C is for Community

C = Community
Wellness of the work family

C is for community

Wellness of the community is wellness of your work family. It includes your staff, your partners, your superiors, and your subordinates. It is your team. It also includes other teams you interact and depend on to do your job. 

A good way to understand “Community” is by thinking about the opposite of a community, an anti-community. An anti-community is like a shark tank. In the shark tank anti-community, any unidentified colleague is a shark until proven otherwise; in this type of environment a person can’t bleed because it attracts more sharks; get out of the water if someone else is bleeding; counter aggression with more aggression. In this type of anti-community, the members eat each other if they sense weakness or failure.

Needs for Wellness of Community

A community needs to have three things in place in order to be “Well”

  1. Mutual Respect
  2. Mutual Purpose
  3. Mutual Weaknes

The sections below will explore these three elements in more detail

Mutual Respect

Mutual Respect is built through trust. An effective strategy for  creating mutual respect is to create trust.  Without trust, there is no respect. Once trust starts to form, respect will follow. 

  • ABC’s of Trust: An Overview

    Dr. Stanley developed the “ABC’s of Trust” as a way to organize the critical elements needed for the establishment and sustainment of trust. This system has three domains which are A, B and C

    • A is for Ability  (the ability to trust)
    • B is for Brand (the character to trust)
    • C is for Communication (Communication for trust)

    Each of the above domains of trust contain several important trust elements, which are also organized with the  ABC mnemonic approach. The table below outlines this system.  

    Click on the tabs below to further explore each trust domain. 

  • ABC’s of Ability

    A = Appreciation: In order for trust, and thus mutual respect, to be built people need to have their thoughts, ideas, feelings, actions, and contributions appreciated. 

    B = Base: A safe spot. A “home base”. People need to be in a safe environment in order to have the ability to trust others. This is a critical requirement for mutual weakness. 

    C = Connection: In order to trust, people need to be connected to their teammates. Healthy communities have lots of connection. 

    D = Decisions: Autonomy with authority. Everyone needs the autonomy to make decisions. They also need the authority that is necessary for this to actually work. 

    E = Everyone: Understand the role of everyone and what everyone does for the team. Everyone should know how and why their teammates role is important to the team and how/why it contributes to the overall purpose. 

  • ABC’s of Brand

    A = Agreements: Agreements must be honored for trust. 

    B = Boundaries: Boundary setting is critical for trust in a community. 

    C = Consistent: Action and behavior need to be consistent with talk. 

    D = Delegation & Dirty work: Healthy delegation is important for trust and respect. Dirty work is the opposite of delegation, it centers around members of the community being wiling to do the dirty work. This also is important for trust and respect. 

    E = Expectations: Managing expectations is critical for trust and respect. 

  • ABC’s of Communication

    A = Ask & Advise (the need to receive and give feedback): People need feedback. 

    B = Bona Fide (the need to tell the truth):  People need to hear the truth from their team. Communication should be based in truth. Lies cause paranoia and destroy trust. 

    C = Confidentiality (the need to protect sensitive information): People need to protect critical proprietary information is obvious. 

    D = Disclose information (the need to share everything you can): Information needs to be shared willingly. 

    E = Euphemize (the need to speak with good purpose): Speaking negatively about others is very damaging. 

Tools, Tips & Tricks for ABC’s of Trust

  • Boundaries make a Base

    Boundary Setting is the B in the ABC’s of Brand. The second domain of the ABC’s of Trust. 

    Healthy communities (i.e. teams) are good at setting boundaries. These communities set boundaries during times of high trust and low conflict (i.e. they set boundaries proactively during good times). Boundary setting is a way to create a Base (an element of the Trust of Ability). These boundaries help establish a safe place for the community to function. When setting boundaries, healthy communities focus on determining the best ways for the team to:

    • Work together
    • Solve problems
    • Deal with conflict
    • Deal with crisis
    • Deal with failure
    • Deal with threats
    • Reduce stress
    • Maintain productivity
    • Serve patients and clients 
    • Communicate
    • Hold each other accountable

    This type of planning becomes important when things go wrong, when the situation is rapidly changing and during times of uncertainty. Failure, change and uncertainty often cause fear and anxiety which can lead to lashing out and conflict. Having a pre-conceived plan in place gives team members something to latch onto when they are stressed. This reduces conflict in the team and creates a healthy community. 

    TIP: Make boundaries flexible. Flexible boundaries are the most resilient. The best boundaries are those that are flexible with many options and lots of room to work. This gives team members room to work, improvise and adapt to changing environments and situations. Flexible boundaries allows team members to make decisions (element of Trust of Ability) and it allows healthy delegation (element of Trust of Brand).  

