Attendance Policy

WRIGHT STATE UNIVERSITY EMERGENCY MEDICINE RESIDENCY

ATTENDANCE AND SCHEDULING

As part of the overall effort for the residency program to achieve a 100% pass rate for both ABEM qualifying and oral exams, the program leadership (faculty and chiefs) is modifying the attendance requirements. While the primary goal will be to make academic time useful, effective, and desirable, resident participation and attendance in academics, especially didactics, is imperative. Therefore, the minimum attendance requirements are going to be the WSU EM residency minimums, which will both meet and exceed the ACGME requirements. While much of the attendance information here is common sense, the goal of this document is to clearly delineate the expectations.

Conference Attendance

All residents are required to attend 100% of all conferences and other academic items such as Journal clubs.  Absences will only be excused at program director discretion. "Conferences” will include both the 0800-1000 small group and the 1000-1200 lectures. Each 2 hour block will have its own attendance and an unexcused absence from either will count as an absence from both.

Conference Excused Absence Policy 

Vacation-

     does not count against your total conference attendance percentage and you do not have to make up shifts

Educational Leave-

     does not count against your total conference attendance percentage and you do not have to make up shifts

Sick Time-

     counts against your total conference attendance percentage and you have to make up shifts 

Paternity/Maternity Leave/FMLA-

     Does not count against your total conference attendance percentage and you do not have to make up shifts; however,     depending on length of time you may need to extend residency. 

Trauma/ICU/PICU Rotations-

      Does count against your total conference attendance percentage, but you do not have to make up shifts.

Emergency Department Shift Attendance

All residents are expected to be on time and present for 100% of scheduled ED shifts unless there is an unavoidable circumstance. It is the resident’s responsibility to notify that department AND the chiefs as soon it is realized that he or she may be late or absent from a shift. If a resident will be missing a shift, it is his or her initial responsibility to notify that department's chief as early as possible so they can notify the on-call resident. Additionally, an email must be sent to the scheduling email with both civilian and military program directors included in carbon copy. Regardless of the reason a shift was missed, all missed shifts will be made-up at a later date. Potential reasons for “unavoidable circumstances” include family emergencies or an illness. As a side-note, this is a residency of emergency medicine physicians; use common ER doctor-sense for the definition of an “illness” severe enough to miss work.

Off-Service Shift Attendance

All residents are expected to be on time and present for 100% of all scheduled off-service shifts; however, Tuesday morning conference trumps most off-service requirements. It is the resident’s responsibility to ensure that the off-service schedule does not interfere with conference schedule if it’s usually expected that the resident will be at conference. If a resident has any missed shifts while on an off-service, it will be decided by the off-service chief whether the resident will need to make-up the missed shift. Any problematic attendance on an off service will affect an EM resident’s scheduling on future EM blocks.

Tracking Attendance

Attendance will continue to be collected as usual. However, prior to each schedule request period being sent, current attendance status/percentages will be posted/made available. It is the resident’s responsibility to notify a chief if this is incorrect.

Attendance and Scheduling

There will  be a direct link between academic attendance, shift attendance, scheduling, and, eventually, staying up-to-date with question bank requirements. “Attendance” will be calculated based upon the most recent/preceding 2 emergency medicine blocks (for a total of 8 weeks of conference). Missing more than 2 weeks of conference unexcused will result in a resident losing the ability to submit schedule requests. 

Schedule Requests

All ED block schedules will be built by the respective chief resident. It is the individual resident’s responsibility to respond promptly to scheduling request emails to request the desired days off. All efforts will be made to accommodate requests. If requests are not made by the deadline laid out in request emails they may not be honored.

Shift Trades

Shift trades can be done by any resident that is maintaining appropriate conference attendance. Trades must not violate duty hour requirements and must be approved beforehand by the the scheduling chiefs. Trades that require an R1 taking the place of an R2 or and R3 will likely not be allowed. Requests must be submitted at LEAST one week ahead of the dates of the switch.

Excused Absences

For the majority of EM blocks, most residents will have 18 shifts assigned. This means that most residents will have at least 4 days per block that should be completely free of work and/or conference. Usually, however, most residents will have around 6 days per block. If, however, a resident desires to receive shift credit (ie conferences, TEMS, etc), he or she needs to request an excused absence. These excused absences should be scheduled as early as possible, and must be approved by the time that block’s schedule is being created.  All of these requests must be approved by the program director. Once the PD has approved it, notify the chief at the department where there is a reduced shift requirement so that chief can plan accordingly.

Chief and Program Director Contact Information

Calling or texting are both alright; however use your best judgement regarding appropriateness if sending text messages or calling program directors. It is the resident’s responsibility to contact another chief if a specific ED’s chief cannot or does not respond in a timely fashion.