Faculty Members’ Perspective on Virtual Interviews for Medical Residency Matching during the COVID-19 Crisis: A National Survey

During the COVID-19 pandemic, conducting face-to-face medical residency interviews was challenging due to infection prevention precautions, social distancing, and travel restrictions. Virtual interviews were implemented by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) as an alternative process for residency matching while striving to maintain the same quality standards. This national survey was conducted to assess the satisfaction and perceptions of faculty members’ virtual interview performance in the assessment for the medical training residency programs. Among the participating 173 faculty members, 34.1% did not have previous experience with video-conferencing. The Zoom application was the most commonly used platform (65.9%). Most (89.6%) of the faculty perceived virtual interviews as “adequate” platforms on which the candidates could express themselves, while almost half of the faculty (53.8%) agreed that virtual interviews allowed them to accurately reach an impression about the candidates. Overall, 73.4% of faculty felt comfortable ranking the virtually interviewed candidates. We conclude that the acceptance of participating faculty members in the first Saudi medical residency training matching cycle virtual interviewing event was well-perceived. This study provides evidence for future application and research of virtual interviews in residency candidates’ assessment, especially after the pandemic crisis resolves.

Faculty Members’ Perspective on Virtual Interviews for Medical Residency Matching during the COVID-19 Crisis: A National Survey

During the COVID-19 pandemic, conducting face-to-face medical residency interviews was challenging due to infection prevention precautions, social distancing and travel restrictions. Virtual interviews were implemented by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCFHS) as an alternative process for residency matching while striving to maintain the same quality standards. This national survey was conducted to assess the satisfaction and perceptions of faculty members’ virtual interviews performance in the assessment for the medical training residency programs. Among the participating 173 faculty members (34.1%) did not have previous experience with video-conferencing. Zoom application was the most commonly used platform (65.9%). Most (89.6%) of the faculty perceived virtual interviews as “adequate” for the candidates to express themselves, while almost half of the faculty (53.8%) agreed that virtual interviews allowed them to accurately reach an impression about the candidates. Overall, 73.4% of faculty felt comfortable ranking the virtually interviewed candidates. We conclude that the acceptance of participating faculty members in the first Saudi medical residency training matching cycle virtual interviewing event was well perceived. This study provides evidence for future application and research of virtual interviews in residency candidates' assessment, especially after the pandemic crisis resolves.

Residência Pedagógica espelhada na Residência Médica: formação de professores sob nova perspectiva?

INTRODUÇÃO: O programa de Residência Pedagógica é um modelo de formação profissional para cursos de licenciatura, sendo um programa integrado a Política Nacional de Formação de Professores, cujo intuito está no aperfeiçoamento prático por meio da inserção do acadêmico no ambiente escolar. Este programa surgiu com inspiração na Residência Médica, sendo esta uma modalidade de ensino de pós-graduação destinada a médicos já graduados, como forma de especialização clínica. OBJETIVO: Analisar as aproximações e distanciamentos entre o programa na área da Educação Física em relação ao programa da área médica a partir da percepção de coordenadores das áreas de uma universidade pública do Paraná. MÉTODOS: A pesquisa é caracterizada como de abordagem qualitativa, com foco no estudo de caso. Foram entrevistados 4 coordenadores de curso e de programa de residência vinculados aos cursos de Medicina e Educação Física. A análise dos dados foi baseada no princípio de categorização temática com foco na análise de conteúdo. RESULTADOS: Os resultados mostram que há diferenças significativas entre as propostas, tendo a residência médica uma formação em nível de pós-graduação enquanto a residência pedagógica uma formação inicial, isso reflete as definições estruturais e conceituais sobre a forma de inserção de tais modelos formativos no ambiente de atuação profissional. CONCLUSÃO: Conclui-se que o propósito de formação em licenciatura com base em modelos de residência profissional possibilitam novas experiências e caminhos, mas que ainda estão distantes do modelo ofertado na área médica.ABSTRACT. Mirrored Pedagogycal Residence in the Medical Residence: teacher training about new perspective?BACKGROUND: The Pedagogical Residency program is a model of professional training for undergraduate courses, being an integrated program the National Policy of Teacher Training, whose purpose is in practical improvement through the insertion of the academic in the school environment. This program was inspired by the Medical Residency, which is a graduate teaching modality for physicians already graduated, as a form of clinical specialization. OBJECTIVE: To analyze the approximations and distances between the program in the area of Physical Education in relation to the medical program in a public university in Paraná. METHODS: The research is characterized as qualitative, focusing on the case study. Four coordinators of courses and residency programs linked to medical and physical education courses were interviewed. Data analysis was based on the principle of thematic categorization with a focus on content analysis. RESULTS: The results show that there are significant differences between the proposals, with medical residency training at the graduate level while the pedagogical residency is an initial formation, this reflects the structural and conceptual definitions on the way of insertion of such formative models in the professional environment. CONCLUSION: It is concluded that the purpose of teacher training based on professional residency models enables new experiences and paths, but which are still distant from the model offered in the medical area.