  • The 3U’s of Unmet Expectations

    Expectation setting is the E element in the Trust of Brand, the second domain of the ABC’s of Trust. 

    Healthy communities understand that the cause of unmet expectations is almost always due to the expectations being unclear, unrealistic and/or unsupported. Dr. Stanley has termed these as the “3U’s of Unmet Expectations”. If you want your expectations to go Unmet, make them 

    • Unclear
    • Unrealistic
    • Unsupported

    It is important to note that it only takes one of the above U’s to seriously threaten expectations. 

    Healthy communities understand that they need to do the best they can to fight the 3U’s by making their expectations

    • Clear
    • Realistic
    • Supported 

    Healthy communities know optimal productivity happens when all members are combating the 3 U’s for any given expectation. This is especially important with expectations that involve leaders and subordiantes. In order to fight the 3U’s of Unmet expectations, leaders need to constantly encouraging subordinates to make sure expectations given to them are clear, realistic and supported to the level they need. Leaders also make sure they are receptive to requests for clarification and support. This includes situations when the subordinate feels the expectation is unrealistic (because if it’s unrealistic it won’t be met which is the primary goal for everyone). Leaders also know that an unmet expectation is ultimately their fault, and when this happens, they don’t blame the subordinate, they go back to the 3U’s and see which ones need to be addressed.

Mutual Purpose

Once Mutual Respect has started forming, the focus should turn to establishing mutual purpose. A good approach for forming mutual purpose includes 

  1. Branding
  2. Beacons
  3. Best Behaviors

  • Branding

    Good teams brand themselves. The brand should center around their purpose, values, beliefs and what they stand for. Good teams develop their own purpose. This creates buy in and commitment.

    Stories: Good teams use stories to communicate their brand. They spend a great deal of time telling their story

    1. Tell stories of where they are
    2. They tell stories of where they are going.
    3. They tell stories of those who have gone before them
    4. They also relentlessly look for different ways to tell their story.

    Good teams use logo’s, icons, and catchphrases that represent the brand. These things should represent and communicate who the team is and what they stand for. These things should be simple to say and remember. They should be simple but they need to communicate complex behaviors and concepts.

  • Beacons

    Good teams highly utilize beacons to maintain awareness of where they are and where they are going. There are several different beacons that can (and should) be utilized.

    1. Destination Beacons (visible & language versions)
    2. Potential Beacons: What the capability is
    3. Energy Beacons: Where energy should be spent
    4. Link current position to where you are going.

    Make it a place of purpose: One that is full of the above beacons.

  • Best Behaviors

    The behaviors that will get the team from where they are to where they want to go. These behaviors should also be branded and turned into catchphrases. These behaviors are saying, this is why we work, this needs your energy.

Mutual Weakness

Special Tools for Special Situations

Cardiovascular ICU Selective/Elective

Teaching Chief: Kartheek Nagappala MD

Description: Advanced Cardiovascular Critical Care rotation will allow residents to further develop their skills, knowledge and attitudes obtained during their previous rotations, specifically expanding on their critical knowledge to patients that are post cardiac surgery, major vascular surgery, and critically ill due to compromise of their cardiovascular system. The rotation will involve 21-22 12-hour shifts, similar to the EM core ICU experience. 

Availability: Generally available year-round and will occasionally share the experience with an Anesthesia co-rotator.

Scheduling: Schedule to be made by the rotator with final schedule approval by the teaching chief

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Community Emergency Medicine Elective

(PGY-3 only)

Teaching Chief: Various (depending on location)

Description: This is an opportunity to experience medicine across the care spectrum in a completely different cultural, social, and economic environment. From learning how to deliver sustainable care in critical access areas of the world, to experiencing Emergency Medicine as it is practiced elsewhere, the possibilities are endless. Previous residents have set up unique experiences in Uruguay, Thailand, Vietnam, and Tchad. Prior to thinking about an international elective the resident should consider travel, safety, health (vaccinations etc.), and financial concerns. Dr. Sukhija can help you guide you with strategies to set up an experience as each one is highly individual. 

Availability: Variable

Scheduling: Variable

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Palliative Care Selective/Elective

Teaching Chief: Ryan Howard MD

Description: The Palliative Care Selective or Elective is a 2- or 4-week inpatient rotation designed to expose the rotator to all aspects of inpatient palliative care. Residents will work alongside the palliative director and/or the palliative fellow along with the interdisciplinary palliative team throughout the rotation. The goal is to provide either PGY2 or PGY3 residents with an immersive clinical experience to learn more about inpatient palliative services.

