CHIEF RESIDENTS IN PHYSIATRICS - EXPECTATIONS V TRAINING

A large majority of physical medicine and rehabilitation residencies h ave chief resident positions, but little has been written about the ex pectations of the program directors and the training of the chief resi dent to fulfill those expectations. A 20-item questionnaire was mailed to 73 program directors in physical medicine and rehabilitation in Ma y 1992. The participants were asked about selection methods, their per ception of the duties of the chief resident(s), their concerns about t he chief resident(s) position, the training and the evaluation of the chief resident(s). An 85% (62/73) response rate was achieved. There wa s a chief resident position(s) in 98% of the programs responding. Chie f resident selection was made mostly by appointment of the chairman an d/or program director and/or the vote of the faculty. The program dire ctors perceived the most important duties of the chief resident to be: act as a liaison between faculty and the residents, act as a role mod el, do scheduling, build teamwork and give constructive feedback. The most important skills were considered to be leadership and stress mana gement. Causes of concern were time pressure, abuse of power, stress a nd work overload. Opportunities to develop leadership and administrati ve/management skills were considered the most exciting aspects of the position. It was surprising, however, that only 15 of 61 (25%) provide d some formal training. Only 28 of 61 (46%) had a position description .