Children's Holds 30th Annual Resident Retreat
September 12, 2006
In 1977, Children’s held its first retreat for first-year residents, with the goals of promoting camaraderie and providing basic training.
While the first few retreats were successful, organizers quickly realized that new residents would benefit much more from addressing the challenging psychological, social and ethical issues of working in a pediatric hospital.
Over the years they have developed a complete week-long program designed to prepare residents to cope with stress, difficult decisions and ethical dilemmas. This week Children’s is hosting the 30th retreat for 27 first-year residents.
“We provide a framework where interns can develop a perspective on the needs of their patients and their colleagues. This allows them to support each other and be better communicators,” says Dr. Eileen Klein, a pediatric Emergency Medicine faculty member, who leads the team of retreat organizers.
The retreat provides an incredibly strong foundation of mutual trust and respect for one another.
~ Dr. Heather McPhillips
Each year, many members of the Children’s community offer their time and expertise to make this retreat possible.
Fellows, other residents, faculty and community physicians cover all of the first-year residents’ shifts to relieve them of their patient care responsibilities, while parents of patients and nurses are directly involved in workshops that expose the new residents to situations that come up at the hospital.
“Parents of patients who are chronically ill come and do a play in the format of a readers’ theater,” explains Dr. Klein.
“It has two sections, one where communication went poorly and one where communication went well, and then the parents and residents talk about it at the end. The parents stay for lunch, so the residents have the opportunity to interact with them.”
“Nurses from all different areas in the hospital also come for one session,” she says. “It focuses on communication and learning more about each other’s roles, and how to work together as a team so that the care is as good as it can be.
It’s really amazing because I think these sessions have had an impact on future interactions because the nurses and doctors get to know each other.”
The new residents also participate in team-building and informal social activities that strengthen their relationships with each other.
“You learn how to best support your fellow interns,” says Dr. Klein. “For example, if your colleague is upset, does she want someone to hug her or does she need her space? You may need contact, but someone else might just want you to acknowledge their feelings.”
“Most importantly, the retreat provides an incredibly strong foundation of mutual trust and respect for one another,” says Dr. Heather McPhillips, associate director, Pediatric Residency Program.
“Our pediatric residents come from all over the country and must rely on each other to care for patients, cover for unexpected illnesses and to provide support through the three years of residency. They become a family during their time here and the retreat helps jumpstart this process.
The new resident retreat at Children’s is integral to the functioning of this residency program and completely unique among residency programs nationally.”