Insights on Residency Training

December 3rd, 2019

To HBCU or not to HBCU? That Is the Question.

Allison Latimore, MD

Finding my home There were a sea of students sitting in the auditorium, and parents were all directed to the balconies. The sound of trumpets began to blare, and the bodies of the marching band swayed rhythmically. Five minutes after soaking in the music, the ambiance, and the liveliness of Howard University, my sister and […]

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November 26th, 2019

Of Metrics and Medicine

Eric Bressman, MD

One of the least motivating requests I received routinely as a new intern was something like, “… and can we make sure this is a discharge before noon?” I recall a particularly eager nursing manager surveying the resident teams on her unit to gauge our interest in arriving even earlier each morning (5 AM, perhaps?) […]

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November 20th, 2019

Top 5 Tips for Residency Interview Success

Frances Ue, MD, MPH

Four years ago on a crisp winter day, I interviewed at Cambridge Health Alliance’s (CHA) Harvard Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency program. From the warm, cozy dinner of Nepali momos to the thoughtful and inspiring stories shared, I felt like I had found “my people.” Those that were committed to social justice and advocating for the needs […]

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November 12th, 2019

Can Minor Changes in a Program Affect Resident Burnout?

Daniel Orlovich, MD, PharmD

“How did you like it there?” I ask, sitting down next to a new fellow (between bites of a plump sandwich, hoping there is no spinach in my teeth).  I expect to hear the standard resident talking points — long hours, frequent call, and ballooning student loans. Instead, she surprises me.  “Do you know how much they […]

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September 5th, 2019

Building Your Squad — Residency and Beyond

Ellen Poulose-Redger, MD

At nearly every stage in our education and training, we find “our people.”  Maybe it’s your table-mate in kindergarten, or the kid with the really cool light up sneakers in preschool who becomes your best friend.  Maybe it’s your next-door neighbor who you play with after school, or a coworker from your first job in […]

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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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August 20th, 2019

Bias in the Residency Ranking Process

Scott Hippe, MD

“Can we please try to be objective about this!” I said these words to myself over and over during this year’s interview season as we formulated our residency rank list. At my institution, the residents and faculty have equal sway in forming the rank list. The chief resident facilitates the resident half of the process. […]

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August 9th, 2019

Duty Hours: Can We Lay This Debate To Rest?

Cassandra Fritz, MD

Duty hours have been the focus of a lot of research recently. If you are just joining this discussion, the iCOMPARE trial randomized 63 internal medicine residency programs to either flexible (interns could work more than 16 hours) or standard (interns had to work within the 16-hour limit) work hours. The results so far have […]

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April 11th, 2019

The Nephrology Social Media Collective

Justin Davis, MBBS

Thinking back on it now, I can’t quite recall why I first decided to get a Twitter account. My suspicion is that I wanted to follow the amusing tweets of Jim Sterling who works in the videogame industry and whose work I closely follow. What did happen, of course, is that I eventually realised that, […]

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March 14th, 2019

Musings on Match Day, the Conception Day of our Residencies

Ellen Poulose-Redger, MD

Match Day. The one day that medical students across the United States all simultaneously look forward to and also fear. It’s really a whole week of roller-coaster emotions: on Monday we find out if we matched somewhere, and on Friday we find out where. (And, in between, if we unfortunately didn’t match, we scramble to find a position that is […]

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