Podcast Episode 3: Managing Expectations of Your Team, Residency Staff, and Applicants

The GME recruitment process is intense for all involved, and one way to minimize some of that stress is to establish accurate expectations for your recruitment team and your applicants. 

In our latest episode of Thalamus Grand Rounds, I spoke with GME veteran Starla Pathak, Manager of Educational Programs, Department of Orthopedics at Tufts Medical Center in Boston, where she oversees the Orthopaedic Surgery and PM&R residency programs, as well as the Hand fellowship.

Listen to hear Starla’s insights into the following and much more: 

• What proactive steps coordinators and administrators can take to prepare their program for interview season.
• Maintaining clear communication with applicants.
• Teaching one’s team to expect the unexpected and embrace flexibility.
• How GME recruitment has changed in the past three decades.

In this episode you’ll also learn about the importance of faculty participation in the interview process, and how to ensure buy-in. 

“…We don't have trouble getting buy-in because [the faculty] know it's to their benefit that if they are involved in the process, they're going to have input into having a great intern class, and that turns into a great second year, third year, fourth year and chief residents. …I think for anyone that has problems getting their faculty to buy in, they [should] have a conversation with their chairman and/or their program director…” - Starla Pathak.

Starla Pathak has been in GME for nearly 29 years. She managed the Ob/Gyn Residency at Tufts Medical Center for 16 years before joining a Urogynecology Practice as a Practice Manager, and Manager of the Urogynecology Fellowship program. In addition, she and Patty Lane co-founded ARCOG (American Residency Coordinators in Ob/Gyn), which was the first Coordinator Organization to have full support from its Specialty Organization (ACOG). She has served in her current role for ten years.

To listen to Episode 3: Managing Expectations of Your Team, Residency Staff, and Applicants featuring Starla Pathak, click here, or find Thalamus Grand Rounds on your favorite podcast platform.

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