Tips to Improve Your Clinical Relationships and Evaluations

Tips to Improve Your Clinical Relationships and Evaluations

Whether you are a medical student doing rotations and electives, or an international medical graduate doing a clinical observership, you will be evaluated by attending physicians and chief residents. This is a common source of concern as these individuals are potential sources of letters of recommendation for residency applications. Here are some tips for increasing the odds that you will receive positive comments.

• Much friction comes from misunderstood expectations. So as soon as the clinical experience begins, seek out the person in charge and clarify what's expected of you.
• Ask for feedback—don't wait until the end. This way, you can work on any deficit areas and demonstrate that you want to learn and are eager to improve.
• Approach interactions with superiors with respect. If you express that you value what they want from you first, they are more likely to listen when you follow this with your own concerns about fulfilling what they request.
• Avoid comments on personalities when discussing issues. Instead, state the specific facts leading to the problem and, whenever possible, suggest a compromise or solution to the problem.
• Before going over a superior’s head, take a step back and ask yourself how important the problem really is. One bad evaluation is unlikely to hurt your career, but negative comments about you made by multiple evaluators will raise the concern that you may be the problem.
• Associate with colleagues as one way of putting your problem in perspective. Others may have found ways to address the issue that you hadn't thought of. And even if you only hear your experience validated by the experience of others, your feelings of being singled out or isolated will decrease.

Increasing numbers of court cases have been brought against employers by employees who feel they have been treated unfairly. As a result, many employers now very carefully document how they deal with employee problems. There is a diversity of opinion about whether such protections should apply in the same way to medical residents. With which of the following statements do you most agree?

1. Residents' mistakes can cost lives, so the same legal protections shouldn't apply.
2. Residents' problems and mistakes should be dealt with in the same way as other employees.
3. If a resident is careless or negligent, then the consequences deserve to be harsher than if the error was due to inexperience.
4. The attending/supervising physician should be held accountable instead because they are supposed to be supervising the residents.
5. Unfair treatment of residents when something goes wrong happens all the time, so the real solution is for residents to unite in order to get the protection they deserve.

source : kaplan edge