Rotations | Conferences and Curriculum | Professionalism | Appreciative Inquiry
Rotations
Our training program rotations are divided into three groups: fundamental clinical skill rotations, selective rotations, and elective rotations.
Fundamental Clinical Skill Rotations
Five months of training will be chosen from our fundamental clinical skill rotations. Our program is sponsored by Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine. These are fundamental clinical skill rotations as well as a rotation in Ambulatory Care.
Selective Rotations
Two months are spent in selective rotations in fundamental clinical skill areas.
Selective 1: Pediatric Wards, General Surgery, IM Wards
Selective 2: Ob/Gyn, IM Wards, General Surgery, Emergency Medicine, Pediatric Combined Outpatient, Pediatric Wards
Elective Rotations
The five remaining months are elective rotations.
Electives: Anesthesiology, Geriatrics, IM Subspecialty, Neurology, Ob/Gyn, Orthopedics, Palliative Care, Pediatric Combined Outpatient, Pediatric Outpatient Adolescent Medicine, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Psychiatry, Radiology, Research
Conferences and Curriculum
Didactic Education Sessions
While on clinical rotation (required FCS, selective FCS, and electives), you are required to attend that service’s/department’s didactic sessions. These include (but not limited to) such things as Grand Rounds, Weekly Seminar, Morning Report, Journal Club, Case Conference, Morbidity and Mortality Conference, and CQI Conferences. Your attendance at these conferences will be monitored. You should check with your upper level resident for the service at the beginning of each clinical rotation for the didactic/conference schedule.
Transitional Year Didactic Education Sessions
As a group, you will be excused from clinical duties to meet with your PD monthly—the last Wednesday of each month, 12:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. Lunch will be provided. Each month will feature a different educational topic with the year’s curriculum covering a number of clinical and professional development topics. In addition, this is an opportunity to share your experiences, discuss issues that need to be addressed and enjoy each other’s company. These meetings are required unless you have been excused by program leadership. Attendance is monitored.
Quality Improvement/Patient Safety Educational Curriculum
Although you will receive QI/PS training on rotations throughout the year, we have three requirements designed to give you the tools and experience to incorporate this practice throughout your career.
Professionalism
Clinical Skills Center: Standardized Patient Encounter
UAMS COM TY Residents will participate in standardized patient simulated clinical encounter in our UAMS Clinical Skills Center. This will occur at the very beginning of the academic year and serve as a baseline assessment, and then, again in the second half of the academic year during a designated monthly TY protected didactic session. The initial simulated encounter may serve as a baseline for self-assessment of skills as well as goal setting for areas of improvement.
This simulated encounter is composed of a clinical case base on a family practice clinic. The TY resident will complete a history and physical examination on each patient. The TY program director will observe remotely and will review with the TY resident after the encounter. The TY resident will be provided three measures of their skill:
- Completed progress note by the TY resident for the patient encounter
- A checklist that assesses completeness of the encounter (from greeting the patient and their chief complaint to obtaining pertinent history, thoroughness/detail of physical exam, to even ending the encounter professionally) which is completed by the TY program director as they observe the encounter, and
- An assessment of professionalism that is completed by the standardized patient to evaluate the patient/physician interaction and provide feedback in areas such as proper introduction, demonstration of confidence, warm/caring, treatment with respect, being non-judgmental, demonstrating interest in the patient as a person, using good eye contact, listening carefully and explaining medical terms in plain language.
Appreciative Inquiry
Appreciative Inquiry can be described as an approach which draws from positive psychology and storytelling, to create an “alignment of strengths” that render weaknesses irrelevant (Druker in TEDx Talks, 2014), hence empowering individuals and facilitate the resolution of given problems to enact desired change. During each tri-annual review, the program director will verbally discuss and review the resident’s appreciate inquiry regarding where they stand on their goals and future plans.
Steps of the appreciative inquiry are below:
- Define – What is my desired outcome?
- Discovery – What are my strengths?
- Dream – What would work well in the future to make this happen?
- Design – What action do I need to take to make it happen?
- Deploy – Taking the action.