Program Director’s Corner – August 2021

Valuable Advice and Resources for New Program Directors

Sanjay N. Mediwala, MD, Program Director
Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Diabetes Fellowship, Baylor College of Medicine

So, you’re a new program director? Congratulations. The only thing I can say with certainty is that you should expect an increased volume of email. All the other advice I can give is filtered through my personal experiences, but I think there are some commonalities we can reflect on:

1. You were chosen for a reason. Your division and department leadership saw something in you that made you a great fit as PD. Perhaps it was your excellence as an educator and clinician, or your skills as an administrator, or your boldness as a leader, or, most likely, some combination of all of these. Lean into your strengths.
2. And…also lean into your weaknesses. Being a program director will inevitably reveal to you what you are not great at. Work to be more aware of your weaknesses and face them head on or enlist help.
3. Remember the priorities: you will be faced with many decisions, but the most important decisions you make will be those that maintain the program accreditation, select future fellows, and strengthen your existing educational programs. Your highest priority will always be the items that could put any of these three things at risk.
4. Keep a good calendar. There are resources at the AAMC, ACGME, NRMP and endocrine.org to keep you oriented throughout the year:

5. Learn from your If there’s not already a venue for you to interact with other subspecialty program directors at your institution, create one! These colleagues are the ones who are most deeply connected to the issues you are facing, and they will be a source of advice and new ideas as well as institutional knowledge. Outside of your institution, use APDEM resources and best practices.
6. Communicate, communicate, communicate! Make sure the section faculty, leadership, and your trainees are aware of upcoming plans – it’s the best way to encourage engagement. Remember that most people are overloaded and sometimes it takes a few contacts for messages to be conveyed. Make sure you meet regularly with your program coordinator and associate program director. Make time to meet with your fellows outside of educational conferences to find out how they would like to see the program improved. Most of the great ideas for the program will come from the fellows.
7. Enlist junior faculty. The decorated senior faculty are most likely already deeply involved in the training program. The junior faculty will have first-hand opinions on what works in fellowship training and they are great at bringing new ideas.

Running your program will be a tremendously rewarding experience, and even more rewarding when you share the challenges and success with others. You got this!

Dr. Sanjay N. Mediwala is a member of the APDEM Newsletter Committee. 

Program Director’s Corner – January 2019

Milestones are due again…

Dawne M. Vowler, C-TAGME
Endocrinology & Metabolism Program Administrator
University of Michigan Health System
dvowler@med.umich.edu

Most of you have probably noticed that there has been a push at national meetings, at our various organizational meetings, and on our various network “chat” areas for some kind of a market title for Program Administrators, which includes a career ladder.

At the University of Michigan, we have been struggling with this question for a long time.  We, like many if not most institutions, have an array of titles for our Coordinators.  Our PCs report to a multitude of departments and divisions across the Health System and Medical School, and the salaries and requirements for our jobs vary greatly.

In an effort to bring us all more in line with each other, create a career ladder, and leverage for growth, a Program Administrator Advisory Committee was created to tackle this monumental task of developing and rolling out a Market Title Series for Program Administrators.  What you see below is the culmination of their work.  To further explain, we still do not fall under GME.  Meaning, we do not report to Graduate Medical Education.  We still have our diverse reporting mechanisms.  However, we have all been transferred into this classification from the many classifications we had before, which takes the Description and Duties and puts us in the various levels within Program Administrator.  I encourage you to look at the grid that you can find when you click on the link GME Program Administrator Job Description & Rationale found in the announcement below.

I hope that what our hardworking Committee achieved here will help you to start and/or continue conversations at your institutions, if you are interested.

Announcement from Program Administrator Advisory Committee

Greetings,

There is no debate, the GME Program Administrator role is a profession! However, a large number of institutions across the nation currently do not have an institutional Market Title (official job title listed with Human Resources) to reflect this. Over the past year, Michigan Medicine has collaborated with various institutional stakeholders to create and implement the GME Program Administrator Market Title series that went into effect January 1, 2019!

As part of our research, there was little national data and documentation to support our initiative and assist with the development. Recognizing this, and wanting to share resources with other institutions to assist with their development of a Market Title series for this under-recognized profession, we have created a website where our documents are located for your use.

GME Program Administrator Market Title Development:

https://medicine.umich.edu/medschool/education/residency-fellowship/gme-program-administrator-market-title-series

We encourage you to share this email and website with anyone interested in a similar initiative at your institution.

