Professional Growth

Personal and professional growth is an important issue for residents during training. At UCD, we prioritize providing individual residents with the opportunity to tailor their training years towards their personal and professional career goals to the extent possible.  Through a step-wise and integrated plan for helping individual residents find the mentorship they need, we seek to fulfill our mission of creating new generations of well-trained internists who are also well equipped for the next phase of their training or career path.

Mentorship

From the entry into the program, residents are met with a mentorship plan to guide their time in training.  By dividing residents into small mentorship groups led by a specific program director, residents know that someone in the program administration has a strong personal and professional connection with them. Constructive feedback and comprehensive evaluation is an essential element of personal and professional development. Each resident has semi-annual meetings with their assigned mentor to review evaluations and overall performance, as well as to plan for the future by addressing issues such as finding a research project, choosing electives, fellowship applications, and looking for a job. The emphasis on mentoring begins with the first year trainees.  Interns are assigned a chief resident mentor prior to arrival to assist in the transition to internship and serve as a resource throughout their first year. As residents are ready to define their career path towards a subspecialty, area of research, practice base, or further training platform, we actively assist them in finding their “second tier” of mentors – those in their area(s) of interest who can serve as direct role models.  We are fortunate to have a large and diverse faculty, including MDs and PhDs, who are invested and eager to mentor our residents.  The breadth of the medical campus, including a School of Public Health and liaisons with National Jewish Medical Center and the Children’s Hospital, opens wide doors for residents to pursue various career goals within their internal medicine training.  As an added measure of support, a confidential mentor system is in place for our residents.  GIM faculty members Rita Lee, Rachel Swigris, Adam Trosterman, Jeremy Long, and Melanie Stickrath serve as these confidential mentors outside of the residency administration for any resident that may have issues that they would feel uncomfortable discussing with the official program administration.

Professionalism

Professionalism is a guiding value within our residency and department.  Therefore, the confidential Department of Medicine Professionalism Committee uses non-punitive methods to promote professionalism in the stressful environments in which we work.  We are proud of residents who serve as excellent teachers and role models for the University of Colorado medical students. In 2006, 2 of the 6 Humanism and Excellence in Teaching Awardees (selected by the medical students) were internal medicine residents. In 2007, 4 of the 6 awardees were medicine residents: Didi Dingwell, Janna Huskey, Russ Heath and Alex Smart. In both 2008 and 2009, 2 of 6 awardees were medicine residents: Jess Campbell and Chad Lyle in 2008, and Alex Smart (again) and Eric Young in 2009. Additionally, Dr. Brandenburg was awarded the School of Medicine’s Faculty Professionalism Award in 2008.

Resident Wellness

Physician, Heal Thy Self ....

University of Colorado medicine residents understand the importance of their own personal wellness. Recently, interested faculty and residents joined ranks to focus on maintaining and improving health during the rigorous training years of residency.

In addition to regular wellness noon-time lectures, a wellness updates are distributed electronically. Features include physician-of-the-month bios , local outdoor activities and farmer's markets, and wellness tips. A physician health fair to encourage residents to sign up for a PCP, be reminded of their preventative screening, and learn about health services available on campus is being planned. Another successful event is a volunteer/social evening each year where colleagues can come together around a service activity. Finally, an on-site work out/exercise room is proposed to provide a much-needed stress break from those long nights on call.

Creating a community of physicians who prioritize keeping themselves well in order to provide the best care for their patients is our vision and our hope.

Residents as Teachers and Team Leaders

Teaching residents to be effective teachers and leaders of colleagues, students, faculty, staff, and patients is a priority within the residency.  This is accomplished in several ways.  A Chief Resident-led series of didactics and interactive sessions teaches basic educational principles and gives residents an opportunity to improve their teaching skills in a non-threatening environment.  For interns transitioning to the R2 year there is a one day retreat covering effective team leadership and management, running a COR, working with interns and students, and providing effective feedback and expectations.  Residents teach in traditional team settings on inpatient services and also have opportunities to teach medical students at many of our continuity sites.  R3s perform one noon conference didactic.

rev 10/13/09