Resident-Driven Education
As mentioned in Dr. Kramer’s welcoming message, the York Hospital Emergency Medicine residents are encouraged to take ownership of their residency. Residency leadership values their input and contributions to both education and the clinical arena. Several of the initiatives put into place to promote residency involvement in the program are highlighted below.
Emergency Medicine Residency Retreat
Each year the program hosts a one- to two-day resident retreat which includes the formation of focus groups based on resident feedback and program needs. During the meeting of these groups, residents take a team-based approach to evaluate the effectiveness of the current system and develop new ideas for improving the program. Every three years, the residency program sponsors an “away” retreat. Previous retreat locations include: Ellicott City, MD; Poconos Mountains of PA, and St. Michaels, MD. Residents and family/significant others are invited to attend.
Residency Effectiveness Committee
The Residency Effectiveness Committee (REC) meets formally twice each year. This committee is comprised of residency leadership, representative faculty and at least one resident from each PGY class. During these meetings, program goals and objectives are reviewed along with the effectiveness with which they are achieved. From this review, decisions are made to initiate changes to existing program features and implement new ideas which may benefit resident education.
Residency Advisory Committee
The Residency Advisory Committee (RAC) is a regularly scheduled meeting held during our Tuesday morning conferences. Resident evaluation of the faculty and the program takes place during RAC meetings. A portion of the meeting is held without residency leadership to allow confidential discussion among the residents. The chief residents then meet with the Program Director on behalf of the residents to discuss any residency-related issues.
Resident Input to Help Guide Conference Series
Resident input is valued in all of our residency activities. Resident input and Chief Resident guidance are incorporated in the planning and implementation of our Tuesday morning conference series. Resident suggestions and feedback are analyzed and appropriate sessions are planned and coordinated based on this information. This input is correlated with RRC and other regulatory issues and coverage of the entire Model of the Clinical Practice of Emergency Medicine.
Journal Club
Our social journal club is scheduled every other month. These events are held in the evening at the home of the sponsoring faculty member. Residents, under the guidance of the sponsoring faculty member, choose the articles for discussion. Although this event is educational by design, it is also a good time to establish camaraderie between residents and faculty outside of the work environment.
ABEM Qualifying and Oral Board Preparation
- We strive to provide ample learning and practice opportunities to help ensure success for our graduates on the ABEM Qualifying (written) and Oral Board Examinations
- We have developed a cohesive conference and learning strategy for Qualifying Exam preparation as part of our conference curriculum
- We feature four annual Oral Board Exam practice sessions, plus a joint Oral Board Exam practice session with York Hospital, Penn State University-Hershey, and Geisinger Medical Center each Spring
- Our residency expectation is a 100% first-time pass rate for both the ABEM Qualifying (written) and Oral Board Examinations
Teaching Opportunities
Residents have the opportunity to participate in precepting and teaching medical students during clinical shifts in the Emergency Department. Formal teaching opportunities include didactic sessions for rotating 4th year medical students, as well as teaching sessions for students in Drexel University's Primary Care Practicum (1st year medical students) and students in our Summer Clinical Externship in Emergency Medicine (students finishing 1st year of medical school). Each resident also prepares a formal core content lecture for presentation during our conference series and 3rd year residents give presentations during our Grand Rounds conference series.
Self-Reflective Learning
We believe strongly in the value of self-reflective and self-directed learning. We encourage participation in self-reflective learning via inclusion in our resident evaluation process, patient follow-up activities, and, soon, via development of a resident learning portfolio. Self-reflective learning is one of the cornerstones to life-long learning and improvements, and we are on the cutting edge of this exciting learning process.