Insights on Residency Training

August 28th, 2018

So Let’s Chat About Extracurricular Work Activities

Justin Davis, MBBS

Well, we’re finally here. Somehow, an Aussie has sneaked onto a United States-based Chief Resident blog panel dealing with pertinent issues within medicine, and I actually have to think about what to write. (I’m being slightly facetious here, by the way.) So let’s start, shall we? One of the things that has been on my mind […]

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August 17th, 2018

Things I’ve Learned from My Patients

Ellen Poulose-Redger, MD

I recently completed my internal medicine residency training.  Three years, thousands of hours, thousands of patients, thousands of decisions.  I certainly learned a lot from the past 3 years: everything from what “HFrEF” means and how to manage it, to treating recurrent C. difficile colitis, to how to share decision-making with patients about whether or not […]

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August 17th, 2018

2018-2019 Chief Resident Bloggers

Charleen Hamilton

The staff and editors of NEJM Journal Watch welcome our new panel of Chief Residents! We look forward to their thoughts on medical training and work-life balance for young physicians. Our 2018-2019 panel includes:   Ellen Poulose Redger, MD – Ellen is a Chief Resident in Internal Medicine at Stony Brook University Hospital in Stony Brook, New […]

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May 14th, 2018

Bitcoin, Medicine, and More

Karmen Wielunski, DO

What’s the big deal about Bitcoin and digital currency? For the past year, my husband (who has a business background) has been enthusiastically researching digital currency. Thus, the terms Bitcoin (BTC) and MaidSafeCoin (MAID) have become commonplace in my household for some time. But, to be honest, I hadn’t been paying much attention to any […]

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February 8th, 2018

Doctoring in Lipstick

Cassie Shaw, MD

Why do I feel weird wearing lipstick in the hospital? Why do I have to announce myself as a doctor to gain respect from patients and other members of the hospital staff? In my short time as a physician, I have yet to find the answer to these questions, but they seem to lie in […]

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November 21st, 2017

Thoughts on Stigma

David Herman, MD

“What are we legally able to do? I don’t want to say the ‘quarantine’ word, but I guess I just said it. […] What would you advise, or are there any methods, legally, that we could do that would curtail the spread?” These sentences were spoken by Betty Price, an American politician with a seat in […]

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November 3rd, 2017

Uncuffing Medicine from Guidelines

John Junyoung Lee, MD

During my first Cardiology fellowship interview, Dr. Schevchuck, one of the cardiologists on the admissions committee, opened the interview with the following question: “Guess how many guidelines there are in the United States?” If you are reading this and you are planning on applying to a cardiology fellowship too, I have done some homework for you. […]

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October 17th, 2017

Be Human. Be Memorable.

Karmen Wielunski, DO

My dad died on May 11, 2003. It was Mothers’ Day. I was 18 years old. Those are the easy facts. The more difficult ones are those detailing the events that led to his death. My dad was so many things — a brilliant geologist, a loving father, an inventor, a pilot, and a Vietnam […]

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October 6th, 2017

We All Give Up Something

Cassie Shaw, MD

We all give up something, usually many somethings, to become doctors. It all starts with medical school where we spend hours listening to lectures, studying books, reviewing slides and reading notes. It continues into residency where we have little control over our schedules, working weekends and holidays; cherishing each of our 4 days off per […]

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September 27th, 2017

Thoughts on Caring for Sexual-Minority Patients

David Herman, MD

According to recent polling, approximately 4% of the population of the U.S. identifies as gay, lesbian, or bisexual, which equates to more than 10 million people scattered from coast to coast. In truth, this number likely underestimates the true prevalence. Despite the progress that we have made as a nation towards LGB acceptance and equality, […]

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