Availability: Generally year-round, those interested in applying to Palliative Fellowship get precedence on the rotation as space is limited

Scheduling: M-F, 8am-5pm, with call shifts if required/desired per Dr. Howard

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Intro and Advanced Pharmacology Selective/Elective

Teaching Chief: Chadi Kahwaji MD, PhD and Savannah Lail PharmD

Description: A 2 or 4-week rotation where the resident works and learns alongside the ED pharmacists on assigned shifts. The Pharmacology rotation is designed to provide training concerning the application of pharmacology knowledge, pharmaceutics, drug information, medication safety, communication skills, critical thinking, pathophysiology, and therapeutics to the care of patients in an emergency department setting. The advanced rotation is for those who have already had the introductory Pharmacology rotation experience.

Availability: Generally year-round, but must contact PharmD teaching chief prior to choosing the rotation to ensure availability. 

Scheduling: Variable shifts, 10-shifts per rotation, to be assigned by PharmD teaching chief

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Pulmonary and Ventilator Management Selective/Elective

Teaching Chief: Leland Beggs MD

Description: This is a 4-week rotation based in the ICU, CVICU and ED. Residents will work side-by-side with designated respiratory therapists as well as core faculty physicians. The goal of this rotation is to focus solely on vent management and non-invasive ventilation techniques in patients with a wide variety of disease processes. Residents will be expected to manage vent settings for intubated patients in the ED, ICU and CVICU. Residents on service should gain an in-depth understanding of the events surrounding intubation, including strategies in pre oxygenation as well as the various drugs used for RSI and post intubation sedation. In addition, they will learn when to initiate, and how to manage non-invasive ventilation.

Availability: Generally year-round

Scheduling: M-F, 6am-4pm

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Radiology Selective/Elective

(Two-week experience) 

Teaching Chief: Ashkan Shahkarami MD

Description: The two-week Radiology rotation will provide the resident with an opportunity to learn normal and abnormal radiographic anatomy, recognize radiographic findings of common diseases, understand the indications for commonly ordered imaging studies, and learn the appropriate use of IR procedures. The goal of the rotation is to help the resident become competent in the use of imaging in the evaluation and treatment of disease.

Availability: Generally year-round, but must contact teaching chief before choosing the rotation to ensure availability

Scheduling: M-F, 8am-4pm, or as adjusted by the Radiology attending

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Wilderness Medicine Selective/Elective

Teaching Chief: Various

Description: The one-week wilderness medicine selective is offered twice a year at Kaweah Health, usually once in the Spring and once in the Fall/Winter. If not available during the allocated selective/elective block, previous residents have participated in 4-week experiences in Utah and Redding, CA. Experiences are variable and depend on the chosen course, so for this one touch base with Dr. Sukhija to see what is feasible both locally and away.

Availability: Highly variable, see description above

Scheduling: Highly variable

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Emergency Medicine Admin Selective/Elective

Teaching Chief: Kona Seng DO and Khoa Tu MD

Description: This is 2-4-week rotation in conjunction with the Department of Emergency Medicine Medical Director. The purpose of the ED Administration rotation is to provide an understanding of the administrative components of EM clinical services and operations. This will allow early exposure to ED administration to determine if the resident is interested in the administration and business of emergency medicine. The EM residents will attend all assigned meetings and participate in administrative projects. 

Availability: Generally year-round, will share the rotation with the PGY3 on their core admin rotation

Scheduling: M-F, 9-5pm, or as adjusted by the teaching chiefs

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Patient and Physician Advocacy and Street Medicine Selective/Elective

Teaching Chief: Kunal Sukhija MD, Omar Guzman MD, Lori Winston MD

Description: The Advocacy 2- or 4-week rotation is designed to be a self-directed customizable experience that will provide immersion into various aspects of physician and patient advocacy. The resident will be able to participate in local, state-wide, and national (schedule permitting) advocacy efforts while simultaneously learning about effective strategies to engage community leaders, legislators, and the local constituency. The rotation will offer experiences in both the legislative and community advocacy (the latter will be based in the Street Medicine program). 

Availability: Generally year-round, however certain months tend to be better given the yearly CMA, AMA, CalACEP, ACEP schedules. Touch base with Dr. Sukhija prior to choosing this elective in order to ensure you can get the individualized experience you desire.

Scheduling: Highly variable depending on advocacy events and meetings, Street Medicine tends to hold its events on Friday

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Performance and Quality Improvement (PI/QI) Selective/Elective

Teaching Chief: Chadi Kahwaji MD, PhD

Description: The Performance Improvement (PI)/Quality Improvement (QI) selective rotation will provide exposure to ongoing PI and QI efforts at KDHCD and provide opportunities for the PGY2 or PGY3 EM resident to become involved in PI/QI projects on an individual, departmental, or institutional level. The resident will join the Emergency Medicine PI director in the regular duties of chart review, M&M conference coordination and presentations, and committee meeting attendance as appropriate. It also offers time for the resident to work on their PI/QI project as part of residency graduation requirements. 