We also recognize that other institutions have done similar work, and if your institution has resources that you would be willing to share please email them to Christine Rupkey (U-M GME Office Manager) at crupkey@med.umich.edu.

With your help, we look forward to the national evolution of the GME Program Administrator Market Title!

Michigan Medicine

GME Program Administrator Advisory Committee

Program Coordinator’s Corner – October 2018

Recruitment Hospitality

Dawne Vowler, C-TAGME
dvowler@med.umich.edu
Program Coordinator, Endocrinology and Metabolism
University of Michigan

Most of us are probably almost done with recruitment for this year. I thought that I would share some hospitality nuggets that I use during the interview season to keep the applicants feeling welcome. While we are all “friends”, we are also competitors. There aren’t really any “trade secrets” to give away. I will keep things at a basic level. I feel like these things are common sense. However, I find so many applicants are so happy to be offered simple hospitality. If you are not doing these things, you might think about instituting them your own way in the future.

1. Information Overload
   1. This may be the electronic age, but everyone still wants to hear “personally” from you.
   2.  I arrange my interviews through Interview Broker, but I still send an email that includes:
      1. Detailed Itinerary
         1. Times and Locations of all events of the day
      2. Maps – I can get lost in my closet (which is NOT large), so I include written directions as well as a map to get to our office
         1. I make sure this map is extremely detailed – i.e., How would I tell myself to get to my office, if I had no idea where I was going? I get compliments on these aids every single interview day.
      3. Never, ever leave the applicant(s) alone to get from one spot to another.
         1. We all have large institutions. Often the applicants need to move from one building to another. NEVER send the applicant(s) by themselves. Take them yourself or have a fellow or other responsible person take them. It is awful to be in a strange place. It is even more so to be somewhere that no one helps you get around.
2. Attention to Detail
   1. Food – Everyone loves food!
      1. We offer our applicants a time with just the fellows to go out for a meal and discuss the program in a casual setting.
      2. We provide the applicants with a light breakfast, lunch, and also with a snack during the “interview marathon”.
      3. We also provide coffee, tea, and water throughout the day.
   2. Breaks
      1. Restroom breaks are essential. I cannot tell you how often applicants express their appreciation for the fact that I check on them often to see if they need a restroom break. Remember – they are drinking a lot, and they are nervous. Potty breaks are essential!!
   3. Secure Location
      1. Space to leave luggage and/or purses. They don’t want to drag their things with them from place to place. Also, they want to feel comfortable with where their valuables are being stored.
      2. Lactation Room
         1. We have had more than one candidate that needs a place to both pump breast milk and store it. Having room in the itinerary for breaks, a private place with a “Do Not Disturb” sign on the door, and a refrigerator with a secure place for her to leave the milk are all very important.
   4. Access to Faculty
      1. Faculty should be one of the jewels in your crown so make sure you put them front and center. (In addition to making sure there is plenty of time and access to the fellows.)
      2. We make sure that we provide a list of faculty, including their email addresses. This is in addition to the faculty that the applicant(s) meet on interview day.
   5. Friendliness
      1. This is Hospitality 101. Be friendly. Be talkative. Be interested. This may be the millionth time you have done an interview day; however, this is the first and perhaps only time this applicant will come to your institution. Whether or not they match with you, you want them to leave with a great feeling about the day and the program. While making sure that you stay within the NRMP Match Rules, enjoy the time with the candidates.
      2. Observe. We are valued members of our teams. Our input is important too, so our observations, both positive or negative about applicants, are valued and appreciated. Make sure you notice interactions, comments, etc. and report things – good and bad, back to your Program Director and/or your Selection Committee, if appropriate.

As I said before, most of these things are common sense. We all tend to be hospitable by nature. Making sure that the applicants feel welcomed is one of the most important parts of our role in interviewing. These are easy nuggets. Good luck with the rest of this season everyone!

