In its first year, the Transition to Residency (TTR) course served as proof of concept. Would graduating medical students about to enter an internal medicine residency find a two-week elective on what to expect in their internship useful? The answer from the participating students and their instructors was a resounding yes.

By year two, interest in the course increased from an initial 6 to nearly 20 M4s looking to bolster their already existing strong base of knowledge. The course designers, led by Matthew Soltys, MD, MME, recruited an additional complement of faculty and trainees to cover the increase in participants. They increased the number of simulations in the Center for Procedural Skills and Simulation (CPSS) and blended didactic lecture with more hands-on practice and real-time feedback.

Watch our recap of last year’s TTR narrated by Soltys here.

This year, the principle of the TTR expanded to also include medical students who are entering pediatrics. Members of the UI Stead Family Department of Pediatrics combined forces with Internal Medicine members to deliver combined sessions on any areas of overlap when possible. Separate sessions were conducted on more specialty-specific elements.

As with previous years, instructors delivered sessions over the two weeks that focused more specifically on elements likely to challenge the new interns. The choices in topics as well as how they were covered were driven as much by the faculty members’ experience as the feedback solicited by Soltys from the medical students and interns from previous years.

For example, on one of the first days this year, students were divided up and moved through a series of stations with case-specific scenarios. The faculty or residents at each station presented situations drafted by second-year internal medicine resident Quinn Vatland, MD, that are likely to occur during an intern’s night call. After the details were revealed, the students discussed what to do, questions to ask, resources to access, with a faculty or resident observer offering feedback and encouragement.

The next morning they took turns working as a team in a rapid-response call, getting comfortable with the contents of crash cart drawers, being responsible for directing the flow of activity in a high-pressure situation.

Subsequent days featured instruction in bedside diagnostics with point-of-care ultrasound and insights into managing ventilators. In nearly every session, instructors focus on real-world applications that build on knowledge the graduating medical students already have. The emphasis is often on helping them confidently manage a situation until more senior or experienced help, should it be needed, can arrive.

Some sessions focused on the more administrative portions of the job. Pathology’s Dennis Firchau, MD, and internal medicine Chief Resident Lauren Zabel, MD, walked students through what to do in the event of a patient death, including the completion of paperwork. The interns-to-be also heard from physicians who are nearing the end of the intern year. A panel including Paolo Disano, MD; Kirsten Fiestan, MD; Matthew Horner, MD; and Caitlin Mechtly, MD, took questions and offered their perspective on the experience.

 

Buoyed by a mix of focused didactic instruction, hands-on exposure to tools, and instant feedback for improvement, the response from the students themselves to the TTR is overwhelmingly positive.

• For only being a third edition of the course, I was impressed. The simulations are super helpful, and I am glad that I took this course.
• This has been my favorite course in medical school. Since it’s only year 3 I know that there are things to tweak, but overall it was very interactive and helped ease some of my anxiety about our rapidly-approaching intern year. Thank you!
• Thank you! This was a great course and helped me feel a little more prepared to be an intern.
• This course really exceeded my expectations and I feel much better about starting as an intern in a couple months. I really have been and will recommend this course to my peers in the future. I hope to continue utilizing the resources that were made available through this course during my residency.
• Great course, really happy I took it!
• CPSS was amazing, small groups rotating with different residents
• I really enjoyed the interactive approach to the course sessions.  Instructors did a great job of engaging the audience through active questioning and providing case examples.

Thanks to this small army of people who made the two-week session possible and a success.

Internal Medicine Co-Directors
Matthew Soltys
Taylor Cox
Jenny Strouse

Pediatrics Co-Directors
Samuel Wong
Kristin Sandgren
Lauren Kanner

Advisors
Manish Suneja
Justin Smock

Coordinators
Sofia Ramirez (Peds)
Kathleen Steenlage (IM)

IM/Peds Combined Session Facilitators

Faculty/Staff
Nick Behne
Alejandro Comellas
Reed Johnson
Katie Harris
Daniel Livorsi
Dan Miller
James Ray
Lee Sanders
Roger Struble
Raul Villacreses
John Wilde

Distinction in Medical Education Residents
Grace Alexander
Amanda Chang
Brittnee Haynes
Alp Kahveci
Tyler Maggio
Joseph Phillips
Pranav Puri
Ashten Sherman
Carlie Sorensen
Quinn Vatland

Other IM Facilitators
Rachel Anderson
Calie Brownlee
Stefano Byer
San Chandra
Nick DeMark
Katrina Dovalovsky
Urvashi Mathur
Haley Pysick
Natalie Ross
Lauren Zabel

Pediatrics Session facilitators
Brandon Brown
Eric Endahl