Session Design Submission Review

Is this submission from an ASE Committee, Task Force, or Working Group?

Yes

Which Committee(s)/Task Force(s)/Working Group(s)?

• Clerkship Directors

Session Description

The number of 4th year medical students applying into General Surgery Residency is at an all-time high. Surgery Clerkship Directors, Surgery Clerkship Coordinators, and Program Directors are often tasked with advising 4th year students applying into General Surgery. However, the advice disseminated varies from mentors and institutions across the country. The Clerkship Director Committee seek to present an open panel discussion consisting of Vice Chair of Education, Program Directors, Clerkship Directors, and Clerkship Coordinators to discuss best practices, current statistical trends, what traits/qualities programs desire, what resources are required, and challenging circumstances.  

Challenging circumstances include, but are not limited to, the following: 

• Poor academic performance 

• Couples matching 

• The pros and cons of taking a gap year 

• Dual applying into different surgical specialties 

• Not receiving enough interview offers 

• What is the right way to “SIGNAL” 

The target audience are for program directors, clerkship directors, clerkship coordinators, and medical students. We envision the session to be interactive with the audience and to spur a lively informative discussion.

We propose the following format: 

• There will be a moderator to introduce the panelist and the objectives of the panel.  (JUSTIN WAGNER- Vice Chair of Clerkship Director Committee)

• There will be 7 panelists/speakers from the Clerkship Director Committee. We chose our panelists to hopefully represent the diversity of training programs (i.e. Academic, Community, Rural, and Geographical Regions). 

• • Vice Chairs of Education 

• • Program Directors 

• • Clerkship Directors 

• • Clerkship Coordinators 

 

• Each panelist will present for 5-7 minutes to discuss different subjects based on current verified data and trends (i.e. ACGME, AAMC, LCME, etc.): 

• • Best Practices 

• • Resources Required 

• • Current Applicant Demographics and Statistical Trends 

• • Challenging Hot Topics  

• Moderator will start off the Q&A session with some prepared questions for the panelists.  

• The audience will also be encouraged to participate. 

At the end of the discussion, attendees should be able to gain a better understanding of the current application process and hopefully adopt best tips on how to advise applicants at their own institutions. Furthermore, our committee understand that the current national application process is imperfect and we hope that this will encourage our members to advocate, research, and continue to improve the general surgery application process.

 

Session Objective 1

Objective 1- Understanding the current demographics and trends of surgery applicants across the country.

Session Objective 2

Objective 2- How to identify an applicant who may have difficulty matching and effectively convey your concern?

Session Objective 3

Objective 3- What recommendations/advice for the student dual applying into different surgical specialties?

Session Objective 4

Objective 4- What mechanism and best practices are available for a student applying into general surgery.

Session Objective 5

Objective 5- How to interpret and use the current applications rules to an applicant's advantage.

Session Outline