Residency budget - GME vs Department

[J. Peterman]

I have currently reached the level of chief resident within my program and have a question regarding programmatic support. In our department, chief residents set the yearly education agenda which includes inviting Grand Rounds speakers and requesting support for resident attendance at our specialty's national conference. The PD and program coordinator also play roles in this process. In the past, this team would also create a budget for all anticipated expenses which would be submitted for approval. In the past, nearly all requests were approved.

Here's my question - I found out that our (large East Coast hospital) GME office gives ZERO dollars towards our budget. No book fund, No money for Grand Rounds speakers, No conference support. Everything comes out of the department directly. We have a new chair and are noticing certain cuts to what we customarily enjoyed in the past. We (myself and PD) were also told that the department would not be providing us with a program budget; instead we have to get each agenda item approved individually, but the money aspect is not discussed. I suspect this could lead to nickel and diming with each step of the process (i.e. certain aspects of conference expenses not reimbursed after that fact). I'm concerned that we won't have the leverage of a pre-approved budget to invoke if there is a disagreement. Hopefully that will not be the case.

Is it typical for a GME office to provide NO direct financial support for a residency program beyond pay and benefits? I wonder where all of our money is going since there is nothing else tangible coming back to us.

What is your opinion on our department declining to entertain an official budget?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Doctor4Life1769]

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Yes, this is very common. Although residents bring $ into the hospital from the Medicare Cost Report, that money flows to the hospital, not to the GME office. So the GME office only gets what the hospital allocates, which usually is just what it needs to keep the lights on. Up until 2 years ago, we got zero from the GME office to run our program. A new GME director took over, and all programs now get $1000 per resident per year but there are very strict rules about what we can spend it on -- must be for educational purposes directly for the residents. MGR speakers would not be allowed, but conference funding, food for conference, travel for presentations, etc.

 

[mvenus929]

Our GME office provides a small book fund each year for residents, along with a small gift card for meals while on call. Everything else comes out of our department, including meals, conferences, and research support.

 

[<L>]

I know of a couple hospitals that have decided to just dump the educational funds straight into salary for residents.