Program Coordinator’s Corner – August 2018

Eating to Live Well

Andrea Walther
andreawalther@creighton.edu
Program Coordinator, Department of Endocrinology and Gastroenterology
CHI Health Creighton University School of Medicine

Well-being has been a hot topic over the last few years in GME.  There are so many ways we can work on our overall well-being.  One area of our well-being which I have become interested in lately is nutrition.  In the fast-paced world, we live in today, we get so many messages through social media, advertisements, and news reports of what is good for us to eat and what is not good for us to eat.  The messages can be so overwhelming and confusing because of the misinformation that is communicated.  We don’t always know what is true or not.  We all are different and what works for one may not work for another.  Finding what works for a person, within their lifestyle and body needs, is important for their nutritional well-being.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that at least half of all Americans live with at least one chronic disease, like heart disease, cancer, or diabetes.  It is the leading cause of death and disability in America and it is what is driving up health care costs.  One-way chronic disease can be prevented is by eating well.

Recently, through a nutritional class I took at Creighton University, I learned about whole food, plant-based eating and the benefits from it.  We had to read a book called, “How Not to Die”, by Dr. Michael Greger.  This book opened my eyes to how important it is to eat well.  Chronic diseases can be reversed or slowed down just by simply making changes to your nutrition.  It’s worth looking into, especially if you are dealing with a chronic disease or if you want to avoid getting a chronic disease in the future.

Below are a few websites that I would recommend for learning more about the benefits of eating a plant-based diet and how it reverses chronic disease.  On these websites there are testimonials of people who have benefited from this way of eating.  It is very interesting and worth the time to look at the websites.

www.forksoverknives.com

www.nutritionfacts.org

www.physicianscommittee.org

Watch this video on YouTube from Dr. Lim:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tbH6TIdtZ3Q&app=desktop

A program coordinators job can be very stressful and if we can make a small change in our lives to feel better, we can make a difference in our over-all well-being.  It is important that we take care of ourselves, so we have the energy to keep up with the demands of our position and of our home life.  Take the time to learn a little more about whole food, plant-based eating and in the meantime, enjoy a salad!!

Program Coordinator’s Corner – July 2018

Navigating the Sea of a T32 Competing Renewal

Alex Stoller, MPA
Fellowship Program Administrator
University of Washington- Division of Metabolism, Endocrinology and Nutrition
as52@uw.edu

Preparing for a T32 competing renewal can be a challenging task for even the most experienced faculty and program administrators.  As the captain of your training program, your Principal Investigator(PI)  is relying on a skipper(the  program administrator), and the shipmates (program staff) to help gather information, collect data, and deliver the information to the agency in order to be funded.

In 2017, our program submitted two different T32 competing renewals to two different agencies, both which were fully funded in 2018.  This was my first experience submitting a T32 competing renewal, and here are my tips for program administrators.

• Plan Your Journey-Our program started planning twelve weeks in advance of our institutional deadlines, allowing enough time to request information, collect the data, and analyze the results. This also allowed enough room to meet our weekly deadlines and not feel overwhelmed in the process.  You may want to start earlier—some programs start six to ten months in advance to allow enough time to prepare.  At any rate, give yourself a fair amount of time if there are any issues or holdups along the way.
• Follow the Map-You have a plan, now, it’s time to dive in and request information from the NIH tables from faculty and administrators. The NIH provides specific examples and blank tables to use when you send out requests.  Use the examples the NIH gives you-this is the best nautical guide during the journey.  When I first saw the tables, I tried to develop my own worksheet to request information from administrators for all data.  This form quickly developed into its own little black hole, taking up more time which could have been focused on the grant.  By using the NIH instructions and blank tables, I was able to answer any questions about what information was being requested or how it should be formatted for the tables
• Pace Yourself-If you are like me, grants administration is one of the many tasks in your job, and you will likely be juggling other tasks simultaneously associated with your program. Triage and manage your time well, and leave some leeway if something takes longer than expected.
• Quiet Time at Sea-This is probably the most important tip. Writing a competing renewal can be a daunting, time consuming process, and quiet time is a must.  Ask your manager or PI for some uninterrupted time to work on the grant.  My best work occurs early in the morning, so I spent most of my early mornings focused on gathering information for my weekly deadlines and preparing information for my PI before moving on to other tasks.
• Ask for Help-Reach out to other administrators in your work world if you get stuck. I was lucky to have two superb, experienced PIs, who helped navigate the sea of questions I had during the process.  Our institution also holds bi-monthly meetings with other T32 grant managers, which can be another helpful resource.  For any new or seasoned program administrator, reach out for help from your PI, program administrators, grants managers, and your peers.  Together, your team will be your most valuable partners in this process.

Many program administrators will work on a federal grant submission at some point during their career.  This is an important skill to learn, and teach you about the funding process for research training programs and how to submit federal research grants.  Working on a T32 competing renewal can be daunting, but like any journey, planning ahead and pacing yourself will allow the process to go smoothly.

