Educating for adaptive expertise: case examples along the medical education continuum.

Adaptive expertise represents the combination of both efficient problem-solving for clinical encounters with known solutions, as well as the ability to learn and innovate when faced with a novel challenge. Fostering adaptive expertise requires careful approaches to instructional design to emphasize deeper, more effortful learning. These teaching strategies are time-intensive, effortful, and challenging to implement in health professions education curricula. The authors are educators whose missions encompass the medical education continuum, from undergraduate through to organizational learning. Each has grappled with how to promote adaptive expertise development in their context. They describe themes drawn from educational experiences at these various learner levels to illustrate strategies that may be used to cultivate adaptive expertise.At Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, a restructuring of the medical school curriculum provided multiple opportunities to use specific curricular strategies to foster adaptive expertise development. The advantage for students in terms of future learning had to be rationalized against assessments that are more short-term in nature. In a consortium of emergency medicine residency programs, a diversity of instructional approaches was deployed to foster adaptive expertise within complex clinical learning environments. Here the value of adaptive expertise approaches must be balanced with the efficiency imperative in clinical care. At Mayo Clinic, an existing continuous professional development program was used to orient the entire organization towards an adaptive expertise mindset, with each individual making a contribution to the shift.The different contexts illustrate both the flexibility of the adaptive expertise conceptualization and the need to customize the educational approach to the developmental stage of the learner. In particular, an important benefit of teaching to adaptive expertise is the opportunity to influence individual professional identity formation to ensure that clinicians of the future value deeper, more effortful learning strategies throughout their careers.

Creating a better learning environment: a qualitative study uncovering the experiences of Master Adaptive Learners in residency.

BACKGROUND: Adaptive expertise is an important physician skill, and the Master Adaptive Learner (MAL) conceptual model describes learner skills and behaviors integral to the acquisition of adaptive expertise. The learning environment is postulated to significantly impact how MALs learn, but it is unclear how these successful learners experience and interact with it. This study sought to understand the authentic experience of MALs within the learning environment and translate those experiences into practical recommendations to improve the learning environment for all trainees. METHODS: Following a constructivist paradigm, we conducted a thematic analysis of transcripts from focus groups composed of MALs to identify commonalities in experiences and practices of successful postgraduate trainees in the learning environment. Saturation was achieved after seven focus groups, consisting of thirty-eight participants representing fourteen specialties from four institutions. Researchers coded transcripts using constant comparison analysis, which served as the foundation for our thematic analysis. RESULTS: We identified eight themes and situated them within a 4-component model of the learning environment. Four themes were identified within the personal component: (1) patients drive learning; (2) learning has no endpoint; (3) management of emotions is crucial for learning; (4) successful learning requires a structured approach. Two themes were identified in the social component: (5) positive social relationships are leveraged to maximize learning; (6) teaching facilitates personal learning. Two themes were identified in the organizational component: (7) transitions challenge learners to adapt; (8) the learning environment dictates goal setting strategy. No major themes were identified in the physical/virtual component, although participants frequently used technology when learning. CONCLUSIONS: Master Adaptive Learners experience similar facilitators of, and barriers to, success in the learning environment. Overall, our data show that acquisition of many successful strategies and skills that support learning are relegated to the hidden curriculum of residency training. Educators could support a more effective learning environment for all trainees by: (1) highlighting patients as the focal point of learning, (2) building a professional 'learner' identity, (3) teaching learning skills, and (4) creating opportunities for collaborative learning.

Learning to learn: A qualitative study to uncover strategies used by Master Adaptive Learners in the planning of learning.

Background: The ability to adapt expertise to both routine and uncommon situations, termed adaptive expertise, has been suggested as a necessary skill for physicians. The Master Adaptive Learner (MAL) framework proposes four phases necessary to develop adaptive expertise. The first phase, "planning" for learning, includes three stages: identification of gaps, prioritization of gaps, and identification of learning resources. This study explored key strategies used by MALs in "planning" for learning. Methods: Focus groups were used to identify strategies that successful postgraduate trainees use to plan learning. Researchers analyzed transcripts using constant comparison analysis and grounded theory to guide the generation of themes. Results: 38 participants, representing 14 specialties, participated in 7 focus groups. Six key strategies used in the "planning" phase of learning were found. During gap identification, they used performance-driven gap identification and community-driven gap identification. To prioritize gaps, they used the schema of triage and adequacy. To identify resources they used intentional adaptation and weighted curation. Barriers such as lack of time and inexperience were noted. Conclusions: MALs use six strategies to plan learning, using patients, health-care team roles, and clinical questions to guide them. Understanding these strategies can help educators design learning opportunities and overcome barriers.

