Presented by Vanita Ahuja, MD, FACS, and Diane Maloney-Krichmar, PhD
(Recorded May 2018)
The webinar highlights the strategies of building a strong relationship with the program director (PD) and program coordinator (PC). The webinar briefly discusses the roles of the PD and PC as well as the director of the graduate medical office who serves as another resource for education, well-being, legal guidance, and any grievances. Building and advocating for supportive relationships with other faculty and staff through positive role models and mentoring are also discussed.
Learning Objectives
- The resident will understand the roles and inter-relationships of the program director, program coordinator and director of graduate medical education.
- The residents will be able to discuss how to build a trusting relationship with the program director and program coordinator, and how a lack of communication and respect erodes the learning environment.
- The resident will learn how to foster communication with the program director so they can be their advocate with other faculty and staff.
More about Vanita Ahuja
Vanita Ahuja, MD, FACS, has served as the program director of a community based general surgery residency program for the past two years. Prior to her current position, she was an Associate Program Director in Pennsylvania for five years. She completed her general surgery residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital followed by MPH at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and MBA at Johns Hopkins Carey Business School. On the national arena, Dr. Ahuja serves on the education and planning committees for Society of Surgeons of the Alimentary Tract, American College of Surgeon chapters as well as NSQIP. She also serves as examiner for the American Board of Surgery and leads webinars and workshops on educational simulation and quality. As a program director, Dr. Ahuja enjoys mentoring surgical residents through their training program and as they transition to their faculty position. As part of a successful mentor-mentee relationship, she works with the trainees to ensure that they have the scholarly publications to match successfully into competitive fellowships. Dr. Ahuja advocates that strong mentorship and sponsorship relationships for trainees prepare them both professionally and personally to lead in a professional environment.
More about Diane Maloney Krichmar
Diane Maloney-Krichmar, PhD, is currently the director of Medical Education at Sinai Hospital of Baltimore, Inc. Sinai offers ACGME-approved residency programs in medicine, obstetrics, and gynecology, ophthalmology, pediatrics, physical medicine and rehabilitation, and surgery. Prior to coming to Sinai Hospital in May 2007, Maloney-Krichmar was a higher education administrator working in graduate and continuing education. She received her PhD in language, literacy and culture from UMBC. Her research focus is online communities, online health support communities and the digital divide. In 2005, she was part of a team that receives a National Science Foundation grant to conduct a study on the use of online health information to improve the health status of low-income African American women. Dr. Maloney-Krichmar is a member of the Diversity Council at LifeBridge Health.
