Establishing an Elective Rotation Director and Its Effect on Elective Opportunities and Satisfaction

Elective rotations are valuable, allowing trainees to personalize their educational experience, focuson areas of weakness, and offer personal and professional development. Emergency medicine(EM) residency program elective rotations may be limited due to the absence of awareness ofopportunities and administrative support. We sought to increase the breadth of elective rotationopportunities, improve residents’ satisfaction with their elective rotations, and enhance theopportunities for clinical training. To increase the breadth of our elective rotation opportunities, weestablished an elective rotation director—a dedicated faculty member to aid in elective planningand provide administrative support. This faculty member met with all residents during their secondyear, coordinated new electives with the graduate medical education office, and assisted withadministrative tasks. Ten new rotations (two local, five domestic away, three international away)were established during the position’s first two years, increasing available rotations from nine to 19.A survey was sent to graduates of the program two years before and two years after the positionwas established to inquire about their elective experience. Of 64 graduates, 49 (76.6%) participatedin the survey. Graduates exposed to the dedicated faculty member reported increased exposure tonovel learning environments (p<0.001), improved wellness (p<0.001), and were more likely than predirectorgraduates to choose the same elective rotation (p=0.006). Programs with multiple electiverotations may benefit more from this position, but additional resources may be needed given theassociated increase in administrative time