EMIG: What You Need to Maximize Potential

Jonathan S. Jones, MD FAAEM FACEPProgram Director

Assistant ProfessorDepartment of Emergency Medicine

University of Mississippi Medical Center

Conflicts of Interest• None…but am actively looking

• All pictures are either from public domain websites or with patient consent

• Email me: jsjones3@umc.edu

Objectives• Learn strategies to increase interest in

Emergency Medicine• Identify those students truly interested

in EM (as opposed to just interested in free pizza)

• Successfully recruit the best students• Manage students who are not a good fit

for EM

Not-Objectives• Distribute an exhaustive list of

components necessary for a successful EMIG

• Tell you how you should organize your EMIG

• Pretend that our EMIG is perfect

EMIG Funding• No dues!• Departmental funding• Fundraisers

– T-shirts– Races– Food

Increase Interest in EM• Effort: 2• Effectiveness: 5

• Evaluated on a multi-cultural, language non-specific, visual-analog, Likert-scale using the polytomous Rasch model

Increase Interest in EM• Who is the audience

– Undergraduates– M1– M2

Increase Interest in EM• Pre-med students

Increase Interest in EM• Undergraduates

– Is this too early to start?– Very impressionable and excitable– Many will not actually attend medical school– Much time to rethink specialty– Great job for a resident

Increase Interest in EM• M1/M2

– Very impressionable and excitable– What aspects of medicine are “cool”

Wilderness, disaster, toxicology Trauma Procedures Riding in a helicopter Foreign bodies

Increase Interest in EM• M1/M2

– Must focus on this group Why

– What do M3 students learn?

Increase Interest in EM• M1/M2

– Lectures in regular curriculum ICM or equivalent

– Large EMIG meetings (invite the whole class) Residents are best ambassadors

– Volunteering/shadowing in the ED Must have interested and dedicated

faculty/residents Have a formal system

– Consider goals/checklists/recognition/awards

– Research in the ED Get their name on an abstract/manuscript

Increase Interest in EM• M3

– When do students rotate in the ED?– Is M3 year appropriate for an EM elective?

Maybe– Are there other options?

BLS/ACLS/PALS/ATLS Simulation Other

Increase Interest in EM• M4

– More appropriate time for a core EM clerkship?

– The M4 year is not too late to get students interested in EM

– Other EM related electives Typical EM Sub-specialties

– But don’t limit the options to these Don’t be afraid to “step on some toes”

– EKG, ultrasound, research, sports medicine

Increase Interest in EM• Social Media

– Effort: 5– Effectiveness: 1

• Not really that useful• Too much out there/overload• Who does this appeal to and would we

want that person

Identify those truly interested• Effort: 5• Effectiveness: 8

Identify those truly interested• EMIG Membership

– Be approachable (free, friendly, and open to everyone) but require a little initiative on their part

– Keep a list of members Some events can be open to all medical students But make sure some are exclusive to EMIG

members– A reason to commit

Keep a role of who attends meetings– Consider recognition

Identify those truly interested• Does attending meetings or being an

EMIG officer mean the student is committed to EM?– Maybe

• Does spending time in the ED mean the student is committed to EM?– Yes

Identify those truly interested• Mentors!

– Don’t force anyone to be a mentor– The best mentors may be residents– Create a list of mentors and their interests

All students will want to have the PD, CD, Chair as their mentor

– Be careful

– Standardized expectations For both mentors and mentees

Recruit the best

• Effort: 8• Effectiveness: 10

Recruit the best

• The EMIG Meeting– Need separate meetings for M1/2 and M3/4– The M3/4 meetings are really for recruiting

Recruit the best

• Sample EMIG M3/4 meeting schedule– March/April: Planning for the M4 year,

externships?– May: Welcome/going away party– June: How to be an M4– July: Residency application basics and LORs– August: Personal statements– September/October: Mock interviews– January: Rank list

Recruit the best

• Awards– National, Regional, Institution

• Research• Travel• Let them teach

Recruit the best

• Most everything used to get students interested is also great to use for recruiting

• The most important thing you can do to recruit a great student:

Recruit the best

• Personal attention– Why should they be interested in us if we

aren't interested in them– Honesty

What about students you don’t want• Effort: 12• Effectiveness: 12

• Evaluated on the “fibromyalgia-acting-up-allergic-to-everything-but-demerol” scale

What about students you don’t want• Are they not a good fit for EM, or are

there other issues involved?• Remember what EMIG stands for

– Ideally we can help all members of EMIG, even those we don’t want as residents

– It’s good for them and for us

What about students you don’t want• Demand specifics• Be honest

– A reality check now is better than on match day

• Should you interview all of your own students?

• Should you interview everyone who did an externship with you?

Take Home Point #1

• EMIG is not just about meetings– Don’t let EMIG be totally student run – Take

control of it– Expand the scope to include all recruiting

efforts– Clinical experiences, research, curriculum

changes– Be organized, keep records, track student

involvement

Take Home Point #2

• Start early– The earlier the better (and easier)– Get residents involved (heavily)– Get senior students involved– Remember why you chose EM– Shock and awe

Take Home Point #3

• Mentors!– Faculty and residents– Will backfire if mentor isn’t

interested/dedicated– This is how you keep your best