Mini Review

“Survival Guides” for Resident Clinical Rotations

Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics, Sports Medicine Physiatrist, University of Maryland School of Medicine, USA

Submission: March 01, 2024;; Published: March 11, 2024

*Corresponding author: Idris Amin, Assistant Professor of Orthopaedics, Sports Medicine Physiatrist, University of Maryland School of Medicine, USA

How to cite this article: Idris A. “Survival 002 Guides” for Resident Clinical Rotations. Ann Rev Resear. 2024; 10(5): 555797. DOI: 10.19080/ARR.2024.10.555797

Abstract

At many Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation residency programs, residents can sometimes struggle with settling into a new clinical rotation. As residents transition through two-month rotations working with several attendings, we wanted to help them quickly get up to speed with the basic layout of each rotation, so they can maximize time spent with patients. Most training programs provide Goals and Objectives documents and onsite orientations, but they can be outdated, too broad, and focused more on educational objectives than practical and logistical information, like admissions preferences and notes templates. Additionally, sign outs are often verbal from the trainee previously on a rotation, resulting in inconsistent and incomplete sharing of important information. In recognizing this gap in resident training, the resident class sought a way to compile useful information for new residents and create a mechanism for the information to be updated with each resident class.

K Keywords: Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation; Survival Guide; Goals; Objectives documents; onsite orientations

Introduction

Based on conversations with other residents, one resident created a comprehensive “Survival Guide” and piloted it at a Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation residency program. The guide contained educational objectives for each rotation and was organized into sections detailing practical rotational information such as hours and location of clinical rounds, preferred admission order set for each attending, and nearby lunch options, among others. Once compiled, the Survival Guides were shared with each resident for review, and then to the attending site director for final approval. Approved Survival Guides were uploaded to the resident shared drive for easy access both before and during rotations. Additionally, a committee was set up with residents from each post-graduate class to manage any updates and changes to the Survival Guides, ultimately ensuring that information continued to be useful and up-to-date.

Result & Discussion

The Survival Guides received a highly favorable response from both residents and faculty. Residents reported that they felt they were able to settle into a new rotation more quickly, and the overall transition was a smoother process. Faculty noted that residents were able to provide more efficient and effective care to their patients. The Survival Guides created a platform not just for attendings to share information with residents, but for residents to share learnings and support each other. As a resident-driven project, the Survival Guides were able to successfully address key common questions that most residents had as they were preparing for a new rotation.

Conclusion

Given the great response, the program was extended to medical students and a subsequent series of “Medical Student Survival Guides” were developed for students rotating through the department.