Good luck with your competing renewals!

NIH Resources

NIH Data Tables

NIH Kirchstein Rates-Recent notice posted May 9, 2018

Program Coordinator Corner – June 2018

Dawne M. Vowler
Endocrinology & Metabolism Fellowship Coordinator
T32 Training Grant Manager
University of Michigan
dvowler@med.umich.edu

A few months back, Maryann Dundon shared with us a very informative PC Corner about Wellness and her institution’s approach. I thought I might talk a bit about this in the area of Work/Life Balance and my own personal journey.

Anyone who knows me knows that if asked what is the most important thing in my life, without a second’s hesitation I will answer, “my family”, and I mean it emphatically. I love my job; I really do! However, my family is what makes me tick. With that said, I strive to do an exceptional job in my professional life as well. I believe women especially, but not exclusively, are under increasing pressure to be “available and on call” for work, friends, family, church, you name it 24/7/365. This takes a real toll on our minds, bodies, and souls. Study after study addresses this. Throughout my career, which has spanned a longer time than I care to admit now, being an outstanding employee and wife/mother has been extremely demanding at times. I am lucky, however, in that I was able to strike a work/life balance that few heard of back in the day when I was raising my children. So here is my history, how I worked with my employers to strike this balance, and some tricks and tips to help succeed in both work and home areas of your life while balancing both.

• I took on the Med/Peds Program Coordinator position at a large community hospital. I established the office for the first time and developed the policies and procedures for the office and organized a system for running the program. This took about two years or so.
• When I had my first daughter, I worked full time for the first three years of her life. I worked early; my husband worked late, so her daycare was a short day. Her daycare was so close and my work was so flexible that I spent my lunches at her daycare so I could nurse her. As she grew older, I spent lunch hours with her, so we had time in the middle of the day together, and I picked her up right after her nap each day. This flexible situation gave me a good work/life balance, even while working full time.
• -When I was pregnant for my second child I knew I would not be able to be the mom I wanted to be and work full time. However, I wanted to keep my same position that I loved, if possible. I approached my PD. He had already been thinking of it too. He wanted to keep me as well. We worked out a schedule of three days per week – M, W, and F. Administration agreed. I had some minimal clerical coverage on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It worked famously!
• When I took the job here at the University of Michigan, I started out at three days a week as well. I have slowly worked my way up to full time plus – four 10 hour days (theoretically). This has happened as my family has “flown the coop”, the fellowship has grown, and I have been ready to tackle more professional challenges.

Looking at Strengths and Weakness of the process:

Weaknesses:

• Income
  • Of course, I didn’t earn as much as my counterparts because I wasn’t working as many hours. This was very hard on our household income, but we made up for the financial loss in time spent together.

• Respect
  • Some people didn’t consider my job as important as theirs, if I only had to be there part time. (See strength for the answer to this.)

• Missing Things on Days I Was Gone
  • I was willing to move my days around for major meetings. However, there were times that I did miss someone stopping in or a visitor from out of town, etc.

Strengths:

• Time With My Girls
  • Priceless! Years of time at home and volunteering in classrooms, etc. with my girls. Also, I worked an early schedule, so I could pick my girls up from school and minimize any latchkey time for them and be there for them after school.

• Efficiency
  • I was able to learn the skill of ultra-efficiency. I had to accomplish five days’ worth of work in three. This began to change the minds of many regarding the respect issue (see above).

• Best of Both Worlds
  • I was able to be a stay-at-home mom and a maintain a career at the same time. With the M, W, F work schedule, every day that I was at work, I knew the next day I was home with my family. This also was the best of both worlds for my children. It gave them the advantages of having a stay-at-home mom, as well as the advantages of having a working mom – both absolutely do have advantages and disadvantages for children as well!

When my youngest daughter was 16, I started adding time to my work schedule, and by the time she was starting University, I went to full-time employment. Besides the income advantage, this extra time is FULL with the added responsibilities of the new requirements of the ACGME and our own GME. I have also been able to spread my wings a bit and do things like volunteer for this Newsletter Committee, work on several task forces within our own institution and nationally, as well as become TAGME certified and mentor incoming new Program Coordinators. These activities are professionally and personally fulfilling, and help fill the gap since the girls are away. Despite all of this, if the phone rings, and it is one of my almost-adult daughters and they need me, there is no contest where I will be!

