Working with Senior Residents: How to get past "You're doing great!"

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Emergency Medicine
• Faculty Development

Background:

• Precepting senior residents requires distinct skills compared to junior learners.
• Effective assessment and feedback are crucial for senior residents' lifelong learning and deliberate practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To equip emergency medicine faculty with methods to assess senior residents' clinical reasoning.
• To enhance faculty skills in providing feedback that promotes autonomy and independence.
• To foster reflective and deliberate practice in senior residents.

Main Methods:

• A PowerPoint lecture format was used for material delivery.
• Group discussions and role-playing activities facilitated integration of techniques.
• A post-session survey assessed technique utilization and perceived value.

Main Results:

• Most faculty found precepting senior residents challenging but the session valuable.
• Participants reported using techniques for clinical reasoning and reflective feedback more frequently than the Aunt Minnie method.
• Faculty appreciated the collaborative format for sharing experiences and brainstorming strategies.

Conclusions:

• The faculty development session successfully introduced effective feedback and assessment techniques for senior residents.
• The combination of lecture and interactive sessions improved faculty skills and confidence.
• Future sessions could benefit from increased role-playing for skill simulation.