CRITERIA FOR RETENTION AND PROMOTION
The residents individually meet twice annually with the Department Faculty as a whole, for discussion of their progress and shortcomings. This also provides an opportunity for residents to comment on the program and faculty. This generally occurs in August and February. All faculty members review the performance of each resident on a regular basis, and this is reported quarterly on a special form to the Program Director, who forwards a summary to the Chairman. These semi-annual meetings are therefore a good forum for addressing any specific concerns brought up in the quarterly resident evaluation process. Possible actions are retention in the program, a period of probation, or termination. No resident will be terminated without a six-month period of probation except in such extreme cases as felony conviction, gross moral turpitude, severe professional misconduct, or any circumstance which would place the well-being of patients at risk by that resident's continued presence in the program. No resident can be on probation for two consecutive six-month periods and be retained in the program.

In judging a resident's performance, the faculty consider a number of areas, including but not limited to the following: honesty and moral integrity; progressive improvement in basic and clinical science knowledge; progressive development of surgical and technical skills coupled with good clinical judgment, resulting in a demonstrated ability to practice safe and effective medicine and surgery; timely attendance to and satisfactory completion of assigned clinical responsibilities; attendance and participation for all required departmental conferences and meetings; timely and satisfactory completion of assigned educational responsibilities including resident lectures, research projects, the Home Study Course, and research papers. Residents are always encouraged to voice any opinions they have or problems they perceive to the Program Director.