Managing the ambiguity of the trainee and the trainer

The “trainee in difficulty” (TID) can have multiple causative factors which can impact the delivery of an expected standard of skill sets. The communication and interpersonal skills in Emergency Department (ED) setting are key to any trainee’s performance in an ED environment where team playing is a major factor in achieving safe and holistic care for patients. Trainer or a young faculty member responsible for the training may not have the emotional intelligence or experience to deal with all the issues faced by the TID. This paper talks about the difficulties faced by an experienced trainee in difficulty, who has changed his career from an experienced ED nurse to a trainee registrar in Emergency Medicine. The second case study is about a young emergency medicine residency program director who fails to appropriately address a trainee’s situation and compounds the trainees’ issues. The effect of honest, transparent communication of an educational supervisor and setting clear goals for the TID can have a huge impact on trainees’ performance. A residency program director’s inexperience and poor skills to deal and escalate the trainee’s issues may jeopardize a young physicians’ career.