Improving internal medicine residency

About

A central finding of the iCOMPARE study was the deep distress experienced by residents in internal medicine.  This finding was not particularly differentiated along the line of randomization, suggesting the distress is more fundamental to residency itself. 

To identify approaches to reduce distress, we launched an innovation tournament to crowdsource ideas to improve internal medicine residency.  We sought to engage residents, program directors, associate and assistant program directors, and core faculty from all U.S. internal medicine programs to submit ideas to improve internal medicine residency in the following categories:

  • Well-being and personal and professional development
  • Education and clinical preparedness
  • Sleep and/or alertness among residents
  • Patient safety

During the idea submission phase, more than 300 thoughtful and creative ideas were submitted from across the country.  In phase two, we engaged individuals from internal medicine residency to rate and comment on ideas submitted by their peers.   More than 15,000 ratings were logged.

Lottery winners and winners in special categories have been notified of their standing.  The iCOMPARE team is currently working to synthesize findings for publication so that the gathered insights can be picked up and implemented to make residency in internal medicine better.