Sharpen the Saw!

The longevity of program directors is often inversely proportional to the level of stress and burnout experienced. The average “lifespan” of a program director is currently 7.5 years.¹ An effective method to prevent burnout is participating in ongoing professional development. Just as Stephen Covey refers to the sharpening of the saw as a metaphor for staying fresh in one’s career,² the AFMRD Board makes program director development a strategic priority.³

What tools do we have in our program director’s toolbox to keep the saw sharp? We have some time tested, very reliable tools that always help when we make the effort to use them:

• Mutual assistance & mentoring: Calling our colleagues is an invaluable and unquantifiable source of knowledge and experience that is changing faster than one can hit the refresh icon

• Attendance and involvement: A program director’s presence at the annual AAFP-sponsored Program Directors Workshop should be as natural as our academy’s expectation for continuing medical education. Unless we actively participate in group learning activities with our academic colleagues on a regular basis, we passively fall behind

• Residency Program Services (or RPS, formerly known as RAP): This has been around so long the name has changed. Beyond the benefit of the early spring annual conference, they serve and educate program directors. RPS consults look at financial performance, internal reviews, ACGME site visit preparations, and help with understanding and avoiding program citations

• National Institute for Program Director Development (NIPDD): This resource is so valuable it should be considered as an ACGME requirement to serve as a program director. This fellowship program has not only become a gold standard within our own specialty, but has also been used by other specialties. It is a great venue for our most experienced program directors to share their knowledge with newer directors or those contemplating the role

• Communicating and sharing ideas with each other as a learning community: The program directors’ listserv is almost addicting, often humorous, at times controversial, and always enlightening. This resource explodes with a wealth of information on the challenges we face

• PD toolbox on the AFRMD Web site: Provides a wealth of peer-reviewed and tested resources to common questions and issues. Combined with a cadre of senior colleagues who share tips on supporting resident and faculty well-being, it rounds out the strategic priorities that AFMRD works to sustain and develop

As with anything that is to stand the test of time, innovation is necessary. The AFMRD Board included innovation as a priority in our strategic plan.³ Implementation of the plan includes:

• NIPDD Plus (for our senior program directors): Developing this remains a challenging goal, but we can certainly find a way to continue to grow and support the veteran members of our rank

• Sustaining the benefits and energy of our group meetings beyond PDW through regionally-based conferences: If PDW is “therapeutic,” then maybe we need a dose of our colleague’s physical presence more than once a year. How can we take advantage of existing national, regional, and state gatherings so that we grow in all components of our respective roles?

• Virtual meetings for PD development (topic-focused webinars): Tighter travel budgets and decreasing FTEs in residency education make the need for Web-based, virtual opportunities a must. There appears to be no shortage of issues—just look at the listserv. There is likely to be an expert among us, or at least among our advocates, who can benefit many of us in our efforts to be the best at what we do

The upward spiral of professional development for program directors follows a time-honored dictum: commit, learn, and do. But to do this we need to keep sharpening our saws, and for that we need the right tools. So, how does your toolbox look? Are you availing yourself to the tools you need for the challenges ahead?

• © Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.