Professionalism and inter-communication skills (ICS): a multi-site validity study assessing proficiency in core competencies and milestones in medical learners

Background Interpersonal and Communication Skills (ICS) and Professionalism milestones are challenging to evaluate during medical training. Paucity in proficiency, direction and validity evidence of assessment tools of these milestones warrants further research. We validated the reliability of the previously-piloted Instrument for Communication skills and Professionalism Assessment (InCoPrA) in medical learners. Methods This validity approach was guided by the rigorous Kane’s Framework. Faculty-raters and standardized patients (SPs) used their respective InCoPrA sub-component to assess distinctive domains pertinent to ICS and Professionalism through multiple expert-built simulated-scenarios comparable to usual care. Evaluations included; inter-rater reliability of the faculty total score; the correlation between the total score by the SPs; and the average of the total score by two-faculty members. Participants were surveyed regarding acceptability, realism, and applicability of this experience. Results Eighty trainees and 25 faculty-raters from five medical residency training sites participated. ICC of the total score between faculty-raters was generally moderate (ICC range 0.44–0.58). There was on average a moderate linear relationship between the SPs and faculty total scores (Pearson correlations range 0.23–0.44). Majority of participants ascertained receiving a meaningful, immediate, and comprehensive patient-faculty feedback. Conclusions This work substantiated that InCoPrA was a reliable, standardized, evidence-based, and user-friendly assessment tool for ICS and Professionalism milestones. Validating InCoPrA showed generally-moderate agreeability and high acceptability. Using InCoPrA also promoted engaging all stakeholders in medical education and training–faculty, learners, and SPs—using simulation-media as pathway for comprehensive feedback of milestones growth.

Patient safety in medical residency training: Balancing bravery and checklists

Distributing responsibility for patient safety between individual professionals and organisational systems is a pressing issue in contemporary healthcare. This article draws on Habermas’ distinction between ‘lifeworld’ and ‘system’ to explore patient-safety culture in medical residency training. Sociological accounts of medical training have indicated that applying systemic solutions in patient-safety training and practice may conflict with residents’ needs. Residents would navigate safety systems to get their work done and safeguard learning opportunities, acting ‘in between’ the system and traditional processes of socialisation and learning on the job. Our ethnographic study reveals how residents seek to connect system and professional-based learning, and do them together in situated manners that evolve in the course of medical training. We reveal three themes that closely align with the residents’ developmental process of maturing during training and on the job to become ‘real’ physicians: (1) coming to grips with the job; (2) working around safety procedures; and (3) moving on to independence. A more explicit focus on learning to deal with uncertainty may enable residents to become more skilled in balancing safety systems.

1093. Evaluation of an Antimicrobial Stewardship Elective Rotation for Medicine Residents

Background In 2017, an Antibiotic Stewardship (ASP) elective was established for the medicine residents to engage directly in stewardship practice, learn how to communicate recommendations effectively to their peers, and gain further understanding of the rationale for antimicrobial stewardship. Recommendations are co-formulated with the ID Pharmacist and ID Attending Physician, and documented as an ASP Note in the electronic health record. Additionally, the residents disseminate recommendations via page and verbal communication to their peers. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the response of the primary care teams to guidance formulated and communicated by the residents while on this clinical elective. Methods Recommendations by the medicine residents participating on the ASP elective from January 2018 to July 2018 were reviewed. Response to the recommendations was categorized as accepted, not accepted, or partially accepted with alternative change. Recommendations were considered as accepted if changes were made by the primary team within 24 hours from time of the ASP note. Responses were further reviewed based on the following medical services: medicine (including hematology/oncology), surgery, and intensive care (ICU). Results A total of 124 recommendations were reviewed for response.11 of the patients were excluded as changes either occurred prior to the documentation of the ASP note, or proposed changes did not pertain to antibiotic management. Ninety-four of the included interventions were accepted. Medicine, surgery, and ICU services accepted 84%, 82.4%, and 83.3% of recommendations, respectively. The services did not accept 5%, 11.8%, and 11.1% of recommendations, and partial acceptance with alternative changes was 11%, 5.8%, and 5.6%, respectively. Conclusion Recommendations formulated and communicated by residents participating in the ASP Elective rotation resulted in a high degree of acceptance. The acceptance rates did not differ significantly between the medical services. The addition of the ASP Elective has demonstrated a benefit to the ASP program at Olive View-UCLA Medical Center, and other medical residency training programs should consider implementation of such an elective rotation to enhance stewardship efforts and medical resident education. Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.