A Novel Formalism for Incorporating Professionalism, Interpersonal and Communication Skills Into Medical Physics Residency Training
I Vergalasova*, N Yue, K Nie, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, NJ
Presentations
MO-AB-TRACK 7-1 (Monday, 7/26/2021) 10:30 AM - 12:30 PM [Eastern Time (GMT-4)]
Purpose: The evolution of value-based healthcare and personalized medicine together with the rise of Medical Physics 3.0 has placed great emphasis on the importance of cultivating our skillset beyond science and analytics, to include professionalism, interpersonal and communication skills. Traditionally, these soft skills have been acquired indirectly via on-the-job training. However, it has become strikingly evident that formalized training of this skillset is a necessity for the success of medical physicists. Thus, a novel framework for incorporating formalized training of these soft skills into medical physics residency programs is proposed.
Methods: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) provides a template of 5 milestone levels that can be applied to each of their required six core competencies, two of which are “Professionalism” and “Interpersonal and Communication Skills.” Given the success of the ACGME in training resident physicians over the course of decades, we decided to apply their milestone level template by customizing it to fit within each of the required medical physics residency clinical rotations. The formalism presents a framework for both the training that should be provided to the resident, as well as how to evaluate whether the resident has successfully mastered this training.
Results: Five milestone levels were developed within each clinical rotation, as per CAMPEP standards. Along with each milestone template are guidelines for baseline assessment, formalized training and continuous evaluation for rotation leader(s) to follow their trainee’s progress attaining each of the milestones. Depending on the length of the rotation, a timeline was recommended for achieving each of the levels within the scope of that rotation.
Conclusion: We believe the proposed framework is universal enough to be adapted into CAMPEP-accredited residencies nationwide. Although a significant time investment for both training and evaluation is required, the cultivation of successful medical physicists is rewarding beyond measure.
Handouts
Keywords
Not Applicable / None Entered.
Taxonomy
Education: Production of a plan, or proposed set of operations
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