The Ombuds Blog: Houston Methodist Ombuds Program Serves Residents and Fellows

October 01, 2013

Houston Methodist Ombuds Program Serves Residents and Fellows

The flagship hospital of the Methodist Hospital System has created an Ombuds program to serve medical trainees in 25 different programs. Provided by the Graduate Medical Education Office, the Ombudsman Program, "responds to the needs of residents and fellows by fostering access, hearing concerns, guiding problem-solving approaches, and using conflict resolution techniques."

Although not identified by name in Houston Methodist's public materials, three individuals have been appointed to serve as Ombuds. "To ensure confidentiality, the two Ombudsmen who are faculty members of ACGME [Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education] programs will not hear the specific concerns of residents in their own programs. The third Ombudsman is not a member of any program." (Houston Methodist Ombuds.)

Related posts: Texas is Home to Many Ombuds Programs; Baylor College of Medicine Creates Ombuds Program; MD Anderson Cancer Center Hires Ombuds Office Director; University of Texas Appoints Ombuds for Biomedical Sciences; Ombuds of Texas Sets First Meeting of 2013.

1 comment:

Tom Kosakowski10/07/2013 8:20 AM
Although the website and materials are new, it appears the program may be a few years old.
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Organizational Ombuds

Organizational Ombuds serve as a confidential, independent, neutral and informal dispute resolution resource for a specific entity. They are accessible to a defined population and can advocate for fairness. These unique characteristics distinguish Organizational Ombuds from Classical Ombuds, mediators, arbitrators, and other alternative dispute resolution professionals. The term "Ombuds" is shorthand for "Ombudsman," "Ombudsperson" and "Ombuds Officer," which also are used widely.

Some other variants include:

Austria -- Ombudsstelle

Brazil -- Ouvidor

Croatia -- pravobranitelji

France -- médiateur/defénseur

Germany -- Ombudspersonen

Italy -- difensore

Netherlands -- ombudspersoon

Norway -- ombudet

Poland -- Rzecznik

Portugal -- provedor

Russia -- омбудсмен

Spain -- ombudsman organizacional

Sweden -- studentombud

Switzerland -- ombudsmann

Comment Policy

Content and Relevance

Stay on topic: Comments should be relevant to the post.
Be respectful: Personal attacks, insults, profanity, inflammatory language, and discriminatory or harassing comments will not be tolerated.
No self-promotion or spam: Comments should contribute to the conversation and not be used to for commercial purposes.
No confidential information: Do not share confidential information about your organization or visitors.

Length and Format

Keep it concise: Comments should be clear and to the point. Excessively long comments may be edited for clarity and length.
Use appropriate formatting: Do not use all caps unnecessarily. Comments may include HTML formatting for readability.

Other Considerations

Be professional and respectful: Please be mindful of your content, even when commending anonymously.
Comments may be edited: I reserve the right to remove or edit any comments that violate these guidelines. My edits will be noted.
Complaints about IOA: This is not the appropriate forum to lodge formal complaints against the International Ombuds Association.
Guest editorials: Please email me directly to discuss a guest editorial offering a longer, more in-depth perspective on a topic related to the organizational ombuds profession