Good chief surgery resident

[ALTFlapper]

Hi SDN surgery community.

I’m in the first few months of my general surgery chief year. Any advice from people who have done it before on how to be a good chief surgery resident (while maintaining balance between being nice to your juniors but also keeping people accountable and making sure they take good care of the patient)?

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[filter07]

I was not a great chief but I learned a few things and became a better fellow. Best advice is to lead from the front. Set a good example for people to emulate. Encourage. Everyone wants to perform well but they might not know how to focus their time and effort. Try to avoid thinking people are lazy or don't care. They might just be overwhelmed so you have to show them how to be effective.

 

[dienekes88]

I also wasn't the best, but I can think of a lot of times I was successful... and probably more times I was unsuccessful. These are the things that immediately come to mind.

I think the following are important:
1. Avoid embarrassing people
2. Be fair
3. Listen to the complaints of junior residents... this doesn't necessarily mean acting on their complaints, because the juniors don't have the perspective of all the other stuff going on. People just want to feel like they're being heard.
4. Keep things orderly and organized - everyone shows up to conference on time, m&m is smooth, all cases covered with appropriate level trainee
5. Don't let things escalate to the PD when it can be solved by you - the PD doesn't want to hear about some weekend coverage BS
6. Work hard and be an example of good doctoring
7. Be a team player, if things are crazy... you can pull a chest tube that the intern can't get to.
8. Teach.
9. Be technically exemplary.