PEERS: Promoting Early Exposure to the Responsibilities of Seniors

Acquisition of clinical supervisory and leadership skills is a recognized priority in graduate medical education. Junior residents consistently indicate difficulties transitioning to senior clinical positions. We sought to create a formal experience for intern trainees to practice the senior resident role and evaluate its impact on self-efficacy and knowledge of necessary senior resident supervisory behaviors.

PGY-1 pediatric residents were assigned 1 day during their inpatient hospital medicine rotation where they exchanged roles with the senior resident. Supervisors were asked to assess 8 skills expected of senior resident inpatient team leaders. Interns completed surveys on perceived self-efficacy in their ability to perform the 8 supervisory tasks before and after their experience. Participants shared feedback regarding their understanding of the senior role and how this experience would impact future preparation. Analysis included descriptive statistics and standard paired t tests for self-efficacy score comparison. Qualitative feedback was reviewed to identify common themes.

A total of 45 interns participated, with a survey completion rate of 84% (n = 38) included in analysis. Pre-intervention self-efficacy scores were low; however, there was a significant increase in self-efficacy scores across all domains in the post-participation group. Participants found this experience to be helpful, with 76% indicating it would change the way they prepare for senior rotations in the future.

Our findings highlight opportunities for continued improvement in development of proficient leadership skills among trainees. This study suggests a feasible and effective intervention to provide exposure to leadership skills and improve preparedness for evolving responsibilities during advancement in residency training.