Aiming Beyond Competent: The Application of the Taxonomy of Significant Learning to Medical Education.

Issue: Competency-Based Medical Education (CBME) focuses on demonstrable outcomes, as well as upholding medical education's accountability to society. Despite calls for a robust, multifaceted approach to competency-based assessment (CBA), lingering critiques exist. These critiques include reductionism, reinforcement of an external locus of control within learners, an loss of focus on learner development. Both CBME and CBA may be strengthened if viewed through the lens of a complementary curriculum design framework that broadens the focus on the learner. Evidence: Researchers and physician organizations have articulated the need for medical practitioners trained to provide optimal care in the rapidly changing care environment. In the drive to ensure accountability to patients and society, CBME may overlook the duty of educators to foster the necessary intrinsic development of learners as holistic professionals. The focus of CBA on outcomes may reward memorization and rote performance but may fail to ensure the underlying comprehension or critical thinking necessary to adapt to the variability of real-life patient care. Learners focus on tasks chosen for assessment; thus, areas less easily assessed may be overlooked or deemed unimportant. Reinforcement for learner motivation becomes externalized in CBA, as opposed to being driven by the desire for self-improvement and self-actualization. A recently proposed framework that views learner development as a process-based improvement cycle, the "Master Adaptive Learner," may help remedy this issue. L. Dee Fink's Taxonomy of Significant Learning aims to create meaningful learning experiences in higher education. This taxonomy consists of six interwoven domains: (a) Learning How to Learn, (b) Foundational Knowledge, (c) Application, (d) Integration, (e) Human Dimension, and (f) Caring. Each domain encompasses a unique perspective on the learning process, and when collectively applied to curriculum design, significant learning occurs. This taxonomy has not been widely applied to medical education but may offer an important counterbalance to the outcomes-based focus of CBME. Implications: The outcomes-based focus of CBME is well suited for skill-based tasks, such as procedures, that are observable and measurable. However, other essential physician skills-such as critical thinking, reflection, empathy, and self-directed learning-are not easily assessed, and thus may receive little focus in an outcomes-based model. A holistic approach, such as the Taxonomy of Significant Learning, can counter the deficits of CBME and provide a balanced approach to education program design and assessment.

Perceptions of Emergency Medicine Residency and Hand Surgery Fellowship Program Directors in the Appropriate Disposition of Upper Extremity Emergencies.

PURPOSE: To survey emergency medicine (EM) residency and hand surgery fellowship program directors (PDs) to identify consensus in their perceptions of appropriate emergency care of upper extremity emergencies. METHODS: We created a framework to group common upper extremity emergency diagnoses and surveyed PDs to evaluate the training background--EM, general orthopedic or plastic surgery, or hand fellowship--most appropriate to provide acute, point-of-care management for each of these diagnostic groupings. Responses were pooled and consensus was established with greater than 75% agreement between groups. RESULTS: We received 79 responses from hand fellowship PDs (90% response rate) and 151 responses from EM PDs (49% response rate). We identified consensus for the training background that PDs in both specialties felt was appropriate to care for 17 of 21 diagnostic groupings in the framework. CONCLUSIONS: There was a high level of consensus between EM and hand surgery PDs regarding diagnoses that acutely require training in hand surgery versus those that can be managed by an EM physician. Our diagnostic framework may help reduce unnecessary hand surgery consultation and may help to identify patients who do not require more specialized acute care and thus decrease unnecessary transfers. TYPE OF STUDY/LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Economic and Decision Analyses IV.

Resident to resident handoffs in the emergency department: an observational study.

BACKGROUND: Despite patient handoffs being well recognized as a potentially dangerous time in the care of patients in the emergency department (ED), there is no established standard and little supporting research on how to optimize the process. Minimizing handoff risks is particularly important at teaching hospitals, where residents often provide the majority of patient handoffs. OBJECTIVE: Our aim was to identify hazards to patient safety and barriers to efficiency related to resident handoffs in the ED. METHODS: An observational study was completed using the Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety model to assess the safety and efficiency of resident handoffs. Thirty resident handoffs were observed with residents in emergency medicine over 16 weeks. RESULTS: Residents were interrupted, on average, every 8.5 min. The most common deficit in relaying the plan of care strategy was failing to relay medications administered (32%). In addition, there were ambiguities related to medication administration, such as when the medication was next due or why a medication was chosen, in 56% of handoffs observed. Ninety percent of residents observed took handwritten notes. A small percentage (11%) also completed free texted computer progress notes. Ten percent of residents took no notes. CONCLUSIONS: The existing system allows for a clear summary of the patient's visit. Two major deficits-frequent interruptions and inconsistent communication regarding medications administered-were noted. There is inconsistency in how information is recorded at the time of handoff. Future studies should focus on handoff improvement and error reduction.

