Keeping Tabs on your Alumni

NCERP Pathology & Diagnostic Radiology Workshop

April 12, 2012

Amy Motta Administrative Assistant

Pathology Residency Program University of Utah

Salt Lake City, Utah

Why is keeping track of your alumni important?

Improve your program using alumni surveys

Improve recruiting by showing candidates where your alumni did fellowships and where they got jobs

Improve the verification process by making it easier and more accurate for Program Directors (and you)

Improve Your Program

You can get great feedback from an alumni survey. Alumni may be more forthcoming about problems in the program than current residents. An alumni survey can be part of your

“Program Evaluation and Improvement” plan (see ACGME program requirements V.C.)

Improve Recruiting Candidates are interested in what fellowships

and jobs your alumni get Include this information in your recruiting

materials and/or on your website.

Improve Verification Process

Having organized files makes completing verifications easier Consider the PD and PC 20 years in the

future Files are needed to verify employment,

training and competency for hospitals, places of employment or state licensing boards

Do you know who your alumni are?

Your GME office should have a complete

list Cross check the GME list against your

files Request copies of GME files on alumni

you are missing

What Information to Keep in the File Per ACGME e-Bulletin August, 2008 Evaluations from faculty and others Periodic evaluations by the PD (every 6 months) Records of resident rotations and other training

experiences, including procedural training (I interpret this as rotation schedules and case logs)

Records of disciplinary actions Permission to moonlight Final letter “Practice competently and independently”

What Information to Keep in the File Check your GME policy for additional requirements, Utah

requires Application to the program including letters of

recommendation Documentation of medical school graduation ECFMG certificate Transfer letter (if a transfer resident) Rotation schedules

What Information to Keep in the File It is up to your Program Director what else should be kept

in the alumni file Consider making a program policy

Consider Photo CV Verification requests

Thin out the file, get rid of what you don’t need Houseofficer contracts Absence forms

How to Organize an Alumni File

Since files on alumni are used differently than files on current residents, consider organizing them differently Add Summary of Training sheet (similar

to the FCVS verification) and have your PD complete it when the resident graduates

Contact Information

Keep contact information in Outlook E-mail (personal or at new institution, not

their current one) Notes about when and where they will do

fellowship Notes about when and where they will work

Keep contact information in Excel An alternative to Outlook

How to find your lost alumni Check where you last saw them There may be information about their

future plans in the resident progress letters and end-of-residency letter your PD wrote

Check their file for verification requests, call the medical staff office or the department they worked in at the hospital who sent the verification to you

How to find your lost alumni

Check with your GME office Check with your HR office Check the CAP directory Google! PubMed (only helpful if they publish) Ask a classmate of theirs

How to find your lost alumni

Administrators in Medicine (AIM) website www.docboard.org then click on DocFinders You can do a search here that looks

through all participating state databases or there are links to all state medical boards

How to find your lost alumni

American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) website www.abms.org then click on Is Your Doctor Certified? Requires free registration Will give you last known location only Will be more useful for pathology once

they have to re-certify

How to find your lost alumni

Don’t bother with Websites like www.vitals.com or

www.healthgrades.com American Board of Pathology – they charge

$35 per inquiry!

Don’t Lose your New Graduates

When your residents check-out get E-mail (personal or at new institution, not

their current one) Where they are going for fellowship, put that

in your Outlook contact for them When they are gone, they are gone

Improve your Program Now that you know who and where your alumni

are . . . consider doing an alumni survey What information is your program interested in

knowing? Do they think the training they received prepared them for

Boards? Do they think the training they received prepared them for

practice? Any competency-based questions? Are there any areas of the program that need improvement? Effectiveness of the Program Director Did they have adequate support and facilities? Effectiveness of the Teaching Faculty

Improve Recruiting

Now that you know who and where your alumni are . . . Consider adding a page to your website

or adding this information to your recruiting materials showing who your alumni are, where they did fellowships and where they got jobs

Improve Verification Process

Now that you know who and where your alumni are . . . Consider making up an information sheet

similar to the FCVS form Have pity on whoever has your job or your

PD’s job in the future

Questions and Discussions