So, if you are on the other side of the professional horizon, meaning the much younger side, and you are thinking this sounds interesting, but….. “My institution will never allow it.” “I can’t afford it” or a host of other things. You might consider at least re-examining it.

• Perhaps it is not financially feasible, but perhaps your employer will allow telecommuting one or two days. If so, there is a lot of our work that can be done day or night – MedHub evals, minutes from the PEC, etc. That will allow time with your children when they are awake. It will allow time to go to classrooms and volunteer – I still miss that! It will allow time for after-school activities – I loved having the play dates at our house!
• Another suggestion is flex time. Maybe your institution feels you need to be at the office for your work. What about four tens, like I do? That puts you at the office, but gives you one day to be at home. I come in REALLY early starting at 6:00 a.m., so I can still be home fairly early. I still have one day at home to get things done.
• If you can financially swing less time, but the job doesn’t allow for just one person, what about job sharing? Is there another person that might be interested in the same thing? I worked as an Office Manager in a private physicians’ office for about four years between institutions. I job shared and I learned so much. Get creative and think outside the box to make things happen!

I think the biggest takeaway is that there is no right answer for how to choose work/life balance. What works for me might be totally wrong for you. Everyone has to do what is best for them to meet their own needs. My suggestions are only to think about what balance you want, then work with your employer to achieve it. I have been fortunate enough to always have worked at institutions that valued me as a person and a professional enough to work toward our common goals on both sides of the work/life equation.

Good luck!

Dawne M. Vowler

Program Coordinator Corner – May 2018

Dawne M. Vowler
Endocrinology & Metabolism Fellowship Coordinator
T32 Training Grant Manager
University of Michigan
dvowler@med.umich.edu

Orientation is one of the most anticipated, exciting, nerve wracking, and overwhelming experiences that your fellows will experience.  Much of the information that is shared in these day(s) will not be retained.  That’s right it will NOT be retained.  There is just too much going on for the new fellows to remember much of which you and the other sources are sharing with them during these sessions.  So, how can you make the most of the sessions and make them interesting and helpful?  What is important and what can be left for later?  How should you set up your sessions to improve retention of information?  Honestly, I do not have great answers because all of us are required and mandated to share certain information with our incoming fellows.  My orientation is going to look different than yours, based on the requirements of my institution.  However, over the years, I have come up with some tricks and tips that seem to have helped the Orientation Day process a little bit.  I invite feedback from you, so we can share ideas in upcoming newsletters.  For now, here is information from my process for my Endocrinology & Metabolism Orientation:

1. Never expect your incoming fellows to be alone moving from place to place.

i.e., the hospital has “onboarding stations” for ID badges, I-9’s etc.  From there, they need to go to Occupational Health.  From there, they go to get their pictures taken.  I make sure that one of my second years is available to move them from one place to another.  (Or I do it myself.)

2. Feed them!

I make sure that orientation day(s) include breakfasts and lunches and that they are accompanied by groups of people – second years, faculty, the PD or PC, etc. to discuss orientation issues during these meals.

3. Have a very comprehensive Orientation Manual.

I distribute mine to each new fellow in a 2-inch binder, and I also give it to them on a zip drive.  Just for good measure, I put the forms and basics on MedHub as well.  Knowing that much of this will be forgotten, having hard and electronic copies of the information for later are important.  Some of the information included is:

• The Orientation Schedule (copy – they will have received this well in advance)
• Yearly schedules (we devote an hour or more of orientation to going over schedules with them)
• Information about the administrative aspects of the program
• Program Policies, i.e., vacation, grievance, work hours, etc.
• Who, What Where, When of each of the rotations (the upper classmen discuss these rotations with them at lunch)
• Specific diagnostic guidelines for some of the sub subspecialty rotations
• Well Being Information
• Important Phone Numbers
• Maps

4. Take TIME to go over information.

Our Endo-Specific Orientation is about one and one half days.  This includes a significant amount of time to go over the orientation manual carefully.  It also includes time for the second- and third-year fellows to lunch with the incoming fellows in order to answer questions and discuss the basics of various rotations.  We build in time for the upperclassmen to take the incoming fellows on tours of the VA and University Hospitals and make sure they are acclimated to their areas that they will be working.

