2009 APDS SPRING MEETING Does Medical Student Membership in the Gold Humanism Honor Society Influence Selection for Residency? Susan Rosenthal, MD, Brian Howard, MD, Yvette R. Schlussel, PhD, Cathy J. Lazarus, MD, Jeffrey G. Wong, MD, Christine Moutier, MD, Maria Savoia, MD, Stanley Trooskin, MD, and Norma Wagoner, PhD Jersey Shore University Medical Center, Neptune, New Jersey OBJECTIVES: With the creation of the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) in 2002, the Arnold P. Gold Founda- tion established a mechanism for recognizing medical students who demonstrate exemplary humanism/professionalism/com- munication skills. Currently, 80 medical schools have GHHS chapters. Selection is based on peer nomination using a vali- dated tool. The objective of this survey was to assess the per- centage of residency program directors (PDs) who are aware of and are using GHHS membership as a residency selection tool. METHODS: Surgery (SURG) and internal medicine (IM) PDs in 4 United States regions were surveyed for familiarity with GHHS and perceived rank of GHHS membership relative to Alpha Omega Alpha (AOA) membership, class rank, medical student performance evaluation (MSPE), clerkship grade, and United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) score, in evaluating an applicant’s humanism/professionalism, service orientation, and fit with their program. Program demographics and familiarity with GHHS were also surveyed. RESULTS: The response rate was 56% (149 respondents). IM PDs rated GHHS membership higher than did SURG PDs when evaluating professionalism/humanism and service orien- tation. PDs familiar with GHHS ranked membership higher when considering professionalism/humanism (4.1 vs 3.2; p  0.05) and service orientation (4.1 vs 2.9; p  0.01). Familiarity with GHHS correlated with being an IM PD, residency based at teaching hospital, large residency program, knowledge of residents who were GHHS members, and having a GHHS chapter at their school (p  0.01). Familiarity with GHHS was related to rankings of GHHS (professionalism/humanism F = 3.36; p  0.05; service orientation F = 3.86; p  0.05) more than the PDs’ specialty was. In all, 157 GHHS students (from all 4 United States regions) were also surveyed about the 1197 interviews they had with residency PDs. They reported that although a few PDs were aware of GHHS, PDs of core medical specialties were more aware of GHHS than SURG PDs. CONCLUSIONS: IM PDs were more aware of GHHS (70%) than SURG PDs (30%). Awareness was related to the favorable ranking of GHHS as a selection criterion for humanism/ professionalism/service orientation. PDs familiar with GHHS were from larger programs, were likely to know residents who were members, and were likely to think that GHHS member- ship predicted humanistic care. Membership in GHHS may set candidates apart from their peers and allow PDs to distinguish objectively the candidates who demonstrate compassionate medical care. Increased knowledge about the GHHS may therefore serve to be a useful adjunct for PDs when selecting medical students for their residency programs. (J Surg 66: 308-313. © 2009 Association of Program Directors in Sur- gery. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.) KEY WORDS: ACGME competency, humanism, medical stu- dents, medical training, professionalism, professionalism and com- munication skills, program directors, residency training COMPETENCIES: Professionalism, Interpersonal and Com- munication Skills, Practice Based Learning and Improvement Excellence in clinical care, teamwork, compassion, and dedica- tion to service are all encouraged in medical school and may be prized by residency programs as qualities that facilitate success in postgraduate training. However, currently a paucity of infor- mation is available to residency program directors (PDs) in assessing which applicants will have the combination of clinical excellence and personal attributes valued by programs. Through the creation of the Gold Humanism Honor Society (GHHS) in 2002, the Arnold P. Gold Foundation established a nationwide standard for recognizing these qualities among ex- emplary medical students. Selection for this society is based on peer nomination through a well-validated tool, which assesses Correspondence: Inquiries to Susan Rosenthal, Corporate Director of Medical Education, Jersey Shore University Medical Center, 1945 Route 33, Neptune, New Jersey 07753; fax: (409) 747-4995; e-mail: susan.rosenthal@utmb.edu Journal of Surgical Education • © 2009 Association of Program Directors in Surgery 1931-7204/09/$30.00 Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jsurg.2009.08.002 308