• Michael J Donnelly, Janelle M Clauser, and Rochelle E Tractenberg.
• a Department of Medicine and Pediatrics, Medstar Georgetown University Hospital , Washington , DC , USA.
• Teach Learn Med. 2014 Jan 1; 26 (1): 17-26.

BackgroundIt is unclear why systematic training in end-of-residency clinic handoffs is not universal.PurposesWe assessed Internal Medicine-Pediatrics (Med-Peds) residency program directors' attitudes regarding end-of-residency clinic handoff systems and perceived barriers to their implementation.MethodsWe surveyed all Med-Peds program directors in the United States about end-of-residency outpatient handoff systems.ResultsProgram directors rated systems as important (81.5%), but only 31 programs (46.3%) utilized them. Nearly all programs with (29/31 [93.5%]), and most programs without systems (24/33 [72.7%]) rated them as important. Programs were more likely to have a system if the program director rated it important (p = .049), and less likely if they cited a lack of faculty interest (p = .023) or difficulty identifying residents as primary providers (p = .04).ConclusionsMost program directors believe it important to formally hand off outpatients. Barriers to establishing handoff systems can be overcome with modest curricular and cultural changes.

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