Stu: Welcome back to the Epic Guy series. We have a very important topic today, one that we’re going to dedicate multiple episodes to…. so what are you doing?
Stair: Hey, young Padawan. I’m getting ready for my Epic Jedi training.
Stu: Your Epic Jedi training?
Stair: Yeah, I worked on this thing all summer, cutting down a lot of trees in my neighborhood.
Stu: Epic Journey training guys. Epic journey training. We’re not doing Jedi. Epic. Journey. Journey. Not Jedi.
Stair: Oh, this is awkward. Uh, what do you want me to do with this thing?
Stu: I’ll let you figure that out. Y’all, welcome back. This will be episode one of a four-part series dedicated to Epic training for providers. We know there are a lot of questions out there, and we’re hoping to answer some of them. Let’s dive in.
Stair: Bongiorno! Welcome to the first episode of our Epic training series. Stu, we’ve traded in the lightsabers for some real, authentic gelato. It looks great, doesn’t it?
Stu: Yeah, It’s, it’s a drumstick.
Stair: Well, come on. You know, it’s The Epic Guys’ budget. Today we’re going to talk about training. It’s a big topic, and let’s just get it out of the way, right up front. It’s not everybody’s favorite thing to do, right?
Stu: No, it is not. Most of us thought we had graduated from the classroom a long time ago, so you’re right. We do not like it, and it’s just harder for us as adults to learn that way. We need real patients in a real clinical setting to really get comfortable with it. But we also get it. We need to learn the basics at some point before the actual real deal.
Stair: That’s right. It’s kind of like if you go to Italy, you’ve got to have language lessons. You have to learn Italian, but you’re not really going to get it until you live there for a while. You’re around the people; you’re around the culture. Same thing with an EHR.
Stu: Yep. And as you might expect, Epic has done a fair bit of research on training, and this is the reality. Only about 30% of the learning comes from the actual classroom training. So, sitting in a classroom, going through an outline, clicking through stuff – that’s part of learning the basics, but it’s not enough. We need other ways for everybody to get ready for go-live.
Stair: Yep. So that’s what we’re going to talk about. Stu, let’s start with a reminder for everyone about when training will happen for UAB St. Vincent’s. It’ll start in June 2026 and go right up to go-live in July. For UAB Medicine, training will start in January 2027 and go right up to go-live in February 2027. This means we’ll need to start scheduling training about six months before go-live.
Stu: And, there are some twists on conventional training that will help us be as prepared as we can. The most important change is that actual providers in each specialty will help lead the training. This also means that the content of the training will be specifically curated for your specialty, with common scenarios that are relevant to you. We’ll talk a lot more about this in the upcoming episode.
Stair: This will also decrease training time, since we’ll be focused on just what you need as a cardiologist, ENT, or neurologist to be able to take care of your patients. The training will be a total of 4-5 hours for most specialties, depending on whether you do both inpatient and ambulatory. Of course, there will be a few specialties with complex workflows, infusions, clinic procedures, etc. that may take a little bit longer.
Stu: Something else that will set training apart will be personalized user settings, as part of the class where you’ll have time to set up what you need for your own orders, note templates, smart phrases, and order panels. We’re making this easy as well, with department-level favorites that can be shared among faculty, APPs, and residents. So, when you leave class, you’ll be all set up to see patients and hit the ground running on the first day of go-live.
Stair: Stu, I’m excited about our day-in-the-life activities before go-live, where we can see exactly how we’ll triage patients, place orders, document notes, and use our in-baskets. We’re planning simulation labs where we can practice before go-live, getting into the system with experts right there helping us.
Stu: And then at go-live, we’ll have at-the-elbow support from super users and other resources to help get us through the first few days. We have a lot of previous Epic users who will be a big help, and we know it won’t be easy for everyone, but we’ll get through it together.
Stair: And even after go-live, you can upgrade your Epic game with Thrive training, which will help build on your knowledge and make you more efficient. These are shorter sessions, taught by experts, which we need to maximize our use of the system.
Stu: We know the training process will take time, but it will really help ensure that we hit the ground running. Stay tuned for our next episode, where we’ll focus on what your training will look like before and during your classroom session.
Stair: Stu, do you smell that? I think that smells like Italian pizza. The real, authentic kind – not Domino’s. Let’s head out while they watch the end credits. Don’t miss it.
