WIP 1 - Are pediatric hospital medicine attendings prepared to supervise fellows? A national survey of PHM program directors

Poster Number: WIP 1
Publication Number: WIP 1.998

Background: Since the American Board of Medical Specialties officially recognized subspeciality certification for Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) in 2016, the number of PHM fellows continues to grow rapidly. The increasing number of PHM fellows in training has led to more attending physicians supervising fellows on inpatient teams. Many of these PHM attendings have never supervised a fellow previously, have minimal experience working with fellows, and/or are junior faculty who are still developing their clinical and professional skills. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education has general suggestions for attending qualifications when working with PHM fellows, but no prior research has explored how programs select and prepare attendings to work with fellows, or if there is a need for more attending training on fellow supervision.

Objective: Our objectives are to: (a) explore current and ideal practices when selecting and preparing attendings to supervise PHM fellows on clinical service weeks; and (b) assess the need for development of training resources for attendings who supervise fellows clinically.

Design/Methods: We will conduct a cross-sectional survey directed at approximately 70 PHM program directors nationwide. IRB submission is in progress, but the study will likely be exempt. The survey includes a variety of questions (Likert scale/multiple choice/free response) about how attendings and fellows are paired, how prepared attendings are to supervise fellows, if and how programs prepare attendings to work with fellows, and current program needs for curricular development in fellow supervision. The survey instrument currently has 35 questions and was created and revised by the research team. After conducting 5-6 cognitive interviews, we will disseminate the survey via Qualtrics to the PHM Program Director listserv in Jan 2024. Data analysis will begin in Feb 2024 once results are available, and will include descriptive statistics, thematic analysis of open-ended questions, and comparison of survey responses by program characteristics.