Table 4 Residents’ perspective of helpful program elements and areas for improvement
| Â | Category | Frequency | Exemplary Quotations |
|---|---|---|---|
Helpful elements (N = 59) | Building relationship with a coach / having a mentor | 37% (22) | - The mentorship is the best aspect, just getting to know this stellar faculty member on more of a personal level. (neurology, pediatrics, PGY3) - Having a dedicated coach has helped create a sense of community. (surgery, general, PGY1) |
Addressing learning needs and gaps in education | 29% (17) | - Having observed, formal patient interviews is important as it rarely happens outside of coaching. (neurology, adult PGY2) - Having an objective third party observe my patient interaction and observe things that I would have completely missed. (neurology, adult, PGY4) | |
Convenient and well-designed program structure and encounters’ settings | 19% (11) | - I appreciated having time set aside to speak with an attending on a regular basis about my progress as a resident. (neurology, adult, PGY3) - [I am] glad it is taking place across different clinical settings. (neurology, adult, PGY2) | |
Receiving feedback | 15% (9) | - It has been wonderful to have a faculty member with whom I can meet 1-on-1 and get personalized advice/feedback and coaching. (surgery, plastics, PGY1) - I've received helpful and timely feedback on my communication skills, which I've been able to apply to future patient encounters. (neurology, adult, PGY3) | |
Areas for improvement (N = 38) | Logistics difficulties | 45% (17) | - I think it is hard to coordinate meetups with faculty when you are rotating on a service they are not part of. (surgery, plastics, PGY1) - It can be sometimes stressful to try scheduling these sessions, especially when clinically busy. (neurology, adult, PGY3) |
Not addressing residents’ needs and priorities | 21% (8) | - I do not feel like I learned a significant amount of clinically relevant skills to justify this program. (neurology, pediatrics, PGY5) - While there is always room for improvement in communication, at this point in my training there are more high yield topics to focus on… I feel like communication with others is pretty strong at this point and I rather just focus on other things. (surgery, general, PGY3) | |
Inflexible and artificial structure | 24% (9) | - Sometimes it can feel a little artificial setting up witnessed patient encounters. (neurology, adult, PGY3) - The framework introduced at the beginning of the year felt scripted and I'm not sure that I use it that much in my interactions with patients. (neurology, adult, PGY3) | |
Insufficient frequency of coaching sessions and feedback | 10% (4) | - Lack of consistent interaction with the coach. (surgery, general, PGY4) - [I] have not really been able to utilize the program. (surgery, general, PGY3) |