Archive for: Resident Well Being
Remind trainees to put a professional foot forward when applying for hospital privileges
As directors and coordinators, you know how unprofessional, unfinished, and incorrect application materials can poorly reflect on medical students applying to your program. Well, medical staff professionals (MSP), those individuals who work in the credentialing office at the hospital, feel similarly when graduating residents and fellows submit their applications for appointment to the medical staff.
ACGME gives guidance on managing emergency situations
Today, the ACGME posted Responsibilities of ACGME-accredited Programs and Institutions in Local Extreme Emergent Situations, which discusses protocols for handling emergency situations.
Don’t skip electronic professionalism lessons for trainees
Sometimes all it takes is a small action by a resident to spark an idea for a new lecture series or other learning activity.
Nancy Spector, MD, pediatric associate program director at St. Christopher’s Hospital for Children in Philadelphia launched an e-professionalism lecture series after she was CC’d on an e-mail from a resident to all other trainees that included a reminder to censor their replies because Dr. Spector would receive them as well.
Program changes help reduce resident burnout
As you watch eager new residents start their training, I know it’s hard to think about trainee burnout, but it’s a serious issue in resident education. The beginning of the year is the perfect time to address burnout risk factors and wellness as I recently found out while writing an article on the subject for Residency Program Alert.
Boston surgery program receives duty hour citation
The surgery residency program at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston received a citation from the ACGME for violating the duty hour standards, according to an article in the Boston Globe.
Bring spouses/signficiant others into the loop on residency program events
I took my dog to the veterinarian this morning, and the vet happens to be the wife of one of my interns. (It’s not a big town here)
While examining my dog, she said, “Hey, isn’t there some sort of intern dinner next week? I think so, but I’m not sure because my husband NEVER TELLS ME ANYTHING!”
Now, while I completely sympathized with her (because my husband never tells me anything either) it occurred to me that I could start an e-mail list for spouses and significant others. This would allow me to communicate with them about major program dates and events. I think bringing them into the loop will not only help their family, but it will help ensure that my residents are as successful as possible at making it to program functions.
How do you communicate with your residents’ spouses/significant others? Anyone have any experiences to share in this area? Leave a comment in the box below.
Court ruling on salaries could cost teaching hospitals, residents
The Eighth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals found that residents’ salaries may be subject to Social Security taxes, according to an article in The Wall Street Journal.
Although most U.S. employees must pay Social Security taxes, students whose work is part of their studies have been excluded. Residents fell into this group, but over the past decade, medical schools and the IRS have been fighting over this exclusion, says The WSJ.
The appellate court’s ruling overturned those of two district courts, which had sided with the medical schools. The judges said medical residents are subject to payroll taxes, but says the tax law does not define whether residents are students or employees. According to the WSJ, this means the IRS can adopt its own guidelines around resident tax collection.
What do you think about this latest ruling? Leave your comments in the box below.
For more information on the resident tax issue, also see:
The Chronicle of Higher Education
Show your support for the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2009
There has been a flurry of activity on Capitol Hill regarding GME funding. Most notably, is the Resident Physician Shortage Reduction Act of 2009, which would increase the number of residency slots by 15,000 positions.
ACGME seeking proposals for duty hour literature review
The ACGME took another step forward in its duty hour review/reform process today with a letter from the organization’s CEO, Thomas Nasca, MD, MACP, requesting proposals for A Comprehensive Literature Review and Analysis of Residency Training and Duty Hours Experience.
Individuals interested in performing the review are encouraged to submit a proposal describing their plans and procedures by May 22, and the final report is due by the end of August. The final report will be the ACGME Duty Hours Task Force as they make their decisions regarding new resident work hours, the letter said.
The ACGME asks applicants to review national and international literature of peer reviewed articles regarding:
- Resident duty hours
- Supervision
- Working conditions
- Sleep needs, patterns, and deprivation
- Fatigue
- Well-being
- Education
- Learning environment
- Moonlighting
- Medical errors
- Effects of the 2003 resident duty hour standards
- Other studies about resident training in teaching and non teaching settings
The ACGME will inform any and all accepted proposals by May 27,2009.
OSCE activities for residents
In the April issue of Residency Program alert, I profiled Charleston Area Medical Center (CAMC) and the institution’s use of an OSCE during orientation to gauge new resident’s skills.
During the OSCE, residents must:
- Perform a H&P using a standardized patient
- Perform a clinical procedure using a standardized patient, partial task trainer, or hybrid combination
- Write orders for tests, labs, etc., based on their assessment
- Interpret test or lab results
- Present findings to an attending physician
- Complete a team-based ACLS activity as part of the patient cases
As you can imagine, it takes CAMC quite awhile to do all of these activities with all of their incoming residents and not everyone can be working with the standardized patients at the same time. CAMC rotates residents in groups through the OSCE as well as two other activities to ensure everyone is busy.
The first activity is a test using questions from the USMLE Step III practice exams, says Gordon Green, MD medical education consultant at CAMC. This gives program directors and faculty members a heads up on who may have trouble passing the real exam, and they can work with these residents to better prepare them for the exam.
The second activity also has to do with passing exams. Residents attend an exam preparation course to find out whether or not they have difficulty with exams from a skill perspective, anxiety, or deficits in knowledge. “We provide them with advice on how to improve their standardized exam taking ability,” Green says.
For those of you who do OSCEs in your institution/program, what do you have residents do while they wait to go through the various stations?
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