scholarly journals Competence in pediatric urology upon graduation from residency: perceptions of residents, program directors and pediatric urologists

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 205 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer J. Mickelson ◽  
Andrew E. MacNeily ◽  
Dinesh Samarasekera ◽  
Darren Beiko ◽  
Kourosh Afshar
Keyword(s):  
Training Programs ◽  
Study Groups ◽  
Program Directors ◽  
Fellowship Training ◽  
Pediatric Urology ◽  
Urological Procedures ◽  
Significant Disagreement ◽  
Moderate Complexity ◽  
Ongoing Assessment ◽  
Residency Program Directors

Objective: We aimed to clarify the scope of pediatric urological procedures that Canadian urology residents are perceived to be competent to perform upon graduation.Methods: We conducted a survey from April 2005 to June 2006 of urology residency program directors (UPDs), senior urology residents (SURs) and Pediatric Urologists of Canada (PUC) members from all 12 Canadian training programs. Questions focused on which of 23 pediatric urological procedures the 3 study groups perceived urology residents would be competent to perform upon completion of residency without further fellowship training. Procedures were based on the “A,” “B” and “C” lists of procedures (least complex to most complex) as outlined in the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada Objectives of Training in Urology.Results: Response rates were 12/12 (100%), 41/53 (77%) and 17/23 (74%) for UPDs, SURs and PUC members, respectively. Average exposure to pediatric urology during residency was 5.4 (range 3–9) months and considered sufficient by 75% of UPDs and 69% of SURs, but only 41% of PUC members (p = 0.05). Overall, the 3 groups disagreed on the level of competence for performing level “A” and “B” procedures, with significant disagreement between PUC members and UPDs as well as SURs (p < 0.005).Conclusion: PUC members perceive Canadian urology residents’ exposure to pediatric urology as insufficient and their competence for procedures of low to moderate complexity as inadequate. Further investigation regarding exposure to and competence in other emerging subspecialty spheres of urology may be warranted. Ongoing assessment of the objectives for training in pediatric urology is required.

scholarly journals Perceptions on Diversity in Cardiology: A Survey of Cardiology Fellowship Training Program Directors

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (17) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Lisa Crowley ◽  
Julie Damp ◽  
Melanie S. Sulistio ◽  
Kathryn Berlacher ◽  
Donna M. Polk ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Training Program ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Program Directors ◽  
Fellowship Training ◽  
Fellowship Program ◽  
Rank List ◽  
Fellowship Training Program ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Diversity Enhancement

Background The lack of diversity in the cardiovascular physician workforce is thought to be an important driver of racial and sex disparities in cardiac care. Cardiology fellowship program directors play a critical role in shaping the cardiology workforce. Methods and Results To assess program directors’ perceptions about diversity and barriers to enhancing diversity, the authors conducted a survey of 513 fellowship program directors or associate directors from 193 unique adult cardiology fellowship training programs. The response rate was 21% of all individuals (110/513) representing 57% of US general adult cardiology training programs (110/193). While 69% of respondents endorsed the belief that diversity is a driver of excellence in health care, only 26% could quote 1 to 2 references to support this statement. Sixty‐three percent of respondents agreed that “our program is diverse already so diversity does not need to be increased.” Only 6% of respondents listed diversity as a top 3 priority when creating the cardiovascular fellowship rank list. Conclusions These findings suggest that while program directors generally believe that diversity enhances quality, they are less familiar with the literature that supports that contention and they may not share a unified definition of "diversity." This may result in diversity enhancement having a low priority. The authors propose several strategies to engage fellowship training program directors in efforts to diversify cardiology fellowship training programs.

scholarly journals The Impact of COVID-19 on Orthopedic Surgery Fellowship Training: A Survey of Fellowship Program Directors

2021 ◽  
pp. 155633162110120
Author(s):  
Braiden M. Heaps ◽  
Jeffrey R. Dugas ◽  
Orr Limpisvasti
Keyword(s):  
Patient Care ◽  
Orthopedic Surgery ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Program Directors ◽  
Fellowship Training ◽  
Fellowship Program ◽  
Orthopedic Surgeons ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Impact

