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Residency Program Directors (residency + program_director)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

Monitoring stress levels in postgraduate medical training

THE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 1 2009
Justin D. Hill MD
Abstract Objectives: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) mandates that residency Program Directors (PD) monitor resident well-being, including stress. Burnout, as a measure of work-related stress, is defined by a high degree of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization, and a low degree of personal accomplishment using the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Human Services Survey (MBI-HSS). The purpose of this study is to describe the use of the MBI-HSS as a method of monitoring stress levels in an academic otolaryngology residency training program and introduce this survey as a tool for wider use in meeting ACGME requirements. Methods: The MBI-HSS was administered to residents in an academic otolaryngology residency training program on three separate occasions: at the beginning, middle, and end of different academic years. In addition, at the time of the third administration, the MBI-HSS was completed by faculty and staff in the same department. Surveys were completed and collected anonymously. Responses were scored against normative data from the MBI-HSS overall sample and the medicine subscale. Low, average, and high levels of burnout were identified for the individual categories of emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal accomplishment (PA); average levels for each category were calculated. Results: Twenty-two residents completed the first survey, taken near the end of an academic year; 19 completed the second administration in the middle of the following academic year; and 24 completed the third survey at the beginning of the subsequent academic year. Thirteen faculty and 23 staff also completed the third survey. We found that three, one, and one residents reported high levels of burnout on the first, second, and third surveys, respectively. These figures compare to one faculty member and no staff members in the same department reporting high levels of burnout. Conclusions: The MBI-HSS is an established and validated tool for identifying burnout in resident physicians. Residency PDs may find the MBI-HSS useful as an aid in monitoring resident well-being and stress. In our own department, we found levels of burnout comparable to those previously reported for residents and faculty in this specialty. Laryngoscope, 119:75,78, 2009 [source]

Chairperson and Faculty Gender in Academic Emergency Medicine Departments

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 8 2006
David Cheng MD
Objectives: Despite the influx of female physicians in academic medicine departments, there are a small number of women in faculty and departmental leadership positions in emergency medicine (EM). The objective of this study was to determine if the gender of the chairperson of an academic EM department is associated with the gender of the residency program director (RPD) and gender proportion of its faculty. Methods: This was a retrospective analysis of 133 academic EM departments using the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine online residency catalog, program Web site, or e-mail. Main outcome measures were proportion of female EM faculty and gender of the RPD. Results: Data were available for 133 academic departments. Women chaired 7.5% (n= 10) of departments and comprised 22.3% of all faculty and 15.0% (n= 20) of RPD positions. EM departments that were chaired by women had a significantly higher percentage of female faculty compared with those led by men (31% vs. 22%; p = 0.01). Similarly, departments that were chaired by women had a significantly higher proportion of female RPDs compared with those chaired by men (50% vs. 12%; p < 0.01). Compared with departments chaired by men, the RPD was 5.0 times (95% confidence interval = 1.9 to 27.8; p < 0.01) more likely to be a woman if the chairperson was also a woman. Conclusions: An academic EM department was more likely to have a higher proportion of female faculty and a female RPD when the department chairperson was female. [source]

Alternatives to the Conference Status Quo: Summary Recommendations from the 2008 CORD Academic Assembly Conference Alternatives Workgroup

ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE, Issue 2009
Annie T. Sadosty MD
Abstract Objective:, A panel of Council of Emergency Medicine Residency Directors (CORD) members was asked to examine and make recommendations regarding the existing Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) EM Program Requirements pertaining to educational conferences, identified best practices, and recommended revisions as appropriate. Methods:, Using quasi-Delphi technique, 30 emergency medicine (EM) residency program directors and faculty examined existing requirements. Findings were presented to the CORD members attending the 2008 CORD Academic Assembly, and disseminated to the broader membership through the CORD e-mail list server. Results:, The following four ACGME EM Program Requirements were examined, and recommendations made: 1The 5 hours/week conference requirement: For fully accredited programs in good standing, outcomes should be driving how programs allocate and mandate educational time. Maintain the 5 hours/week conference requirement for new programs, programs with provisional accreditation, programs in difficult political environs, and those with short accreditation cycles. If the program requirements must retain a minimum hours/week reference, future requirements should take into account varying program lengths (3 versus 4 years). 2The 70% attendance requirement: Develop a new requirement that allows programs more flexibility to customize according to local resources, individual residency needs, and individual resident needs. 3The requirement for synchronous versus asynchronous learning: Synchronous and asynchronous learning activities have advantages and disadvantages. The ideal curriculum capitalizes on the strengths of each through a deliberate mixture of each. 4Educationally justified innovations: Transition from process-based program requirements to outcomes-based requirements. Conclusions:, The conference requirements that were logical and helpful years ago may not be logical or helpful now. Technologies available to educators have changed, the amount of material to cover has grown, and online on-demand education has grown even more. We believe that flexibility is needed to customize EM education to suit individual resident and individual program needs, to capitalize on regional and national resources when local resources are limited, to innovate, and to analyze and evaluate interventions with an eye toward outcomes. [source]

Program Directors' Opinions about Surgical Competency in Otolaryngology Residents

THE LARYNGOSCOPE, Issue 7 2005
FRCSC, M M. Carr DDS
Abstract Objectives: The purpose of this study was to determine whether certain surgical procedures could be used as benchmark skills to monitor resident progress in developing surgical competency. Study Design: Survey. Methods: A two-stage survey was sent to otolaryngology residency program directors in the United States. Respondents were given a list of otolaryngology surgical procedures monitored by the American Board of Otolaryngology (ABO) and were asked to indicate whether they felt residents should be able to do each as a primary surgeon. The appropriate level of training for competency in each procedure and estimated number of procedures to competency was indicated by respondents. Results: Respondents selected 16 common procedures they felt residents at different levels of training should be able to perform independently. There were discrepancies between estimated number of procedures needed for competence and the numbers reported by ABO graduates. Conclusions: Surgical skill is one aspect of clinical competency, and this indicates agreement among program directors with regard to a set of benchmark skills we can use for concentrated evaluation efforts. [source]