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Tip of the week: Get your new residents off to a strong start

Residency Program Connection, June 3, 2008

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Orientation is an important and invaluable time for both you and your residents. Most institutions perform a general orientation for all incoming house staff. This house-wide orientation may cover topics such as: hospital policies and procedures, mandatory training requirements, benefits enrollment, issuance of identification badges, parking, pagers, and other topics common to all house staff.

The general orientation should also be supplemented by your program’s department orientation. Department orientations focus on a variety of issues making the process last for numerous days or weeks. Topics to review during orientation include:

• Program policies and procedures
• Program goals and objectives
• Instruction on all information systems the trainees will be using (along issuance of user IDs and passwords)
• Compliance and risk management training
• Rotation, call, and vacation scheduling
• Issuance of educational materials or other items needed by your trainees
• Documentations and portfolio instruction
• Evaluation process
• Specific orientation to the different services where they will rotate

Avoid barraging your new house staff with instruction and evaluation. Coordinate a time for the chair to make some welcoming remarks, provide breakfast and/or lunch, hand out “freebies,” as they begin training. A welcome party is also a fun, exciting way for new and old colleagues to mingle.

Today's tip comes from The Residency Coordinator's Handbook, by Dianna Otterstad, BA.

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