subspecialty. Leave a comment in the tip box below.
Fellowship Forum: Tips to make it through all the documentation
April 2nd, 2009
Hectic? Did you say, “Hectic?” Yes, for fellowship programs, it is THE busy time for securing documentation of every description. Although our inclination is to address all these immediate issues at the same time, it’s wise to prioritize. Set aside a block of time each day to keep yourself updated on each to-do list.
Begin by keeping stacks of stuff in separate stations around your office pod. It would be too easy to misfile an important document in the wrong pile, and then spend hours looking for it. Here are a few tips for your overloaded desk right now:
1) Interviews. Yep, for some of our fellowships, they are still going on, long after the residency programs have finished. Keep those schedules in plain sight. Here’s a quick tip: Stay in close touch with your visiting applicants as they are the future of the program.
2) Credentialing for incoming fellows. This can be a tedious process, as it seems GME offices are requiring more and more documentation. Quick tip: If you have foreign medical graduates coming in, get going early on those J-1 and H-1B visas. With more of these folks entering US programs, rules are becoming tighter.
3) Reappointing current fellows. No doubt they will have annual updates due. Quick tip: If you’re having trouble getting fellows to complete paperwork, including online training modules, find a carrot. The barter system still works!
4) Fellows moving to faculty. This can require documentation for your HR person, division administrator, or whoever handles such records. Quick tip: Even though faculty appointments might not be in your bailiwick, you should search out who needs what from your fellow, so there will be no gaps in the transition.
5) Departing fellows. These folks have known for some time their next career step. Quick tip: Be sure to get a completely updated CV from them before they go, including publications and presentations (you might need these for your next PIF). Get forwarding addresses, if only for their professional locations for now; keep their personal e-mails, just in case.
Spring has surely sprung for fellowships. Stay calm, keep chugging away, and soon there will be a fresh start to a new academic year!
Fellowship Forum: Quick tips for managing a fellowship program
February 25th, 2009
Ever make a master list of all the things we fellowship coordinators do in the course of a year?
If you did, you would see that a fellowship coordinator’s job is never done because soon as we’re finished with one task, something new comes along.
Here’s a partial inventory of ongoing tasks we do at various times, and beside each is a small suggestion to support the process. We’ll call these helpful hints “Fellowship Tips,” or “Flip Tips,” for short:
Symposium abstracts Post requirements and deadlines in fellows’ library
Job search Keep fellows’ recommendation letters and CVs updated
Grant submissions Set time lines for drafts, proof-reading, binding, etc.
New appointments Stay in cell phone contact and e-mail welcome newsletters
Reappointment Bug fellows to do online training modules, TB tests, etc.
Conference travel Get departmental pre-approval
Research day Reserve poster space for fellows’ entries
Proficiency Grids Check Boards for meeting minimum case log requirements
Speaker forums Record sign-in attendance for CME compliance
Moonlighting Remind fellows to get permanent licenses, if required
Duty Hours Monitor for compliance and possible violations
And, my personal favorite: Do everything you can to keep the ACGME competencies alive and well and way out front for all fellow activities.
Have a “Flip Tip” of your own? Add it in the comment box below.
Introducing Fellowship Forum
January 15th, 2009
Editor’s note: Several fellowship coordinators and program directors have asked me about where they can get information specific to running a fellowship program.To meet the needs of the fellowship administrators in our audience, we’re introducing Fellowship Forum, a monthly blog post written by Sally T. Miller, fellowship coordinator.
Welcome to Fellowship Forum! This is a new monthly blog for fellowship administrators and coordinators who work with sub-specialties, be they within pediatrics, internal medicine, neurology, or other departments.
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Sally Miller
Sally Miller is the fellowship coordinator for the department of medicine at University of Virginia Health System.Sally has written 6 posts.