Bringing abstract concepts to life: A health humanities-based approach to teaching social determinants of health.

Background: To address health inequities, emergency physicians must understand the structural underpinnings of health disparities, including social determinants of health (SDoH), and must critically reflect on the integration of SDoH into clinical practice. SDoH education should include reflective knowledge acquisition, while incorporating systemic sociohistorical forces and individual factors, such as bias, which propagate inequities but are rarely emphasized in graduate medical education (GME). The health humanities (HH), an inclusive transdisciplinary field combining arts, humanities, and social justice, may represent a novel unexplored approach toward incorporating SDoH in GME. Methods: We sought to implement and evaluate a GME HH-based curriculum focused on SDoH. An interprofessional team applied Kern's framework to create a longitudinal HH curriculum integrating narrative medicine and visual thinking strategies with evidence-based practices for addressing SDoH in clinical practice. This curriculum was implemented for 52 residents in an EM program in 2019-2020; sessions were initially held in the classroom and community and then virtually during the COVID-19 pandemic. Objectives included encouraging (1) critical thinking about SDoH, (2) engagement with patients and communities, (3) self-reflection, and (4) translation of SDoH to patient care. Descriptive statistics and a constructivist paradigm were applied to results of a postcurriculum survey and focus group, respectively. Results: A curriculum evaluation survey completed by 32/52 residents (61.5%) revealed agreement (75%-90%) that objectives were met. 93.1% of respondents thought humanities were important in residency training. Qualitative analysis of a focus group with 10 participants revealed additional impacts on individual growth, transformation of departmental culture, and transformation of patient care. Curriculum implementation was inexpensive and relied on interprofessional collaboration. Conclusions: The HH represent a promising collaborative framework for integrating SDoH in GME and may inspire transformation of learners' attitudes and practices in EM, though clinical impacts still need to be established.

Training for Adaptive Expertise: Why, What, and How.

BACKGROUND: Routine expertise is the efficient use of mastered skills at a high level of competency in familiar situations. PROBLEM: Novel case variation and continuous scientific advances preclude reliance on routine expertise alone. SOLUTION: Medical training programs must prepare learners to solve unfamiliar problems by cultivating adaptive expertise. Adaptive expertise is the ability to transfer existing knowledge to innovate a solution for an unfamiliar problem.

What the experts see: A qualitative analysis of the behaviors of master adaptive learners in emergency medicine.

Objectives: The Master Adaptive Learner (MAL) model postulates that learners develop adaptive expertise through cycles of self-regulated learning. Despite a robust theoretical basis, the actual observable behaviors of MALs are not well characterized. We sought to define behaviors that characterize MALs within emergency medicine (EM) training. Methods: Using a constructivist grounded theory approach, we analyzed semistructured interviews with expert EM educators. These experts reflected on observable behaviors as well as factors in the clinical learning environment that may modulate these behaviors. We recruited using purposive sampling until thematic saturation. Results: We identified four overall themes, of which three described groups of learner behaviors and a fourth described modifiers of these behaviors. Learner behaviors include: (1) critical interrogation of practice, (2) intellectual risk-taking, and (3) intentional curation of a learning network. Critical interrogation of practice encompasses several observable behaviors including learner-driven feedback conversations, independent synthesis of clinical information, appropriate deviation from algorithms based on their conceptual understanding of core principles, intentional use of case variation and hypothetical questioning, and continuous refinement of decisions. MALs also engage in intellectual risk-taking for their development by communicating clinical decision-making processes even at the risk of being wrong, openly addressing errors and gaps, and intentionally seeking out uncomfortable experiences. Intentional curation of a learning network is the deliberate development of a consortium of trusted individuals who serve as mentors and sounding boards. We also identified a fourth theme related to the expression of learner behaviors: learning environment modulates behaviors. Active promotion of psychological safety is necessary for learners to express these behaviors. This safety is mediated through trusting relationships and expert supervisors who serve as colearners and role models. Conclusions: We present several behaviors that allow identification of MALs among EM trainees. These data expand our understanding of MALs and the critical influence of the learning environment. Identification of these behaviors may allow for more precise categorization of targeted curricular interventions and meaningful learning outcomes.

