Junior Rounds: an educational initiative to improve role transitions for junior residents

OBJECTIVE: At our institution, Morning Report focuses mostly on diagnostic reasoning. This makes it a challenge for first-year residents to learn to manage common on-call emergencies, such as hyperkalemia. We sought to improve their preparedness for the transitions they would encounter: from medical student to physician at the beginning of the academic year, and from junior resident to senior resident toward the end. In response to feedback, we developed the Junior Rounds curriculum: a weekly session focused on the approach to commonly encountered on-call emergencies and internal medicine referrals. Anonymous surveys were sent to trainees, and iterative analysis of monthly feedback led to changes to Junior Rounds. RESULTS: Junior Rounds was implemented from August 2015 to June 2016. Thirty-nine of 92 possible respondents (44%) completed surveys in that period. Most respondents agreed that Junior Rounds met their educational needs, was presented at an appropriate level, and was more important to their learning than other available educational activities. Our experience demonstrates that dedicated time for level-specific learning aimed to support the transitions of junior residents can be successfully achieved. Iterative adjustment to these rounds based on feedback allowed for evolution of the curriculum to meet the changing priorities of junior learners. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (10.1186/s13104-017-3027-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.