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Upper Levelling 101

Expectations/Responsibilities

  • As seniors, the incoming interns look to you for guidance

    • Be the senior you had/wanted when you first started

  • Communicate with your team

    • You’re the captain of your team, but you can’t steer the ship alone

  • Talk up, not down

    • We’ve all been the July intern, no one needs to be put down or singled out

  • Address concerns early

    • If you’re worried about something, bring it up
    • This gives everyone time to fix problems before they become habits
    • If you don’t know how to fix a problem, ASK
    • This is what the chiefs/attendings are here for

  • You don’t have to be perfect

    • We all mess stuff up, but you should stick up for your interns
    • Don’t throw interns under the bus…. This is a TEAM
    • “I’m sorry, I’m not sure what happened, but we will fix it”

  • PATIENCE

    • Not an easy thing, this takes time
    • Small sacrifices early will make the interns more independent later on
    • Over the next year, you’ll see the PGY-1’s progress and you’ll be amazed

Running the Team

  • Ensure patients are distributed appropriately each day, including who will see new admissions, and a reasonable distribution of the work
  • Supervise and run team rounds with attending support
  • “Task Master”, keep the team moving, keep notes on important tasks
  • Run list and ensure orders, consults, and discharges are complete
  • Ensure interns are completing all assigned duties and aid with direct care duties (i.e., calling consults, arranging discharges, updating list)
  • Perform sign out on long call days
  • Assist with teaching the medical student(s) and/or making time in the day for teaching (More on this later)
  • Ensure all notes and tasks are complete, prepare list for handoff