Additionally, we have other conference sessions that are also orientations to things such as Pump Starts, Billing Compliance, Endo-Specific EMR, etc.  By having these topics during conference time and spread out during the month of July, it increases the likelihood that the information will be absorbed and retained.

5. Get feedback to improve.

In the middle/end of every year, I ask my first years to give me feedback about what they wish they would have known or heard at orientation.  We have used a lot of this feedback to continuously improve our orientation process.  They are the ones that come in fresh and new, so they are our best resource for ways to improve our process.

Based on the requirements of your institution and the characteristics of your own program, your orientation will take on a flavor of its’ own.  I trust you and your incoming fellows will survive another successful orientation season.  Good luck!

Program Coordinator Corner – April 2018

Maryann Dundon, Program Coordinator
Endocrinology, Diabetes & Metabolism Fellowship
Rheumatology Fellowship
Internal Medicine Residency
Highmark Wellness Ambassador
Phone:  412-359-8109
Email:  Maryann.Dundon@ahn.org

The new “buzz word” in the GME community these days is WELLNESS.  What is wellness exactly?

According to Dictonary.com, wellness is defined as:

1. The quality or state of being healthy in body and mind, especially as the result of deliberate effort.
2. An approach to healthcare that emphasizes preventing illness and prolonging life, as opposed to emphasizing treating diseases.

How does our institution promote wellness?

Resident health, wellness and well-being are essential principles in our programs.  Work-life balance promotes an ideal environment for educational goals and professional development. Our institution developed a Resident Health and Well-Being policy that was assessed and approved by our Graduate Medical Education Committee. The policy identifies available resources for resident and faculty insight and education as well as resources for personal support.  Programs must have either a Health & Wellness Officer or a Health and Well-Being/Wellness Committee.

Our GME office initiated a Resident Well-Being Series that kicked-off with a presentation by our Medical Director of Employee Health Services as well as an outside certified wellness coach.  The presentation was given on three separate occasions to provide an opportunity for as many residents and fellows to attend.  The presentations focused on stress management and self-care.

In our Endocrinology fellowship program, we began this academic year with an outing for fellows and faculty to take a one-hour Just Ducky tour of the downtown Pittsburgh area.  The tour is conducted on a vehicle which is a bus as well as a boat!  We toured the beautiful three rivers as well as most of the downtown area – all the while learning interesting facts!   This was especially helpful to the fellows who were new to the city – but we locals learned a bunch of facts about our lovely city as well!  Our spring wellness activity included a Pot Lunch get-together whereby faculty and fellows brought their famous dishes to share with the group.  This provided us with such a variety of ethnic dishes which were all equally delicious.  The lunch was followed by a session of reiki.  Our hospital is fortunate to have skilled and knowledgeable reiki instructors in our volunteer office who enjoyed sharing the relaxation exercise with us.

This week the Department of Medicine fellowship programs (Endo, ID, Neph, GI, Pulm/CCM) put together a Spring Fling event for our fellows and faculty.  This event was held during the lunchtime hour and it was a huge success!  We provided food, fun and games as well as provided representatives from Dietary, our Employee Assistance Program, a financial advising group, and a local yoga studio.  Our volunteer office provided a staff member and therapy dog as well.  The fellows and faculty truly appreciated this “time out” from the normal routine and a great time was had by all.  This will definitely be an annual event in our department.

Other training programs in our institution have initiated wellness activities/resources such as health coaches, holiday celebrations, wellness fairs, kayak and paddle-boarding outings, multidisciplinary “happy hour” events, pizza parties, picnics, community service activities, cultural arts outings, “family night” games, white water rafting, escape room sessions, debt management seminars, sporting event outings and yoga classes.  Our health network has really embraced wellness and has provided so many opportunities for its employees.  We have a very informative wellness link on our intranet which provides information on physical activity, nutrition/weight management, tobacco cessation, stress management, preventive care, as well as employee discounts.

Wellness is crucial to all residents, fellows, faculty and program coordinators and we must all work together to promote the community of wellbeing.  We are truly doing this at the Allegheny Health Network!

Program Coordinator’s Corner – March 2018

Building a Coordinator Team

Tracy Crosby, C-TAGME
tracy.crosby@yale.edu
Coordinator, Yale Affiliated Hospitals Program
Fellowship Coordinator, Section of Endocrinology
Founding member, IMPACT

As so many other fellowship coordinators, I wear more than one hat:  Endocrinology Fellowship Coordinator; Yale Affiliated Hospitals Program Coordinator; and Founding Member, IMPACT.  Upon seeing my email signature line, some people will ask, what’s IMPACT?

