As a Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellow, continuity of care is vital for our patients once they leave your care. How will you prioritize communications with the primary care providers of your patients?

The methods for communicating with primary care physicians can vary from a simple phone call to having medical records securely faxed to the office of a patient's pediatrician. Many patients you see will have their primary pediatrician within the system you are training at, and proper and quick documentation in a shared EHR will be vital! Let your interviewers know that you are aware of the importance of communication with the primary care team of the patients you will work with as a fellow in their program. If you have experience doing this during your residency training, now is a great time to talk about that experience and what you learned.

"I am aware of a lot of the research that has shown a greatly reduced return rate to emergency rooms when emergency care providers abide by continuity of care. During my Pediatric Residency training, I learned a lot about the importance of communication with primary care providers while covering inpatient units. If we had a patient whose provider was from another health system, my first move was to always call a primary pediatrician upon admittance and discharge to talk through the diagnosis, conditions, and any follow-up required. If possible, I also worked with the admin staff to send records to primary care providers. As a Pediatric Emergency Medicine fellow with your program, I will always prioritize my patient documentation because I know how important it is for other providers that see that patient."