Pilot implementation of residents’ rounds: A model for resident community engagement and professional identity development

Background: In September 2023, the Ontario Association of Pathologists launched the Residents’ Rounds – a provincial, case-based presentation series with national and international reach – to increase resident participation and connection within the Canadian pathology community. This study aimed to evaluate the educational impact and professional significance of the Residents’ Rounds initiative during its first two years of implementation.

Method: A convergent mixed-methods design evaluated the first six Residents’ Rounds events. Quantitative data (post-event surveys and judging scores) and qualitative data (open-text reviews and narrative judging comments) were analysed separately and integrated using a weaving approach to generate a comprehensive interpretation of educational impact.

Results: Three themes were identified: 1) perceived educational value; 2) professional identity development; and 3) balancing pedagogical engagement and structural constraints. Across data sources, participants demonstrated strong clinical understanding but variable presentation structure and articulation of clinical relevance, suggesting that academic communication, rather than diagnostic competence, was the primary developmental need. Both residents and staff valued the rounds as a means of professional integration and participation within a broader community of practice that fostered collegial cohesion and embodied the shared educational and professional values of the Canadian pathology community. Collectively, these findings indicate that structured opportunities for recognition and peer exchange can accelerate professional identity formation, strengthen community cohesion, and reinforce alignment with the ethos of the academic pathology community.

Conclusion: The program provided a legitimising forum for residents to perform professional academic roles, receive feedback, and connect with pathologists across Canada, including potential employers and mentors. It promoted belonging and professional meaning, core elements of professional identity formation and integration into a community of practice in taking on the values of the specialty. Residents’ Rounds represents a low-cost, replicable model for strengthening identity, collegiality, and engagement in postgraduate medical education.