Resident Professionalism

DEPT: MEDICAL EDUCATION
POLICY #: 8240.29

GOALS

1. Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, in partnership with the program director(s) of its ACGME-accredited program(s), must provide a culture of professionalism that supports patient safety and personal responsibility.

2. Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, in partnership with its ACGME-accredited program(s), must educate residents and faculty members concerning the professional responsibilities of physicians, including their obligation to be appropriately rested and fit to provide the care required by their patients.

POLICY

1. The learning objectives of the Residency Program(s) must:

A) Be accomplished without excessive reliance on residents to fulfill non-physician obligations;

B) Ensure manageable patient care responsibilities.

C) See specific Review Committee Program Requirements for further details. All programs should carefully assess how the assignment of patient care responsibilities can affect work compression, especially at the PGY-1 level.

D) Include efforts to enhance the meaning that each resident finds in the experience of being a physician, including protecting time with patients, providing administrative support, promoting progressive independence and flexibility, and enhancing professional relationships.

2. The Residency Program(s), in partnership with Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, must provide a culture of professionalism that supports patient safety and personal responsibility. This includes ensuring residents and faculty members demonstrate an understanding of their personal role in the:

A) Provision of patient- and family-centered care;

B) Safety and welfare of patients entrusted to their care, including the ability to report unsafe conditions and safety events;

C) Assurance of their fitness for work including:

i) Management of their time before, during, and after clinical assignments; and,

ii) Recognition of impairment, including from illness, fatigue, and substance use, in themselves, their peers, and other members of the health care team.

D) Commitment to lifelong learning;

E) Monitoring of their patient care performance improvement indicators; and,

F) Accurate reports of clinical and education work hours, patient outcomes, and clinical experience data.

3. All residents and faculty members must demonstrate responsiveness to patient needs that supersedes self-interest. This includes the recognition that under certain circumstances, the best interests of the patient may be served by transitioning that patient’s care to another qualified and rested provider.

4) The Residency Program(s) must provide a professional, equitable, respectful, and civil environment that is psychologically safe and that is free from discrimination, sexual and other forms of harassment, mistreatment, abuse, or coercion of students, residents, faculty, and staff. The Residency Programs, in partnership with Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital, have a process for education of residents and faculty regarding unprofessional behavior and have a confidential process for reporting, investigating, and addressing such concerns in a timely manner.

A) This process includes:

i) Education of residents and faculty at their respective orientation(s). The education on Code of Conduct includes: Standards of Behavior (Attitude, Communication, Appearance, Privacy/Confidentiality, Commitment to Co-Workers), Unacceptable Behaviors, Procedures for Conflict Management and Resolution (In the Moment Response and Documentation Procedures with Follow-up), and Consequences for Non-Compliance.

ii) Detailed processes are outlined in the “Physician Code of Conduct,” “Code of Conduct and Conflict Resolution Management,” and “Corrective Action” policies available on the Employee Portal.

iii) Unprofessional behavior can be reported through the Quality Event section on the Employee Portal, or anonymously to the DIO through MedHub messaging.

DEFINITIONS
Psychological safety is defined as an environment of trust and respect that allows individuals to feel able to ask for help, admit mistakes, raise concerns, suggest ideas, and challenge ways of working and the ideas of others on the team, including the ideas of those in authority, without fear of humiliation, and the knowledge that mistakes will be handled justly and fairly.

COTTAGE HEALTH POLICY

Original Policy Effective Date: 1/2018
Last Review Date: 1/2024
Last Revision Date: 1/2024
Owner Title: Designated Institutional Official (DIO)
Owner Approval Date: 1/2024
Committee Approval: Graduate Medical Education (GMEC)
Committee Approval Dates: 1/2024
VP Approval: CMO/VPMA
VP Approval Date: 1/2024