Home › Forums › General Forum › Chief Resident Status
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February 4, 2026 at 7:56 pm #8713
Jamie Lyn CasteloParticipantHi All,
This may be a dumb question but I was wondering if your PGY-5 residents all have “Chief Resident” status. This question came up from my GME office and I’m thinking it has something to do with the pay scale for our residents. There is a different tier for a Level 5 resident versus Level 5 Chief resident. I couldn’t find any requirements from ACGME or ABOS regarding a requirement for Chief resident status similar to that of General Surgery residents. Any insight you have is appreciated.
Thanks, Jamie
February 4, 2026 at 8:03 pm #8714
Misty HansenParticipantAll three of our PFY5 residents have chief status. I don’t think it is a requirement but more of a preference for or program.
February 5, 2026 at 6:31 am #8715
Bertha (Tica) OrochenaParticipantAgree with Misty, all three of our PGY5 have Chief status with the same pay scale.
February 5, 2026 at 8:01 am #8716
Krystal RamosParticipantGood morning,
Yes, all of ours are also chiefs and it does give them more pay than a regular PGY 5 would, but they do have tasks that they take on as chiefs. It’s a preference for our program as well.
February 5, 2026 at 8:24 am #8717
Laurel LewisKeymasterAgree that it is a program preference. We have 3 per year, two are voted by residents and faculty as Chiefs (one Administrative and one Academic) with specific responsibilities. They get an increase in pay to be a Chief. All PGY 4 and 5 are considered “Seniors” in our program.
February 5, 2026 at 8:27 am #8718
Laurie LynchKeymasterGood morning,
All three of our PGY5 residents are chiefs, and they do take on extra administrative responsibilities. Additional pay was a hot topic during the collective bargaining agreement discussions here. The primary care chief residents in 3-year programs were getting the next level year pay for taking on administrative tasks, but our PGY5 chief residents were not getting anything beyond the normal PGY5 pay. In the new union contract, there is now an extra pay level for PGY-5 residents who take on chief duties.
It is our choice to have all three as chiefs. The larger programs here, particularly primary care, choose 1 or 2 chief residents. Sometimes by resident vote, and sometimes by faculty appointment.
February 5, 2026 at 8:42 am #8719
Cindy ThompsonParticipantNot a dumb question at all. As you can see, there have been a few different responses. All of our PGY-5 residents technically have “Chief” status and take on additional responsibilities. Each resident serves as the Administrative Chief for a four-month block, and since everyone is required to do a block with these responsibilities, there isn’t separate “Chief” pay.
Even though our institution does offer additional pay for Chief status, our residents don’t receive it because the role is shared by everyone. At other programs, a Chief resident is often elected by peers or appointed by the program, but that varies by institution. There is not an ACGME or other governing body in Orthopaedics that has a requirement for this. You will find that some credentialing paperwork asks if they served in a “chief” role.
February 5, 2026 at 9:12 am #8720
Viveka SpiveyParticipantOur PGY5s are all considered Chief residents. We issue them a separate diploma for their chief year too. Only one of them receives an additional stipend as they are voted on as our administrative chief.
February 5, 2026 at 9:56 am #8721
Annie DetrickKeymasterAll 5 of my PGY5 residents are considered ‘chief’ residents. I don’t believe it affects their pay scale, but is more program-specific in that each of them has an assigned set of admin duties – grand rounds, wellness, journal club, to name a few. I think there are programs/specialties at our institution where chief is an official job title and may affect pay scale, but I am not familiar with how that works.
Annie
February 5, 2026 at 10:16 am #8722
David E. CraigParticipantAll of my PGY5s are considered Chiefs as well, but there are distinctions with the GME office. Each Chief has a special role (Journal Club Chief, OITE Chief, etc). We select 2 Admin Chiefs every year and send them to the AOA RLF. These two are in charge of scheduling and call and lots of the minutia. They are to update the Res Handbook every year for example. GME only considers these 2 as Chiefs and compensates them at a rate that is closer to a PGY6 fellow due to all their extra work.
February 5, 2026 at 1:04 pm #8727
Kelly KovacsParticipantOur 5th year ortho residents share the chief role as Cindy described; acting “admin chief” is on the trauma rotation with the PD for three-months. They have the additional administrative duties while on that rotation. No extra pay.
Our GME office only provides a “served as chief” certificate to those that truly served as chief resident for a full year (voted on by their program peers, etc.). I do not know if that comes with a stipend since it doesn’t apply to my program, but I doubt it.
I give a printed/cheaply framed “served as chief” certificate at graduation.. Its different than the official diplomas but still appreciated I think. We don’t have their diplomas available to hand over at graduation as we have the event early in June so it helps with photo opps, etc.
February 5, 2026 at 3:13 pm #8729Jamie Lyn CasteloParticipantThank you everyone for your feedback. It is much appreciated.
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