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has had a wide-reaching impact. Graduate medical education of orthopedic surgeons was not spared from the jarring changes. Purpose: We sought to survey fellowship program directors in the field of orthopedic surgery about how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the education of the 2019 to 2020 and 2020 to 2021 fellowship classes and the future of their programs. Methods: In October 2020, an 18-item survey was distributed by an official of the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS) to the specialty societies that govern fellowship training. Each specialty society then distributed the survey to its respective program directors. A reminder email was sent during the enrollment period. Each respondent was able to complete the survey once. Survey questions were grouped into 3 sections: general information about the fellowship training programs, the impact of COVID-19 on the 2019 to 2020 fellowship class, and the future impact of COVID-19 on the fellowship training programs. Results: Of the 564 accredited orthopedic surgery fellowship programs in the United States, 190 directors responded. Of these, 73.59% reported COVID-19 had a negative impact on the 2019 to 2020 fellowship class. A normal distribution of responses was found regarding didactic and academic learning, research, and mentorship opportunities. A majority of respondents said they believe that there will be no negative impact on patient care the fellows provide in the years to come. Conclusion: Orthopedic surgery fellowship program directors acknowledged that while there were negative effects to training in the pandemic, they did not think these would negatively affect patient care provided by 2019 to 2020 fellows in the short and medium term. They also reported positive outcomes from the experience of the pandemic, including new ways to educate fellows.

Neurosurgical resident research education: a survey of United States residency program directors

2020 ◽  
Vol 133 (5) ◽  
pp. 1527-1536
Author(s):  
Jacob R. Lepard ◽  
Christopher D. Shank ◽  
Bonita S. Agee ◽  
Mark N. Hadley ◽  
Beverly C. Walters
Keyword(s):  
Residency Program ◽  
Critical Appraisal ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Journal Club ◽  
Program Directors ◽  
Academic Productivity ◽  
The Us ◽  
Critical Appraisal Skills ◽  
Residency Program Directors ◽  
Neurosurgical Education

OBJECTIVEThe application of evidence-based medicine (EBM) has played an increasing role within neurosurgical education over the last several decades. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has mandated that residents are now required to demonstrate academic productivity and mastery of EBM principles. The goal of this study was to assess how neurosurgery programs around the US are dealing with the challenges of fulfilling these program requirements from the ACGME in addition to standard neurosurgical education.METHODSA 20-question survey was developed and electronically delivered to residency program directors of the 110 ACGME-approved MD and DO training programs in the US. Data regarding journal club and critical appraisal skills, research requirements, and protected research time were collected. Linear regression was used to determine significant associations between these data and reported resident academic productivity.RESULTSResponses were received from 102 of the 110 (92.7%) neurosurgical training programs in the US. Ninety-eight programs (96.1%) confirmed a regularly scheduled journal club. Approximately half of programs (51.5%) indicated that the primary goal of their journal club was to promote critical appraisal skills. Only 58.4% of programs reported a formal EBM curriculum. In 57.4% of programs an annual resident publication requirement was confirmed. Multivariate regression models demonstrated that greater protected research time (p = 0.001), journal club facilitator with extensive training in research methods (p = 0.029), and earlier research participation during residency (p = 0.049) all increased the number of reported publications per resident.CONCLUSIONSAlthough specific measures are important, and should be tailored to the program, the overall training culture with faculty mentorship and provision of time and resources for research activity are probably the most important factors.

scholarly journals Optimizing the Implementation of Practice Improvement Modules in Training: Lessons from Educators

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 74-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Bernabeo ◽  
Sarah Hood ◽  
William Iobst ◽  
Eric Holmboe ◽  
Kelly Caverzagie
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Program Directors ◽  
Fellowship Training ◽  
Leadership Roles ◽  
Practice Improvement ◽  
Protected Time ◽  
Sustainable Improvement ◽  
Common Activity ◽  
Fellowship Training Program

Abstract Background The American Board of Internal Medicine approved the use of Practice Improvement Modules (PIMs) to help training programs teach and assess practice-based learning and improvement (PBLI) and systems-based practice (SBP). Methods We surveyed individuals who ordered a PIM in a residency or fellowship training program between June 2006 and August 2009. The 43 programs that volunteered to participate completed a 30-minute anonymous online survey. Results Program directors or associate program directors led the PIM process in 30 programs (70%). Trainees' degrees of involvement in PIMs were highly variable between programs, and several respondents felt that trainees were either not sufficiently engaged or not engaged with enough consistency. The most common activity for trainee involvement was data collection through patient surveys or chart review, although only 17 programs (40%) provided protected time for this activity. Few trainees participated in higher level activities such as data analysis or identification for areas of improvement or were given leadership roles; yet most respondents reported that completing the PIM helped trainees learn basic principles of QI and develop competence in PBLI and SBP and that PIM completion improved the program's ability to develop QI initiatives and resulted in program or institutional improvements, including sustainable improvement in patient care. Most respondents reported that the outcome warranted the effort to complete PIMs. Conclusions PIMs may be a valuable but underused educational experience for trainees as well as training programs. Focusing on particular themes and facets of PIMs may facilitate implementation.

