Residency Program Director Mock Interview
Master 25 Residency Program Director interview questions covering accreditation, faculty development, and resident evaluation.
Question 13 of 25
In the situation where a resident needed to be disciplined for their actions in a patient care situation, what would your approach be as the residency program director?
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Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
As with any type of hospital or clinical leadership position, residency program directors will be faced with tough situations where residents need to be disciplined for their performance. While you may think this would be a difficult question to answer given the lack of clarity on the situation, the question is worded like this intentionally. What the program is hoping to hear is that you will consult all policies and procedures in investigating the issue and that you will act accordingly to the degree of discipline required. It will also be really helpful to discuss the importance of coaching and mentoring in any situation like this, specifically because the residents training in the program will expect and require that from their program director.
Ryan Brunner has over ten years of experience recruiting, interviewing, and hiring candidates in the healthcare, public service, and private manufacturing/distribution industries.
"First and foremost, I'd ensure that the issue was investigated thoroughly, any impacted people were talked with and policies were consulted for a next plan of action. As the program director, I would take ultimate responsibility for the situation and would never take the initial steps lightly. If required by institutional policy, I would also ensure that HR was consulted with as well and any necessary documentation was submitted. My next move would be to act quickly to meet with the resident in question, because these things shouldn't linger long after any performance issues are noticed. I'm a firm believer that being forthright in situations like this is important and would let them know what the infraction was and what the disciplinary action would be. From there, my mindset would immediately move to helping the resident improve on the situation moving forward and instill my confidence in them. Being one once, I know that confidence is huge for medical residents and I'd try to help boost that in a disciplinary situation."
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