2012, NCERP presentation

1. 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

2. 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)

3. 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.)

4. 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.

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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”

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

14. 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

15. 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

16. 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!

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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

21. Questions and Discussions