Strategies and problems of the residents' professional adaptation: The expert opinions and estimates

Background. The residents’ professional adaptation is an important aspect of their practical activities having an effect on the success of their career prospects. To understand strategies and problems, which the residents face in the process of professional adaptation, we consulted experts in this field – the teachers of clinical departments at the medical universities and the residents’ tutors among the physicians of the healthcare organizations. The present article deals with their view on this problem and suggestions for its solution. Purpose – revealing of the expert opinions and experience in organizing the residents’ adaptation, assessment of changes in the system of the young specialists’ training and support, and their influence on the residents’ professional development. Materials and methods. To obtain in-depth and detailed understanding of the expert opinions about the residents’ professional adaptation, qualitative methodology is applied. The basic research method is in-depth interviews with experts according to the authors’- developed original questionnaire. Results. The carried out research shows that the major factors of the tutors’ motivation for work with residents are the opportunity of sharing knowledge and experience, as well as personal qualities, such as communication skills and the passion for the profession. The tutoring of experienced physicians is treated as the activities being of benefit to both the young specialists, and the tutors themselves, and helping to improve ethical and moral climate in the team, to develop the processes of knowledge and experience sharing as well. The important adaptation stage is individual acquaintance and identifying education trajectory for each resident. The respondents pointed to such shortcomings in the residents’ training system, as large volume of theoretical training in the first months of education resulting in the motivation decrease; expressed concerns that increase of work at the simulation centers would bring to decrease of the residents’ communicative competences. The teachers and tutors mentioned the appearance of risks during implementation of the project on employment of the second-year residents as resident-physicians.