The Merriam-Webster defines "Retreat" as a "period of group withdrawal for prayer, meditation, study or instruction under a director." This Friday, we will put that definition to the test.

We have arranged for all resident services to be covered this Friday, March 4, so that all residents can attend what we hope will be an annual event. (Big shout out to Dr. Peipert!) The residents will convene in beautiful Forest Park and have breakfast AND lunch provided. The goal of the day is to identify things we do well and what we can do to improve as a whole.

As Residency Program (and Associate) Directors, we care about continually striving to be the best. The Retreat is an important part of this process. For our residents, it's just a great day to hang out together with no clinical responsibilities.

As for my Oscar Prediction:
Should Win: The Social Network
Will Win: The King's Speech
Won't Watch: The King's Speech

TS

CREOGS are now in the rearview mirror (thanks Pearl Jam) and we have started our most recent module - Primary Care. This module will cover lectures that are not already covered in OB, GYN, REI and ONC. We have lectures that will cover Genetics, Geriatric Screening and ED Assault to name a few. Our goal is to cover ALL of ACOGs requirements in two years so that all residents will have the opportunity to hear them twice.

New to this module is our Cultural Competency Training which will supplement our Ethics lectures. This 10 lecture series will be required of all residencies and we are fortunate to be one of the first.

TS

The Hub has arrived.

The iMac for the resident room is now up and running! We are importing our lectures onto the iMac and residents can now sync their iPads in order to get all of their lectures available at their fingertips. Patti Sasse - our wonderful resident coordinator - summed it up best, "Whoa."

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! 2010 is in the books and 2011 is poised to be the best ever for the program. The iPad/Textbook randomization has dominated our thoughts recently. It sounds like most of the textbook group are taking advantage of the funds to purchase Prologs (good choice). The iPad group is using Safari and Goodreader to access study materials in a convenient portable format. I can't fault anyone for an occasional Angry Birds game though.

The iMac for the Resident Room will be here shortly. That computer will function as the "hub" for us to share lectures and files. I'm kicking around getting an Apple TV for the conference room so that we can share info from our devices. Stay tuned!

The New Year also provides us an opportunity to ensure we are properly balanced in our service:education ratio. As mentioned previously, Barnes-Jewish Hospital gave us a nice present with three Nurse Practitioners to help in this quest. Dr. Peipert and I will be working to discover the optimal way to utilize them. Suffice to say, the work load - especially on interns - will be much better.

Special shout out to the candidates that read/follow on Twitter and to the alumni as well! I ran into Jen Meyer at Mo Bap and it's just SO GREAT to see former residents so happy with their career! I plan on asking other alumni to come back and talk to the residents so please contact me if you are interested.

Tony Shanks

Chiefs with tough choices

R1s got the first choice with our Holiday Book fair but the R4s took it every bit as seriously. I love the concentration here!

TS

iPad vs. Textbook

Last Thursday we held our randomization for our iPad vs. Textbook Initiative. For the uninitiated, the WashUOBGYN Residency Program will be outfitting half of the residency with iPads while the other half get an equivalent textbook fund. We will evaluate residents in terms of objective performance on exams as well as satisfaction with educational resources.

Before the randomization, everyone left with a textbook. Just a little gift from Dr. Peipert to the residents.

In this video, you will see our "Holiday Tree". We used a computerized generator to randomize residents to iPad or textbooks. Their choice is written on a card and placed in an envelope with their name on it. One by one, we let residents come to the front to pick their card.

Here's a video of R1 Natalia selecting her card.

A great time was had by all but now the real work starts!

Happy Holidays and Happy Learning!

Tony Shanks

Resident Christmas Gift: iPads vs. Books

We are less than one week away from a very special residency Christmas "party". There are several things that are happening this Thursday (December 16).

First: Dr. Peipert has collected over 50 textbooks (including Williams, Gabbe, Speroff) and plans to give them to the residents as a Christmas gift. Interns will get the first choice followed by R2s then R3s followed by R4s. I tried to do a Yankee Swap (see: The Office) but was vetoed. So EVERYONE gets something!

Second: and this is a doozy. We are going to start our iPad vs. Textbook study. What is that you ask? Well, it is exactly as it sounds. The entire residency program is going to be randomized to receive either an iPad or an equivalent amount of money to purchase textbooks. We will then spend the next 12 months evaluating resident performance on CREOGS as well as module quizzes. Other things that we are going to track include satisfaction, study patterns and overall pieces of paper saved. As we've mentioned many times before, our residency video library is being digitalized and will now be able to be uploaded (via iTunes) to each iPad. This is a very exciting project and a huge undertaking for the department. (I really haven't moved very far from trying to get the program to buy me a Wii during my chief year.)

Third: The Department Christmas party. Enough said.

Alumni, I would be happy to give you more info if you desire and I can always come up with ways to get you involved in the program.

Happy Holidays!
Tony Shanks