UMKC IM Residency Faculty Newsletter
January 2011
Inside:
 Residency News: Interview Season & 2012-2013 Chief Residents announced
 ACGME spotlight: Systems-based practice
 Teaching tool website: EKGs
 Focus on evaluations: Observing the learner at the bedside.
IM Residency News
The UMKC IM residency is currently wrapping up another busy season of
interviews. We are expanding the residency program thanks to a HRSA grant and
contributions from both UPA and TMC. We will plan to have 19 categorical
interns (2 will be dedicated to the Primary Care Track) and 9 preliminary interns in
July 2011. We expect to have another successful match season. Match day is
March 17th, so stay tuned.
We are also excited to announce the Chief Residents for the 2012-2013
academic year: Heath Wilt and Anna Grodzinsky. Heath is currently a 3rd year
Internal Medicine-Pediatric resident who graduated from KCUMB and Anna is
currently a 2nd year Internal Medicine resident who graduated from UMKC. We
are excited for them to join our Leadership team. The Chief residents for this next
academic year are Heidi Huseth and Gopi Astik.
ACGME Competency Spotlight: Systems-based practice
This competency focuses on the ability of the resident to demonstrate
awareness of and responsiveness to the health care system. The resident
demonstrates this by the ability to work in different health care settings,
coordinating patient care within various settings, incorporating cost awareness,
advocating for their patient, working with inter-professional teams to enhance
patient safety and participating in identifying system errors. We can teach
systems-based practice by discussing patient safety, how to control cost and how
to utilize resources within your clinic or specialty. In our residency program we
have a Patient-Safety conference once a month to focus on a recent case at either
hospital. The case is chosen by the resident and the case is discussed using the
“Swiss Cheese” model. The residents are encouraged to find where system errors
occur and to come up with a solution. We faculty are also evaluated on our
discussion of cost-based care with the team. Below is a copy of the matrix used
to evaluate the residents. This matrix highlights expectations by PGY-level within
the Systems-based practice competency. Please consider using this during your
next set of evaluations.
Works with all health care
professionals effectively to
provide patient focused care
Advocates for quality patient
care and assists patients in
dealing with health system
complexity
Demonstrates constructive
skepticism
Patient advocate
Intern
Participates in developing
methods to improve systems
of practice and health
management
Uses systematic approaches
to reduce errors
Applies knowledge of how to
partner with health care
providers to assess,
coordinate, and improve
patient care
Works with all health care
professionals effectively to
provide patient focused care
Advocates for quality patient
care and assists patients in
dealing with health system
complexity
Demonstrates constructive
skepticism
Patient advocate
Second Year Resident
Practices effective health care
resource allocation that does
not compromise the quality of
care
Knowledgeable about types of
medical practices and health
care delivery systems
Understands how individual
practices affect other health
care professionals,
organizations, and society
Adapts to changes in medicine
throughout career
Provides cost-effective care
Participates in developing
methods to improve systems
of practice and health
management
Uses systematic approaches
to reduce errors
Applies knowledge of how to
partner with health care
providers to assess,
coordinate, and improve
patient care
Works with all health care
professionals effectively to
provide patient focused care
Advocates for quality patient
care and assists patients in
dealing with health system
complexity
Demonstrates constructive
skepticism
Patient advocate
Third Year Resident
Brian Aboff, M.D., of Christiana Care Health System, Wilmington, Delaware is the author of this matrix.
Teaching Resources: EKG websites
Here are a few great sources for teaching EKGs on the go:
The Alan E. Lindsay ECG Learning Center:
http://library.med.utah.edu/kw/ecg/
EKG wave Maven by Harvard:
http://ecg.bidmc.harvard.edu/maven/mavenmain.asp
Focus on Evaluation: Directly observing your learners at the bedside.
Faculty semi-annual evaluations are coming out this month. If you have not
received yours by February, please contact me at mcbridejm@umkc.edu. You
should continue to receive this report twice a year. These evaluations are
collected over a six month period to allow for anonymity and to give a trend to
your evaluation. Take time to review your report and see where you fall amongst
your peers. Soon, we will be offering modules to help bolster your medical
education skill set.
In the past newsletter I offered ways to improve your feedback and setting
expectations with your learners. In this letter I would like to focus on observing
your learners at the bedside. Take a moment to ask yourself if you have observed
your resident perform an exam. We would all like to hope that our residents
know how to perform a solid physical exam. Our residents have varied medical
school backgrounds and experiences. ACGME requires that our residents have an
observed patient encounter each quarter, called a “Mini-CEX”. This is to be a
focused encounter and not a full H&P. Depending on your rotation, consider
observing your residents performing portions of an exam. For example, while on
Gastroenterology you could observe the resident palpating the liver or assessing
for ascites. Think of yourself as the coach of your team and give feedback
regarding the interaction and correct any incorrect techniques by demonstrating
the correct technique and discussing the difference. It would then be beneficial
to follow up on this exam skill and ensure that the resident is performing it
correctly.