Perspectives on endovascular training in traditional 5+2 vascular surgery fellowship training programs

Vascular ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 134-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas N Carruthers ◽  
Kaveh Shahmohammadi ◽  
Alik Farber ◽  
Denis Rybin ◽  
Gheorghe Doros ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Vascular Surgery ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Program Directors ◽  
Fellowship Training ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
High Expectations ◽  
Fellowship Programs ◽  
Endovascular Skills ◽  
Faculty Group

This study aimed to compare expectations and experiences of fellows to those of faculty in vascular surgery fellowship programs with regard to endovascular training. Anonymous surveys were sent to fellows (n = 235) and program directors (n = 147), with 79 fellows and 65 faculty members responding. Fellows noted higher expectations of their endovascular skills prior to starting fellowship than the faculty group reported expecting. Faculty assessed fellows' pre-training endovascular skills at a significantly lower level than the fellows' self-assessment. Fellows were significantly less satisfied with the structured aspects of endovascular training than the faculty believed them to be. Only 3% of fellows vs. 32% of faculty felt that the presence of an endovascular simulator affected how residents ranked fellowship programs during the match. In conclusion, incoming fellows in vascular surgery fellowship programs have high expectations of themselves, but may overestimate their actual pre-training endovascular skills. Fellows desire more structured endovascular training, which is not recognized by faculty. Endovascular simulators are valued, but may not be a significant draw in the match process.

scholarly journals Changes in Pharmacy Residency Training Design Between 2012 and 2017: A Perspective of Academic Medical Centers

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 113-120 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Krasniak ◽  
William Darko ◽  
Christopher D. Miller ◽  
Robert Seabury ◽  
Luke A. Probst
Keyword(s):  
Residency Program ◽  
Pharmacy Practice ◽  
Program Directors ◽  
Fellowship Training ◽  
Academic Medical Centers ◽  
Survey Period ◽  
Residency Programs ◽  
Medical Centers ◽  
Academic Medical ◽  
Residency Program Directors

Purpose:The role of health-system pharmacists continues to expand, and this area of pharmacy practice increasingly requires augmented baseline training. It is unclear how Post Graduate Year 1 (PGY-1) pharmacy residencies may be changing to meet these needs.The objectives of our survey were to describe PGY-1 pharmacy residency program design among academic medical centers, characterize program changes enacted over 5-year period, and describe career paths among PGY-1 pharmacy residency graduates. Methods: A 32-item questionnaire was developed independently, which was reviewed and validated by 4 residency program directors. The survey was uploaded to an online survey tool and sent electronically to residency program directors of 109 Vizient academic medical centers with PGY-1 pharmacy residency programs. Residency program directors were identified from a list of Vizient-participating hospitals. The survey was re-sent at 2-week intervals on 4 occasions to improve response rates. SPSS version 23.0 was used to analyze the data. Results: Overall, 49 (45%) of hospitals responded to the survey. Survey responses showed statistically significant increases over the 5-year survey period in the following areas: the number of PGY-1 resident positions offered ( P = .001), percent of time spent on teaching experiences ( P = .001), and percentage of PGY-1 residents pursuing PGY-2 or fellowship training ( P = .026). Conclusion: We found that PGY-1 pharmacy residency programs at Vizient academic medical centers have undergone limited changes over the 5-year survey period and substantial variation exists between program designs. The most common change to program design was an increase in the percentage of time residents spend on teaching experiences. There was an increase in residents pursuing PGY-2 or fellowship training, which may suggest a shift toward increased specialization in clinical pharmacy practice or may reflect changes in the availability of job opportunities.

scholarly journals Mapping a competency-based surgical curriculum in urology: Agreement (and discrepancies) in the Canadian national opinion

