9. Recommendation 4

Recommendation 4: The associate program director must have a minimum of 0.4 FTE protected non-clinical time to devote to the administration of the program.

Justification

Associate program directors are integral to the functioning of the residency program. The duties of an APD including resident education and evaluation, recruitment, mentoring, and shared program administration requires a significant amount of protected non-clinical time. Residency Program Solutions (RPS) highlights the need for faculty to have protected non-clinical time to the residency education independent direct patient care. The administrative burden due to clinical responsibilities often erodes protected non-clinical time and contributes to faculty burnout and attrition.^1,2,3APDs are core faculty, but should have additional protected non-clinical time to share the increasing program administrative responsibilities and program leadership with the program director.

A survey a pediatric APDs found the majority had between 0.25 – 0.50 FTE protected non-clinical time.⁴ This survey identified lack of non-clinical time as one of the biggest APD concerns. A 2018 survey of 108 surgery program directors found APDs have a substantial role in the function of the residency program.⁵ A large percentage of these APDs (44.6%) were on the path to become the PD, which emphasizes the importance of APD training for succession planning. Teaching didactics is a shared faculty responsibility requiring a significant time commitment for designing, presenting, and evaluating presentations. A 2017 survey of AFMRD members emphasizes the need for protected time for didactics.⁶