Academic Medicine Open Forum

• What are the best practices for residency graduation ceremonies?
  • Book the venue well in advance. Always negotiate pricing! Budget for only about 80% of your guest list (people will not rsvp, some may no-show, some may cancel last minute d/t service obligations, etc). Have the program leadership HIGHLY encourage faculty attendance. It can be as formal or casual as you like - I have done it all ways. :) Don't forget the graduate gifts-could be a plaque, a chair, etc.
• Are formal invitations sent/provided?
  • I never did hard copy invitations. Paperless Post (paperlesspost.com) is excellent for sending out electronic invitations. It can keep track of RSVPs and send messages to guests. I love it! In addition, I would always send out a Outlook calendar invite (with the paperless post link) from the department chair.
• Are families outside of significant others included?
  • We typically allowed all graduates to invite more guests (typically 4-8), depending on what immediate family could attend. It will depend on your venue capacity, etc. All other trainees, faculty, admin were each allowed 1 guest.
• How far into the residency practice outside of physician faculty are included? 
  • We typically only invited current faculty, trainees and certain department admin (program coordinator, ops mgr, etc). If you have the capacity for special guests, alumni, etc, that would be fun too.

• What are the best practices for residency graduation ceremonies?
  • Book the venue well in advance. Always negotiate pricing! Budget for only about 80% of your guest list (people will not rsvp, some may no-show, some may cancel last minute d/t service obligations, etc). Have the program leadership HIGHLY encourage faculty attendance. It can be as formal or casual as you like - I have done it all ways. :) Don't forget the graduate gifts-could be a plaque, a chair, etc.
• Are formal invitations sent/provided?
  • I never did hard copy invitations. Paperless Post (paperlesspost.com) is excellent for sending out electronic invitations. It can keep track of RSVPs and send messages to guests. I love it! In addition, I would always send out a Outlook calendar invite (with the paperless post link) from the department chair.
• Are families outside of significant others included?
  • We typically allowed all graduates to invite more guests (typically 4-8), depending on what immediate family could attend. It will depend on your venue capacity, etc. All other trainees, faculty, admin were each allowed 1 guest.
• How far into the residency practice outside of physician faculty are included? 
  • We typically only invited current faculty, trainees and certain department admin (program coordinator, ops mgr, etc). If you have the capacity for special guests, alumni, etc, that would be fun too.

UW-Madison Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences honors our residency and fellowship graduating class in June with a cocktail reception and sit-down dinner. Mentors for each of our three graduating residents provide commentary on their time at UW and their future plans and the fellowship program directors do the same for their graduates. Sometimes this takes on a roast-like feel, and I make sure to preview any video or PowerPoint presentations, to make sure everything is HIPAA compliant and there isn't any music that would get the livestream shut down. The graduates also present awards to their favorite clinical and surgical instructors. They also select a faculty member as the keynote speaker. 

We invite all clinical and research faculty, current residents and fellows. Families of graduates are invited, including their children and parents via email. Our normal attendance about 75 people. We will be live streaming the event via Zoom this year but may phase that out as we return to normal.

• What are the best practices for residency graduation ceremonies?
  • Book the venue well in advance. Always negotiate pricing! Budget for only about 80% of your guest list (people will not rsvp, some may no-show, some may cancel last minute d/t service obligations, etc). Have the program leadership HIGHLY encourage faculty attendance. It can be as formal or casual as you like - I have done it all ways. :) Don't forget the graduate gifts-could be a plaque, a chair, etc.
• Are formal invitations sent/provided?
  • I never did hard copy invitations. Paperless Post (paperlesspost.com) is excellent for sending out electronic invitations. It can keep track of RSVPs and send messages to guests. I love it! In addition, I would always send out a Outlook calendar invite (with the paperless post link) from the department chair.
• Are families outside of significant others included?
  • We typically allowed all graduates to invite more guests (typically 4-8), depending on what immediate family could attend. It will depend on your venue capacity, etc. All other trainees, faculty, admin were each allowed 1 guest.
• How far into the residency practice outside of physician faculty are included? 
  • We typically only invited current faculty, trainees and certain department admin (program coordinator, ops mgr, etc). If you have the capacity for special guests, alumni, etc, that would be fun too.