Availability: Generally year-round

Scheduling: Variable depending on meetings and current on-going projects

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Public Health Elective (PGY3 only)

(PGY3 only)

Teaching Chief: Karen Haught MD MPH, Tulare County Public Health Director

Description: This is a 4-week rotation with the Tulare Public Health Department designed to expose the rotator to all aspects of public health. Residents will work alongside the Tulare Public Health Director and/or the epidemiologist throughout the rotation. The goal is to provide PGY3 residents exposure to the role of the local public health department in the community. Residents will be expected to work at the Tulare Public Health Department and contribute to a community health project of the resident’s choice.

Availability: Generally year-round, though an interested resident should first contact Dr. Haught prior to selecting this experience (Dr. Sukhija will help you with contact information)

Scheduling: M-F, 9-5, though historically it’s been less than this as independence is given to work on the resident’s chosen project

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Research Selective/Elective

Teaching Chief: Chris Patty DNP, Director of Research

Description: The goal of the resident research rotation (2 or 4 weeks) is to improve the resident’s understanding of how new knowledge is created and translated into practice.  At the end of the rotation, the resident will present a deliverable which demonstrates ACGME competencies in knowledge development and translation. Many residents choose this rotation in order to work on their chosen Scholarly Activity as part of residency graduation requirements. 

Availability: Generally year-round, the resident must contact the director of research 4-weeks prior to the rotation in order to state deliverables and set up the rotational requirements.

Scheduling: Variable, generally self-directed independent work

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Simulation and Education Selective/Elective

Teaching Chief: Kim Sokol MD

Description: This is a 4-week rotation includes developing simulation scenarios, teaching simulation-based educational sessions, and assisting in daily operations in the simulation center. The rotation’s purpose is to develop skills associated with teaching. The rotation will provide an introduction to simulation with multiple adjuncts such as high and low-fidelity mannequins, task trainers, and the use of standardized patients.  A basic understanding of simulation-based education and debriefing will be taught along with basic principles associated with adult education. The resident must choose teaching shifts as their clinical experience.

Availability: Generally year-round

Scheduling: Variable, to be determined with the teaching chief prior to the rotation start date

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Teaching Elective with Dr. Stanley

(PGY3 only)

Teaching Chief: Michael Stanley DO

Description: This 4-week rotation is a highly-desired advanced elective rotation for PGY3 EM residents. It is intended only for those residents who are serious about improving their ability to teach AND lead. This rotation is as much about leadership as it is about teaching because both utilize the same skill sets. Residents will gain knowledge in effective communication techniques while learning about the underlying psychology of teaching, learning, and leadership.

Availability: Generally year-round

Scheduling: 12 10-hour shifts to be scheduled in accordance with Dr. Stanley’s clinical schedule, along with didactics (also to be scheduled with Dr. Stanley prior to the start date). If Dr. Stanley has less than 12 shifts, then the remainder can be completed with either Dr. Oldroyd, Dr. Sokol, or Dr. Alexeeva.

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Advanced Ultrasound Selective/Elective

Teaching Chief: John Hipskind MD

Description: This 4-week rotation is designed to augment the resident’s diagnostic (and therapeutic) skills in relation to the ultrasound, and to explore more advanced US modalities such as TEE. The resident will gain experience with nerve blocks, enhanced approaches to the core EM ultrasound studies, and explore novel ways to use the ultrasound in the ED setting. They will work alongside the teaching chief as well as the ultrasound fellows.

Scheduling: The expectation is to be scanning daily M-F, with weekends off. Due to PGY1 EM rotators and the popularity of this selective/elective, there may be many residents on rotation, and thus scheduling must be in conjunction with Mia Zavinovich and Dr. Hipskind prior to the start of the rotation. 

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International & Global Medicine Elective

(PGY3 only)

Teaching Chief: Various (depending on location)

Description: This is an opportunity to experience medicine across the care spectrum in a completely different cultural, social, and economic environment. From learning how to deliver sustainable care in critical access areas of the world, to experiencing Emergency Medicine as it is practiced elsewhere, the possibilities are endless. Previous residents have set up unique experiences in Uruguay, Thailand, Vietnam, and Tchad. Prior to thinking about an international elective the resident should consider travel, safety, health (vaccinations etc.), and financial concerns. Dr. Sukhija can help you guide you with strategies to set up an experience as each one is highly individual. 

Availability: Variable

Scheduling: Variable

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Patient Callbacks and PBLI form

Patient callback instuctions - complete 12/block when you are on the emergency medicine service

PBLI form - complete 4/year to reflect & self-evaluate your patient care

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