title: Middle manager role of the chief medical resident: an organizational psychologist's perspective.
abstract: The role of the chief resident in internal medicine is examined through the eyes of an organizational psychologist who, over a 3-year period, met with each of 6 groups of chief residents for an average of 1 hour a week over the 12 months of the job. Based on this experience, the chief resident job is conceptualized as a middle management role with 4 distinct types of tasks: up work, down work, lateral work, and internal work. Core challenges facing the chief residents at each stage of the chief resident year are also identified. The paper concludes with a description of "lessons" learned in 5 areas (sliding up or sliding down, losing contact, splitting, scapegoating, and losing sight of the system) for improving the effectiveness of the chief resident role.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA. david.berg@yale.edu
authors.forename: David Nelson
authors.initials: DN
authors.lastname: Berg
authors.forename: Stephen Joseph
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Huot
mesh_terms: D006801:Humans; D007325:Institutional Practice; D007388:Internal Medicine / Q000193:education*; D007396:Internship and Residency / Q000458:organization & administration*; D007857:Leadership; D008505:Medical Staff, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008486:Physician Executives; D010819:Physician's Role