The Personal Touch

New interns participate in a unique two-week orientation before their first day of work. This time is dedicated to helping interns explore Boston, learn their way around the hospitals, take care of logistics such as PALS and NRP training, and – most importantly – get to know their new BCRP family so they can hit the ground running having already forged many lifelong friendships. During Intern Orientation, incoming interns benefit from structured programming that highlights a variety of important areas such as career planning, working with interpreters, calling consults, inter-professional communication, imposter syndrome, and resident wellness. They participate in simulations at the Boston Children’s Hospital Immersive Design Systems, which is a human-centered design lab. Our simulations are designed to teach residents how to perform common procedures as well as how to respond to acute patients.

We plan social events throughout Intern Orientation with residents and members of our leadership team in the evening so we can all get to know each other and enjoy the summer sunlight together! Some annual events include:

• Traditional New England clambake and lobster fest
• Red Sox games
• Chief Family Dinners
• Happy Hours
• And more…

Mentorship, Coaching, and Advising

The BCRP strives to provide the best possible educational experience for each and every resident, to foster personal and professional growth, and to encourage the pursuit of individual passions. Our program prides itself on carefully guiding residents along their chosen career path in order to help them become leaders in clinical care, research, medical education, quality improvement, advocacy, or other areas of their choosing. We believe that people need multiple mentors along multiple domains to accelerate their careers and maintain their drive. We provide multiple avenues for this, with built-in opportunities to connect residents with personal, project, and longitudinal mentorship. We also have a dedicated resident coaching program, in which every resident is paired with a faculty coach.

Career Mentorship

Personal mentoring often occurs at the level of the Chief Family—a cohort of about 30 residents led by a Chief Resident. Families are also broken down into smaller, nuclear families with junior and senior residents serving as “big sibling” mentors for interns. Siblings and Chiefs often advocate for residents in many forums and provide near-peer guidance on personal and professional balance.

For URiM residents, we have developed an annual mentorship retreat on Martha’s Vineyard with URiM faculty and invited speakers with a focus on networking and building lifelong mentorship relationships. Residents can gain exposure to faculty in different communities and spaces (including clinical, research, leadership, other career paths) and engage in skill-building workshops.

Residents also often use their specific Academy (discussed more in depth elsewhere) to find faculty mentors who can assist with identifying projects or research opportunities. The Academy’s Faculty Advisors, affiliated faculty members, and Chief Residents organize specific opportunities for residents to identify faculty mentors through networking events, career nights, and research-in-progress events, among others. Well-connected faculty members who are experts in their field often then become sponsors for residents to launch their careers as well.

Medical Education Mentorship

Residents are paired with a faculty coach during their resident-as-teacher TEACH rotation, which is a rotation focused specifically on building skills as an educator. Their TEACH coach guides the resident through their TEACH rotation, including delivering chalk talks and noon conferences, and provides feedback and guidance on teaching, supervising and giving feedback.

Coaching Program

Our coaching program provides an additional layer of coaching focused on professional, clinical and career growth tailored to each resident’s goals. Residents meet with their Chief parent, clinical coach, and other program leadership regularly to discuss their clinical performance and career aspirations. In these meetings, residents receive feedback from peer and faculty assessments, and discuss progress made towards individual personal and professional goals identified in their Individualized Learning Plans.

Housestaff Lounge

The Housestaff Lounge at Boston Children’s Hospital is a recently renovated, casual space dedicated to BCRP residents. It contains workspaces with computers, printer, a fax/scanner and individual mailboxes; a Keurig coffee machine with free coffee and tea; a microwave and a full-size refrigerator (stocked with seltzers and soda); and a 50-inch HD television with surround sound. Residents use this room to relax, to gather for informal meetings, and for various morning and lunchtime conferences.  The BCRP also has their own Peloton bike that is located in one of the resident call rooms with a shared account open for all residents to use throughout the year.