IMPACT started as a group of 12 Internal Medicine fellowship coordinators and has grown to become a multidisciplinary team which includes our GME office, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and, as a result of the recent ACGME conference, we are welcoming Neurosurgery to the fold.  All told, we now have about 20 members that meet monthly.  And it’s voluntary.

How did this all happen?

When I started as a new fellowship coordinator in 2008, I was a bit overwhelmed – and that was before NAS and PEC’s and CCC’s and APE’s.  I was truly lucky to have an amazing Program Director (kudos to Silvio Inzucchi) who answered every single question.  But still I felt like I was missing something.

The first year as a GME coordinator is spent learning all the new stuff.  The second year, you are really getting to know the ropes, and perhaps start making some improvements.  By the third year, you are finally feeling confident – or at least, something close to confident.

Fast forward a couple years…  I’m enjoying GME, things are changing all around me… I’ve been to a couple of ACGME annual conferences and I’m learning a ton.  I’m meeting people from other institutions and other specialties.  I’m networking outside my institution, which I never thought would happen.  But still, I’m missing something.  And I realized what it was: a squad.  A posse.  A team.  Peers and colleagues at my own institution who are in the trenches with me, and who understand what it means to work in GME here at Yale.

So, I started to ponder and reflect.  And I then I became aware of the fact that the Department of Internal Medicine has a whole bunch of fellowship programs.  About a dozen, actually.  And then I REALLY started to think and question, why don’t we get together as our own group?  What if we – the fellowship coordinators in Internal Medicine – had a more formal meeting?  Separate from the Office of GME’s coordinator meetings (which could theoretically include over 60 people)?  What if all the Internal Medicine fellowship coordinators had a place to actually got to know each other, and collaborate, and share best practices?

I reached out, and the response was incredible.  People were hungry for it.

We had our first meeting in February 2015 and decided to meet again in one month.  By April, we had agreed this would be a monthly meeting and we decided on a name: IMPACT, Internal Medicine Program Administrators Collaboration Team.  My PD developed a logo.  Yes, a LOGO!

Now, we have an agenda each month.  Most of the time we talk about what works and what doesn’t, what’s coming down the pike, what’s new in GME or at the University or within the Department.  Sometimes we have guest speakers: our House Staff Office, the Medical Staff Administration folks, the people who handle our fellows credentialing at the VA.  When our DIO retired and a new one was selected, we invited him and talked about his vision for the institution AND for coordinators.  We mentor the newbies.  And we became multi-disciplinary!  We now have regular attendees from the Office of GME, Pediatrics, Psychiatry, and Neurosurgery.

It has been one of the most fulfilling experiences, professionally and personally.  It has taught me how to be a leader and has provided me with friendships that have enriched my life in ways I could not have predicted.  I have witnessed coordinators leaving their comfort zones and getting TAGME certification or presenting at the annual institutional GME retreat.  One is now working with her subspecialty colleagues to create their own coordinator group, of which she will be considered a founding member!  She’s on an expert panel at the inaugural coordinator conference within their subspecialty’s annual meeting!

And the most amazing aspect?  This is voluntary.  Absolutely no one requires them to attend this meeting.  But they come.

When I asked the group for comments I could include in this piece, the replies blew me away.

• Excellent resource for fellowship program coordinators.
• Coordinators are willing to help each other.
• My support group.
• I find the meetings extremely helpful.
• I’ve learned so much from seasoned coordinators and guest speakers.
• A platform to share information face-to-face.
• Time well spent.
• Wonderful mix of new and experienced coordinators sharing ideas in a smaller, more intimate setting than our larger group meetings.
• Meetings are tailored to meet the needs of the group.
• This group is supported and appreciated by the GME office.
• Having a group of individuals that share the same responsibilities, especially with regards to program requirements, orientation and training, and the sometimes grueling on-boarding process has taken a lot of stress away from the job. Before I always felt alone being the only person in my section who was working with the fellowships.  There was no one to turn to for help especially once the ACGME got technical with milestones reporting and the yearly self-study.  To have all these coordinators come together monthly (and some have been doing the job as long as I have) has been such a relief.
• Being a part of IMPACT and attending the monthly meetings has been so beneficial to my career and well-being. We have been able to streamline countless forms and ways of doing things for all of our fellowship programs.  I truly appreciate meeting with this group of wonderful, smart women, to hear their thoughts and opinions on all aspects of our roles and duties as program coordinators.
• I wouldn’t have made it through my first year successfully without IMPACT.

