Assessing the Impact of an Orientation Week on Acclimation to Radiology Residency

Purpose: Acclimating residents to radiology residency requires attention to new responsibilities, educational material, and social cohesion. To this end, we instituted a structured orientation week for incoming residents and assessed its impact.

Procedures: During the first weeks of July 2016 and 2017, first year residents attended a five day orientation free of clinical duties, consisting of didactics, hands-on training sessions, and social events. After two orientation cohorts, residents who completed orientation week, and two cohorts who had not, were given a voluntary, anonymous survey using Likert scale questions (1 [worst] to 5 [best]) regarding preparedness for responsibilities, learning, and social cohesion. Residents were asked which components were or would have been helpful. Independent samples t-tests were performed to evaluate differences between the two groups (two-tailed p < 0.05).

Findings: 21/37 (57%) residents participated. Higher percentages of residents who participated in the orientation week gave scores ≥4 when asked about preparedness for rotations (70% vs. 36%), learning new material (80% vs. 36%), and class cohesiveness (90% vs. 70%). Mean scores on these questions were also higher for these residents with regards to: preparedness for new responsibilities (3.7 vs. 2.9), learning new material (3.8 vs. 2.9), and class cohesiveness (4.5 vs. 3.8), with differences approaching significance (p = 0.09-0.15). Individual components receiving most votes of ≥4 were social outings, resident lunches, didactic lectures, and PACS training.

Conclusion: A weeklong orientation program free of clinical duties was valued by residents and contributed to acclimation to new responsibilities, education, and social cohesion.