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (5-6) ◽  
pp. 161
Author(s):  
Keith Francis Rourke ◽  
Andrew E. MacNeily
Keyword(s):  
Residency Training ◽  
Fellowship Training ◽  
Web Based ◽  
Boari Flap ◽  
Open Radical Prostatectomy ◽  
Urological Procedures ◽  
Significant Disagreement ◽  
Competency Based ◽  
Parametric Testing ◽  
Open Pyeloplasty

Introduction: Urology residency training in Canada is quickly evolving from a time-based to a competency-based model. We aim to better define core surgical competencies that would comprise a surgical curriculum and assess any discrepancies in opinion nationally.Methods: A web-based survey was validated and sent to the 536 practicing members of the Canadian Urological Association (CUA) in August and October 2014. The survey consisted of questions regarding practice demographics, fellowship training, and evaluated the 76 most common urological procedures (using a five-point Likert scale) in the context of the question, “After completion of residency training in Canada a urologist should be proficient in…” A core procedure was defined as one for which there was ≥75% agreement. Descriptive statistics and non-parametric testing were used to summarize the findings.Results: A total of 138 urologists completed the survey (25.7% response rate) with representation from all geographic regions. Respondents included 40.6% community and 59.4% academic urologists. The survey identified 16 procedures with 90‒100% agreement and a total of 30 core procedures with ≥75% agreement. When comparing community and academic urologists, there was statistically significant disagreement on 27 procedures, including 11 core procedures, most notably cystectomy (88.5% agreement vs. 67.1%; p=0.002), open pyeloplasty (84.6% vs. 65.8%; p=0.04), simple prostatectomy (78.9% vs. 69.7%; p=0.03), perineal urethrostomy (80.8% vs. 67.1%; p=0.02), open radical prostatectomy (96.1% vs. 80.3%; p=0.007), and Boari flap (90.4% vs. 76.3%; p=0.004). Regional discrepancies were also found, demonstrating eight procedures deemed uniquely core and three core procedures deemed less important regionally.Conclusions: This national survey has provided some consensus on 30 procedures that should comprise a core surgical curriculum in urology. However, there are some key differences of opinion (most notably between community and academic urologists) that must be considered.

The Association of Pediatric Critical Care Medicine Training Programs with Research Publication Productivity and Employment Outcomes of Their Graduates

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonali Basu ◽  
Robin Horak ◽  
Murray M. Pollack
Keyword(s):  
Critical Care ◽  
Intensive Care ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Training Programs ◽  
Fellowship Training ◽  
Publication Productivity ◽  
Research Publication ◽  
Pediatric Critical Care ◽  
Publication Success ◽  
Fellowship Programs

AbstractOur objective was to associate characteristics of pediatric critical care medicine (PCCM) fellowship training programs with career outcomes of PCCM physicians, including research publication productivity and employment characteristics. This is a descriptive study using publicly available data from 2557 PCCM physicians from the National Provider Index registry. We analyzed data on a systematic sample of 690 PCCM physicians representing 62 fellowship programs. There was substantial diversity in the characteristics of fellowship training programs in terms of fellowship size, intensive care unit (ICU) bed numbers, age of program, location, research rank of affiliated medical school, and academic metrics based on publication productivity of their graduates standardized over time. The clinical and academic attributes of fellowship training programs were associated with publication success and characteristics of their graduates' employment hospital. Programs with greater publication rate per graduate had more ICU beds and were associated with higher ranked medical schools. At the physician level, training program attributes including larger size, older program, and higher academic metrics were associated with graduates with greater publication productivity. There were varied characteristics of current employment hospitals, with graduates from larger, more academic fellowship training programs more likely to work in larger pediatric intensive care units (24 [interquartile range, IQR: 16–35] vs. 19 [IQR: 12–24] beds; p < 0.001), freestanding children's hospitals (52.6 vs. 26.3%; p < 0.001), hospitals with fellowship programs (57.3 vs. 40.3%; p = 0.01), and higher affiliated medical school research ranks (35.5 [IQR: 14–72] vs. 62 [IQR: 32, unranked]; p < 0.001). Large programs with higher academic metrics train physicians with greater publication success (H index 3 [IQR: 1–7] vs. 2 [IQR: 0–6]; p < 0.001) and greater likelihood of working in large academic centers. These associations may guide prospective trainees as they choose training programs that may foster their career values.

scholarly journals A comparison of orthopaedic surgery and internal medicine perceptions of USMLE Step 1 pass/fail scoring

