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Program Directors’ Perceptions of a Post-Match Competency Handover Between Medical School and Residency

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Abstract

Background

An educational handover at the completion of medical school that transmits competency information about individual learners has been proposed as a means for improving the sub-optimal communication between medical school and residency. The authors created an Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) milestones handover (MH) for graduating medical students entering surgery, pediatrics, and OBGYN residencies utilizing assessments primarily from residency preparatory courses. This pilot study investigated residency program directors’ (PDs) perspectives on the potential utility of the MH.

Methods

The authors mapped medical school assessment data to the specialty-specific ACGME level one milestones for 39 graduating medical students. The MH reported whether the student had met the level one milestone competencies. After the residency match, the MH was sent to PDs with an electronic survey asking about their perceptions of the handover.

Results

The MHs reported level one competency determinations for most of the ACGME milestones (12 of 16 for surgery, 26 of 28 for OBGYN, and 18 of 21 milestones for pediatrics). Of the 38 surveyed PDs, 25 (66%) responded. PDs reported that the MH provided better level one competency information for new trainees compared to the Medical Student Performance Evaluation [Likert score 2.07 (SD 1.16) vs. 3.67 (SD 1.14), P < 0.05] however did not feel that it was superior in describing the attributes of a new intern [Likert score 3.32 (SD 0.95) vs. 3.68 (SD 0.95), P = 0.09].

Conclusions

This preliminary data suggests that the MH could be a potentially useful tool. Further work will need to expand these efforts to improve the generalizability and validity evidence of a competency-based educational handover between medical school and residency.

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Acknowledgments

The authors wish to thank Ms. Sarah Block for her assistance with manuscript review and preparation.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, University of Michigan, 1500 E. Medical Center Dr, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Helen K. Morgan, Maya Hammoud & Diana Curran

  2. Department of Learning Health Sciences, University of Michigan Medical School, 1111 E. Catherine St, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Helen K. Morgan, Sally Santen, Maya Hammoud, Rajesh Mangrulkar & Paula Ross

  3. Department of Pediatrics, University of Michigan, 1500 E. Medical Center Dr, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Jocelyn Schiller

  4. Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 E. Medical Center Dr, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Sally Santen & Cemal B. Sozener

  5. Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, 1500 E. Medical Center Dr, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Rajesh Mangrulkar

  6. Department of Surgery, University of Michigan, 1500 E. Medical Center Dr, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA

    Lauren Wancata & David Hughes

Authors
  1. Helen K. Morgan
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  2. Jocelyn Schiller
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  3. Sally Santen
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  4. Maya Hammoud
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  5. Lauren Wancata
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  6. Rajesh Mangrulkar
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  7. Paula Ross
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  8. Diana Curran
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  9. Cemal B. Sozener
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  10. David Hughes
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Helen K. Morgan.

Ethics declarations

All students participating in the RPCs provided written consent for the MHs to be sent to their future PDs. This project received exempt status from the University of Michigan Institutional Review Board.

Conflict of Interest

Dr. Santen, Dr., Mangrulkar, and Dr. Morgan have all been primary investigators of the AMA Accelerating Change in Medical Education Grant. All other authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Previous Poster Presentation

University of Michigan Health Professions Education Day, Ann Arbor, MI, September 2016; AAMC CGEA Conference, Chicago, IL, March 2017.

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Morgan, H.K., Schiller, J., Santen, S. et al. Program Directors’ Perceptions of a Post-Match Competency Handover Between Medical School and Residency. Med.Sci.Educ. 28, 375–380 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-018-0560-3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-018-0560-3

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