Insights on Residency Training

August 28th, 2019

Status: Post-Residency Syndrome

Ashley McMullen, MD

Today, I’m thinking about the end of residency. But first, let me tell you about the beginning of residency. My first day of clinic, my very first week of residency, I had a grand total of one patient scheduled. A seasoned outgoing resident had given me sign-out on this person, along with some big, knowledgeable […]

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March 8th, 2019

The Oncology Service

Ashley McMullen, MD

I won’t forget Mr. H’s face that morning, my very first morning on the medical oncology service. I skirted into his room behind my attending as she was called in to see him on the fly. With a slight smile, he sat quietly in the corner of the exam room, a tall black male of […]

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December 26th, 2018

Trapped – Chronic Pain and Opioids

Ashley McMullen, MD

“I feel like a caged animal” — My patient offered me this lens through which to view his life seeped in chronic pain. For him, pain dictated his entire sense of being — it was something that simply could not be distilled down to a single value on a 10-point scale. The cage represented the […]

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October 25th, 2018

Part of the Equation, but Not Equal

Ashley McMullen, MD

Fall is finally here — the weather is changing, good TV shows are back on, and, for residency programs, interview season is fast approaching. That means it is time, once again, to choose the next class of interns to take the formative next step in their careers. In this process of selecting a few from […]

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September 12th, 2018

Good Things Take Time

Ashley McMullen, MD

My Patient The day I met you was early in my second year of Internal Medicine residency. After much of my internship had been spent on arduous inpatient rotations, I was finally ready to lead my own team of young doctors and students on a high-acuity wards service. Yet, in my continuity clinic, I was […]

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