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Frederick Mun ◽  
Alyssa R. Scott ◽  
David Cui ◽  
Erik B. Lehman ◽  
Seong Ho Jeong ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Internal Medicine ◽  
Extracurricular Activities ◽  
Residency Program ◽  
Medical Schools ◽  
Program Directors ◽  
Program Director ◽  
Personal Knowledge ◽  
Clinical Knowledge ◽  
Alpha Omega ◽  
Residency Program Directors

Abstract Background United States Medical Licensing Examination Step 1 will transition from numeric grading to pass/fail, sometime after January 2022. The aim of this study was to compare how program directors in orthopaedics and internal medicine perceive a pass/fail Step 1 will impact the residency application process. Methods A 27-item survey was distributed through REDCap to 161 U.S. orthopaedic residency program directors and 548 U.S. internal medicine residency program directors. Program director emails were obtained from the American Medical Association’s Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database. Results We received 58 (36.0%) orthopaedic and 125 (22.8%) internal medicine program director responses. The majority of both groups disagree with the change to pass/fail, and felt that the decision was not transparent. Both groups believe that the Step 2 Clinical Knowledge exam and clerkship grades will take on more importance. Compared to internal medicine PDs, orthopaedic PDs were significantly more likely to emphasize research, letters of recommendation from known faculty, Alpha Omega Alpha membership, leadership/extracurricular activities, audition elective rotations, and personal knowledge of the applicant. Both groups believe that allopathic students from less prestigious medical schools, osteopathic students, and international medical graduates will be disadvantaged. Orthopaedic and internal medicine program directors agree that medical schools should adopt a graded pre-clinical curriculum, and that there should be a cap on the number of residency applications a student can submit. Conclusion Orthopaedic and internal medicine program directors disagree with the change of Step 1 to pass/fail. They also believe that this transition will make the match process more difficult, and disadvantage students from less highly-regarded medical schools. Both groups will rely more heavily on the Step 2 clinical knowledge exam score, but orthopaedics will place more importance on research, letters of recommendation, Alpha Omega Alpha membership, leadership/extracurricular activities, personal knowledge of the applicant, and audition electives.

scholarly journals Teaching Ethics and Professionalism: A National Survey of Ophthalmology Residency Program Directors

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (01) ◽  
pp. e88-e94
Author(s):  
Alyssa M. Kretz ◽  
Jennifer E. deSante-Bertkau ◽  
Michael V. Boland ◽  
Xinxing Guo ◽  
Megan E. Collins
Keyword(s):  
Residency Program ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Optimal Strategies ◽  
Program Directors ◽  
Global Evaluation ◽  
Teaching Ethics ◽  
Residency Programs ◽  
Unprofessional Behavior ◽  
Residency Program Directors ◽  
Trainee Competence

Abstract Background While ethics and professionalism are important components of graduate medical education, there is limited data about how ethics and professionalism curricula are taught or assessed in ophthalmology residency programs. Objective This study aimed to determine how U.S. ophthalmology residency programs teach and assess ethics and professionalism and explore trainee preparedness in these areas. Methods Directors from accredited U.S. ophthalmology residency programs completed an online survey about components of programs' ethics and professionalism teaching curricula, strategies for assessing competence, and trainee preparedness in these areas. Results Directors from 55 of 116 programs (46%) responded. The most common ethics and professionalism topics taught were informed consent (38/49, 78%) and risk management and litigation (38/49, 78%), respectively; most programs assessed trainee competence via 360-degree global evaluation (36/48, 75%). While most (46/48, 95%) respondents reported that their trainees were well or very well prepared at the time of graduation, 15 of 48 (31%) had prohibited a trainee from graduating or required remediation prior to graduation due to unethical or unprofessional conduct. Nearly every program (37/48, 98%) thought that it was very important to dedicate curricular time to teaching ethics and professionalism. Overall, 16 of 48 respondents (33%) felt that the time spent teaching these topics was too little. Conclusion Ophthalmology residency program directors recognized the importance of an ethics and professionalism curriculum. However, there was marked variation in teaching and assessment methods. Additional work is necessary to identify optimal strategies for teaching and assessing competence in these areas. In addition, a substantial number of trainees were prohibited from graduating or required remediation due to ethics and professionalism issues, suggesting an impact of unethical and unprofessional behavior on resident attrition.

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