Practical tips for navigating a program director transition.

Residency and fellowship program directors profoundly impact trainees, institutions, and patient safety. Yet, there is concern for rapid attrition in the role. The average program director tenure is only 4-7 years, and that timeline is likely a result of burnout or opportunities for career advancement. Program director transitions must be carefully executed to ensure minimal disruption to the program. Transitions benefit from clear communication with trainees and other stakeholders, well-planned successions or searches for a replacement, and clearly delineated expectations and responsibilities of the outgoing program director. In this Practical Tips, four former residency program directors offer a roadmap for a successful program director transition, with specific recommendations to guide critical decisions and steps in the process. Themes emphasized include readiness for a transition, communication strategies, alignment of program mission and search efforts, and anticipatory support to ensure the success of the new director.

Rejecting Reforms, Yet Calling for Change: A Qualitative Analysis of Proposed Reforms to the Residency Application Process.

PURPOSE: Annual increases in the number of residency applications burden students and challenge programs. Several reforms to the application process have been proposed; however, stakeholder input is often overlooked. The authors examined key stakeholders' opinions about several proposed reforms to the residency application process and identified important factors to guide future reforms. METHOD: Using semistructured interviews, the authors asked educational administrators and trainees to consider 5 commonly proposed reforms to the residency application process: Match to obtain residency interviews, preference signaling, application limits, geographic preference disclosure, and abolishing the Match. The authors conducted a modified content analysis of interview transcripts using qualitative and quantitative analytic techniques. Frequency analysis regarding the acceptability of the 5 proposed reforms and thematic analysis of important factors to guide reform were performed. Fifteen-minute interviews were conducted between July and October 2019, with data analysis completed during a 6-month period in 2020 and 2021. RESULTS: Participants included 30 stakeholders from 9 medical specialties and 15 institutions. Most participants wanted to keep the Match process intact; however, they noted several important flaws in the system that disadvantage students and warrant change. Participants did not broadly support any of the 5 proposed reforms. Two themes were identified: principles to guide reform (fairness, transparency, equity, reducing costs to students, reducing total applications, reducing work for program directors, and avoiding unintended consequences) and unpopular reform proposals (concern that application limits threaten less competitive students and signaling adds bias to the system). CONCLUSIONS: Key stakeholders in the residency application process believe the system has important flaws that demand reform. Despite this, the most commonly proposed reforms are unacceptable to these stakeholders because they threaten fairness to students and program workload. These findings call for a larger investigation of proposed reforms with a more nationally representative stakeholder cohort.

Education Value Units in Medical Education: A Scoping Review.

PURPOSE: On the basis of the tripartite mission of patient care, research, and education, a need has arisen to better support faculty in non-revenue-generating activities, such as education. As a result, some programs have developed education value unit (EVU) systems to incentivize these activities. The purpose of this scoping review is to analyze the existing literature on EVUs to identify current structures and future directions for research. METHOD: The authors conducted a literature search of 5 databases without restrictions, searching for any articles on EVU systems published from database inception to January 12, 2022. Two authors independently screened articles for inclusion. Two authors independently extracted data and all authors performed quantitative and qualitative synthesis, consistent with best practice recommendations for scoping reviews. RESULTS: Fifty-eight articles were included. The most common rationale was to incentivize activities prioritized by the department or institution. Of those reporting funding, departmental revenue was most common. The majority of EVU systems were created using a dedicated committee, although composition of the committees varied. Stakeholder engagement was a key component for EVU system development. Most EVU systems also included noneducational activities, such as clinical activities, scholarship activities, administrative or leadership activities, and citizenship. Incentive models varied widely but typically involved numeric- or time-based quantification. EVUs were generally seen as positive, having increased equity and transparency as well as a positive impact on departmental metrics. CONCLUSIONS: This scoping review summarizes the existing literature on EVU systems, providing valuable insights for application to practice and areas for future research.

Hopes and fears: A qualitative analysis of the intern perspective at the start of EM residency.

