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Laurie LynchKeymasterWe received about 22% fewer applications this year. But our percentage of applicants signaling increased from 73% last year to 77% this year.
Laurie – WMU Stryker School of Medicine
Laurie LynchKeymasterHi Marie!
We are still sticking with tradition and having them test in person, in a group, on Saturday. October 31 this year so several can attend the AAHKS conference the following Saturday. My program director feels it is a bonding experience to have them test together!
Laurie
WMU School of Medicine
Laurie LynchKeymasterHi Sarah!
For WMed, it is our DIO and her admin team responsible for the agenda, distributing the packet of information each month, and running the meeting. All the program directors attend, and the coordinators are invited.
Laurie
WMed Kalamazoo
Laurie LynchKeymasterHi Heather,
Lead purchase is new for our program, just in the last 2 years. The residents are allowed to use their professional development funds to purchase their own lead. They do take it to both our partner hospitals for use. Because of the Burlington issue, we just tested lead for the residents this past academic year, but we don’t have regular testing scheduled. Residents do take their lead with them when they graduate, as they would with other purchases using their professional development funds. We do not have anything they sign as they leave. I will be interested to hear what other programs do!
Laurie
WMed – Kalamazoo
Laurie LynchKeymasterHi Anna!
Our program has an annual grant from a local foundation that pays for our residents’ registration to attend the virtual AAOS board review, or the Miller review virtually if there is a conflict with AAOS. We consider the board review part of the PGY5 curriculum since we encourage them to participate, and we don’t charge PTO.
Laurie, WMU Stryker School of Medicine
Laurie LynchKeymasterHi Katrina! Good luck on your next adventure!
There was some discussion, including at the CORD meeting. Right now, the medical student universal offer days are very aspirational. A lot of institutions have medical school calendars, application systems, and requirements that are not conducive to implementing the universal offer days. For the time being, these are suggestions that individual programs may implement if their systems allow.
Laurie
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.
Laurie LynchKeymasterHi Helen!
Our institution purchased the licenses at a group rate for any of the residencies who were interested in using the app. Then each residency could build their own content that reflected the needs of their specialty and applicants, and the activities they had planned for interviews and social events.
If you are in Jacksonville next week, I’m happy to connect and show you what our app looks like!
Laurie
Laurie LynchKeymasterHi Shawna!
We don’t send an evaluation post-interview on the recommendation of our DIO because of the NRMP restrictions on post interview communication. We do send an evaluation post-match. Routinely we ask what they feel is the best feature of our program, and what we could improve on. Other questions vary depending on what changes we made for the interview year. For example, during virtual years, we asked about the resources they could find on our website and during our virtual open house sessions. The year we introduced our app for recruiting information, we asked questions about their engagement with that technology – ease of use, instructions to access, content.
We use Google Forms for anonymity and I send an email to each applicant with the Forms link so they can complete the survey on their phone or laptop.
Laurie LynchKeymasterHi David,
I agree, it must be very confusing for the students. Here at WMed, we have a VSLO coordinator through the medical school. They align the student rotations with the residency block calendar, but the medical school determines when the VSLO system opens and when the first rotation will be accepted. Individual programs can decide which block will be the last to host students. This year, our catalog opens on 3/2, we begin accepting applications on 3/16 with the VSLO coordinator reviewing all applications as they are submitted. Then programs can begin responding to accept applications on 3/30. We used to hold Blocks 12 and 13 (May and June) for home students, but our home students are starting their ortho elective rotations in March this year. Even with that change, WMed has decided we will not open May for visiting students.
Happy to discuss in more detail if that’s helpful!
Laurie Lynch
Residency Program Coordinator
Laurie LynchKeymasterHi Maggie!
I have a spreadsheet for each resident’s research activity that I maintain with their CCC information. I request updates from each of them before the CCC meetings in the fall and spring. I record title/topic, authors, and status. I keep a running list of all the status reports up until the project is either discontinued, presented or published. This also gives me all of their research activity when they check out at graduation and we have to report all their research activity during their residency.
Laurie
Laurie LynchKeymasterHi Kelly!
We suspended our post-interview survey at the mandate of our GME office. They felt it violated the NRMP rules restricting post-interview communication with applicants – “Programs are not allowed to solicit information or imply a response is required for communication between the interview and the match day.” We used to interview our visiting students at the end of their rotation, and our GME office required that we discontinue that as well, since we interview all of our visiting students too.
We switched to a post-match survey. We send this to the applicants who don’t match with us, down to the last person before our last matched person in our rank list. So each year that varies depending on how far down our rank list we go.
We only ask a few questions – “What do you feel is the best feature of our residency program?” “What do you feel we could improve on?” “I did not choose WMed for orthopaedic surgery residency training because . . . ” and a final comment box, “any additional thoughts or comments”
I send each applicant an email with a link to the survey in Google Forms to keep their responses anonymous.
Laurie
Laurie LynchKeymasterHi Anna!
We are required to include a copy of our annual PEC minutes with our annual report to our institution’s GME Committee.
Laurie
Laurie LynchKeymasterHi Chausa,
Historically, our program has provided $500 to our PGY-1 residents in professional development funds during their first year. They could use those funds for Step 3 study materials (like UWorld or CCS). Residents also had the option to apply for a Step 3 loan to help them pay for the exam expense which was then paid back through salary deduction.
This year we are under a union contract. The collective bargaining agreement established that the residents receive their professional development funds for all 5 years in one lump sum at the beginning of their career to use for applicable expenses, such as Step 3 exam fees or study materials. The IRS does require our institution to withhold taxes from the Step 3 exam fee reimbursement.
Hope this helps!
Laurie
Laurie LynchKeymasterHi Kim!
We did not ask for supplementals this year, but we did for the past 5 years. We gave applicants the ERAS opening date as the due date. But we did not penalize applicants who submitted late. It usually was just 10-15 applicants. We did not contact any applicants we were interested in to prompt them to submit a supplemental.
Happy Recruiting Season!
Laurie
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