As I interview, I try to find at least one unique or innovative way of doing things that each program has implemented and that seems to work well. Hopefully, I’ll be able to create some these innovations to whichever program I end up at. Here is a list of the strengths I’ve seen as I interview at different residency programs:
- Longitudinal pediatrics: everyone is scared of a sick kid, but the residents at these programs seem more confident in their ability to provide exceptional care.
- Self-scheduling: One PD told me that the greatest satisfaction scores came from residents with control over their schedule. Two programs I’ve seen have resident-run scheduling.
- Combined trauma simulations in the ED: called as a trauma code, detailed scenarios that anesthesia, EM, and trauma surgery residents and nurses respond to believing it is a real patient. Followed by a video debrief and discussion between all services.
- Resus month: A PGY-2 is in charge of managing all the resus patients in a birds’ eye view. Great for leadership and ensuring that residents are prepared to be attendings.
- Interviewing out of state candidates to promote diversity.
- Difficult Airway Course
- Flipped Classroom
- Intern orientation month with resident and faculty retreat to solidify the bonds that create resilience.
- Residents volunteered to pick applicants up from the hotel (which the program provided) and drive them to the pre-interview social.
- Residents volunteered to put applicants up in their houses or apartments the night before the interview. This had a huge effect on my view of that program.
- Motion sensor video in trauma bays with one case picked each month and discussed as a M&M with EM, anesthesia and trauma surgery residents/faculty for QI
- Nintendo Switch with applicants and residents in conference room between interviews.
- Icebreaker where everyone (faculty, residents and applicants) all shared an interesting / unique fact or story about themselves that wasn’t on their ERAS application.
- Mass casualty simulation, hospital wide
- Dinner at a resident’s house. Showed us what kind of house we could afford there and was much easier to talk to a variety of people. Plus, there were dogs!
- Discussion about program vision. You’d be surprised how rare this is.
- Competent program coordinators. The best. So important.
- All the program info given in a cool USB thingy or in something like, Yapp, and app.
- The program coordinator greeted each of the applicants by NAME in the lobby. I was impressed.
- Journal club at faculty houses +/- turning it into a wine night.
- Anesthesia parties. The resident on anesthesia/ultrasound is responsible for having a combined EM/anesthesia party at the end of the month. They are themed.
- An ED pharmacy elective taught by a pharmacist. Residents loved it. Faculty at that program wanted to take it.
- There are many more things that I will be adding. I am out of time now though. 12/7/19.
Copyright © 2022 by Erica Warkus
Erica Warkus, M.D., Ph.D. 