Objectives: Most emergency medicine (EM) residency programs have orientation curricula to guide interns through the transition from medical school to residency, although no standard components are required. This transition is recognized as a challenging time for young physician learners; however, there is no current understanding of the perspective of incoming interns as they enter residency. We sought to identify themes, examine the current literature, and reflect on the experiences of our residency leadership to inform the creation of orientation activities that foster positive experiences, as well as directly address intern fears and anxieties. Methods: This qualitative study collected free text responses on the first day of EM orientation regarding areas of high excitement and high fear as interns entered residency. Data were collected from 2011 to 2019 in a 4-year EM residency program and a 6-year combined EM-Anesthesia residency program in the Mid-Atlantic. An inductive approach was used to code intern responses and develop themes within each category, and a frequency analysis was performed. Results: A total of 112 interns participated. Thematic analysis of coded responses yielded 11 themes around "most excited" and 13 themes around "most scared." The most frequent themes for "most excited" were: (1) Forming new relationships, (2) Building and applying knowledge, and (3) Being responsible for the care and education of others. For "most scared," the most frequent themes were: (1) work-life balance and burnout, (2) making harmful mistakes, and (3) knowledge wealth and retention. Conclusions: We identified themes of high excitement and high fear for interns entering residency orientation. Based on the themes developed and current literature, recommendations for residency programs regarding intern orientation are provided, specifically that programs intentionally address opportunities for professional identity formation, building relationships with new people/places, emphasizing wellness, and mitigating burnout.

The Best Laid Plans? A Qualitative Investigation of How Resident Physicians Plan Their Learning.

PURPOSE: Adaptive expertise (AE) has been identified as a critical trait to cultivate in future physicians. The 4-phase master adaptive learner (MAL) conceptual model describes the learning skills and behaviors necessary to develop AE. Though prior work has elucidated skills and behaviors used by MALs in the initial planning phase of learning, most resident learners are not thought to be MALs. In this study, the authors investigated how these majority "typical" learners develop AE by exploring the strategies they used in the planning phase of learning. METHOD: Participants were resident physicians at graduate medical education (GME) training programs located at 4 academic medical centers in the United States. Participants participated in semistructured individual interviews in 2021, and interview transcripts were analyzed using constant comparative analysis of grounded theory. RESULTS: Fourteen subjects representing 8 specialties were interviewed, generating 152 pages of transcripts for analysis. Three themes were identified: "Typical" learners were challenged by the transition from structured undergraduate medical education learning to less-structured GME learning, lacked necessary skills to easily navigate this transition, and relied on trial and error to develop their learning skills. CONCLUSIONS: Participants used trial and error to find learning strategies to help them manage the systemic challenges encountered when transitioning from medical school to residency. The success (or failure) of these efforts was tied to learners' efficacy with the self-regulated learning concepts of agency, metacognitive goal setting, and motivation. A conceptual model is provided to describe the impact of these factors on residents' ability to be adaptive learners, and actionable recommendations are provided to help educators' efforts to foster adaptive learning skills and behaviors. These findings also provided valuable evidence of validity of the MAL model that has thus far been lacking.

"A sorely neglected field": A multisite study of self-reported humanities exposure among emergency medicine residents.

Background: The Association of American Medical Colleges has identified the humanities as fundamental to medical education across all specialties. Evidence from undergraduate medical education (UME) demonstrates the humanities' positive impacts on outcomes that could be relevant to patient care and trainee well-being in emergency medicine (EM) residency training. However, less is known about the humanities' role in graduate medical education (GME). Objectives: The objectives were to describe EM residents' self-reported exposure to the humanities and its relationship with their empathy, tolerance of ambiguity, and patient-centeredness, and to assess their attitudes toward the humanities in GME. Methods: This cross-sectional survey-based study was conducted at six U.S. EM residency programs in 2018-2019. Quantitative analyses included linear regressions testing for trends between humanities exposures and outcomes, adjusted for sex, year in training, and clustering within programs; adjunct analysis of free-text responses was performed using an exploratory constructivist approach to identify themes about views on the humanities' role in medicine. Results: Response rate was 54.8% (153/279). A total of 65% of respondents were male and 28.1% of respondents had a preceding humanities degree. Preceding humanities degree and current self-reported humanities exposure were positively associated with performance on empathy subscales (p = 0.02). Seventy-five percent (n = 114) of respondents agreed humanities are important in GME; free-text responses revealed perceived positive impacts of humanities on generating well-rounded clinicians and enhancing patient care. Conclusions: Engagement with the humanities may be associated with empathy among EM residents. Although the magnitude of associations was smaller than that seen in UME, this study demonstrates resident interest in humanities and suggests that extracurricular engagement with the humanities may be insufficient to prolong positive impacts seen in UME. Further research is needed to explore how to sustain these benefits through integration or addition of the humanities in existing GME curricula.