That right there is why I started this whole thing.  To hear that one person felt it helped her navigate something which most of us had to learn on our own is amazing.

Mic drop.

So, if you feel like your program/your department/your institution is missing something, figure out what it is, and then go get it/develop it/create it.  It will take time.  You’ll hit a couple snags along the way.  But you’ve got the skills and the resources.  Start with the folks you are ‘meeting’ now through this newsletter.  Give me a holler.  There’s a whole GME world out there, ripe for the exploring.  Don’t be shy.  You’ll surprise yourself with what you can accomplish.

If you build it, they will come.

Tracy Crosby, C-TAGME

tel 203-785-2479
fax 203-737-2999

Program Coordinator Corner – February 2018

Dawne M. Vowler, C-TAGME
Program Coordinator
Endocrinology & Metabolism Fellowship
University of Michigan
dvowler@med.umich.edu
734-615-6964

Opportunities for APDEM PCs
This PC Corner is different this month. Instead of sharing, I am asking. I am requesting three things:

1. I am appealing for other Program Coordinators to contribute to this column.
2.  I am exploring the interest level among Endocrinology & Metabolism PCs to meet as a group at APDEM meetings;
3. I am seeking volunteers to work with me to develop a national listserv of Endocrinology & Metabolism PCs, with the goal of creating a national networking group.

Point #1

I can personally write this column every month. There are endless topics to keep me, or any other PC for that matter, more than fully occupied for years. However, I strongly feel that input from various sources is better for all of us and provides us with more well-rounded viewpoints and material on which to consider new methods of accomplishing our jobs. Some fellowships are large and university-based, like mine. Others are smaller. Some are community based. Some are urban/suburban. Some are rural. Therefore, I think that those that write this column should represent all of our various institutional backgrounds, in order to bring all sorts of new ideas and exemplify our diverse learning environments and physical surroundings. (I want to thank Alex Stoller from the University of Washington for his contribution in December 2017 – excellent piece!)

With this in mind, I am urging all of the PCs reading this to volunteer to write a column. It can be about any topic germane to our jobs. You can contact me to talk about specifics. I have written four PC corners so far, including this one. The average time it takes me to write one is about an hour, plus about 15 minutes to come back to it and review/revise it a bit later. Therefore, time out of our very busy schedules is actually pretty minimal.

Point #2:

Hopefully, you received an invitation from APDEM to attend the APDEM Annual Meeting on Sunday, March 18, 2018, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. at the McCormick Convention Center in Chicago, IL. This is a great step for us, as it recognizes Program Coordinators much more publically through APDEM, as other agencies such as APDIM, ACGME, and some other subspecialties are doing.

I wanted to see how many PCs were planning to attend this year. I understand that, with not a lot of notice, you may not be able to plan for it this year. However, we might be able to explore the possibility of attending and networking in future years.

Dr. Auchus, Program Director here at the University of Michigan, talked about the possibility of setting up teleconferencing capabilities, so we can attend via phone or webcast as well. If you are interested in this option, please let me know at dvowler@med.umich.edu

I think both in-person and teleconferencing are great options for us, and I encourage you to consider attending via one method or the other. However, at some point in the future, I hope we can all plan to meet in person, as networking in person cannot be replaced. Along that line, I am attending and presenting at ACGME in March. Others may be attending APDIM. If you are attending either of these conferences, please let me know. I can put together a list for each meeting and send it out to those involved. Perhaps we can set up informal meet and greets at one or both of these meetings.

Point #3:

I am very interested in setting up a national listserv of Endo PCs so that we can quickly and easily communicate with each other. I have not had the time to do this project myself. I have a pretty comprehensive list of PCs and PDs nationally. If you are interested in working with me on this or in taking the lead to get this completed, please let me know. Depending on your workload (and mine), I hope to have this done either in the next couple of months, or right after graduation/orientation. If there are more than one of you that volunteers, maybe we can have a committee for this project and others in the future. Thanks in advance!

I look forward to increased collaboration among the Endocrinology & Metabolism Program Coordinators in the future. The group can be as active as we choose to make it. Email me any time with ideas – I am always happy to hear from colleagues around the country!

Dawne