Sustainable Engaged Accountable Learners.

The development of lifelong learners is among the most challenging goals for medical educators. The authors identify two important scholarly works that profoundly altered their understanding and approach to lifelong learning and curriculum design: L. Dee Fink's Taxonomy of Significant Learning and Cutrer et al.'s Master Adaptive Learner model. By applying these guides to their teaching and related research, three important characteristics of lifelong learning became evident: sustainability, engagement, and accountability. These are abbreviated "SEALs," for sustainable engaged accountable learners. This paper defines these qualities as they relate to emergency medicine training, significant learning, and the development of adaptive expertise. Connections to Fink's and Cutrer's works are offered for each learner characteristic. Educational and psychological theories that support the SEALs model are paired with practical suggestions for educators to promote these desired qualities in their trainees. Relevant features of adult learning are highlighted, including self-regulation, motivation, agency, and autonomy.

Emergency Medicine Career Outcomes and Scholarly Pursuits: The Impact of Transitioning From a Three-year to a Four-year Niche-based Residency Curriculum.

OBJECTIVES: In 2008, our emergency medicine (EM) residency program transitioned from a 3-year to a 4-year format. We analyzed the effect that this change had on the scholarly productivity and career choice of graduates, hypothesizing that it would lead residents to be more scholarly productive and graduates to more frequently obtain academic appointments and leadership roles in their first postresidency positions. METHODS: This was a retrospective analysis of graduates (N = 95) from a single residency program that underwent a curriculum change from a 3-year to a 4-year format. Three cohorts prior to (n = 36) and five cohorts after (n = 59) this transition were included. The primary outcome of interest was the setting of graduates' first postresidency position. Secondary outcomes included completion of scholarly activity during training and attaining a leadership role in the first postresidency position. RESULTS: Of the 4-year program graduates, 44% obtained an academic position compared to 28% of 3-year program graduates. After confounders were controlled for, this difference was statistically discernible only if fellowships were excluded (including fellowship, odds ratio [OR] = 2.25, 95% CI = 0.87 to 5.78; excluding fellowship, OR = 3.53, 95% CI = 1.13 to 11.05). Four-year graduates were more likely to obtain a leadership position immediately after graduation (OR = 13.72, 95% CI = 2.45 to 76.99). Compared to residents in the 3-year program, residents in the 4-year format had a similar likelihood of producing any scholarly work by graduation (OR = 1.69, 95% CI = 0.49 to 5.80) but were more likely to publish peer-reviewed manuscripts (OR = 3.92, 95% CI = 2.25 to 6.83). CONCLUSIONS: Compared to 3-year residency graduates, graduates of our 4-year curriculum were more likely to obtain nonfellowship academic appointments and leadership positions immediately after graduation and to publish their scholarly work during residency. This study suggests that residency applicants seeking to be academically productive during residency and leaders in the field of EM should consider training in a 4-year program with similar goals.

The Summer Match: A qualitative study exploring a two-stage residency match option.

BACKGROUND: The number of residency applications submitted by medical students rises annually, resulting in increased work and costs for residency programs and applicants, particularly in emergency medicine. We propose a solution to this problem: an optional, two-stage Match with a "summer match" stage, in which applicants can submit a limited number of applications early. This would be conducted similarly to the early decision process for college admissions. The study objectives were to explore stakeholder opinions on the feasibility of a summer match and to identify the ideal logistic parameters to operationalize this proposal. METHODS: We used exploratory qualitative methodology following a constructivist paradigm to develop an understanding of the potential impact of a summer match. We interviewed 34 key stakeholders in the U.S. residency application process identified through purposive sampling including educational administrators (program directors, designated institutional officials, medical school deans) and trainees (students, residents). We coded and thematically analyzed interview data in two stages using an inductive approach. RESULTS: We identified six themes from the participant interviews that broadly reflected issues of the residency application process, value, and equity. These themes included disrupting the status quo, logistic concerns, match strategy, differential benefits, unintended consequences, and return on investment. Most study participants supported the summer match concept, with medical students and residents most in favor. We developed a theoretical summer match protocol based on these findings. CONCLUSIONS: A summer match may reduce the burdens of increasing residency applications and associated costs. Pilot testing is necessary to confirm this hypothesis and determine the impact of the proposed summer match protocol. Unintended consequences must be considered carefully during implementation.