Insights on Residency Training

January 29th, 2016

Zaatari: Day 2 with Syrian Refugees

Ahmad Yousaf, MD

This is my second post about my trip to the Zaatari Refugee camp in Jordan with the Syrian American Medical Society (SAMS). I will continue to share my daily journal entries with you in hopes of educating the American medical and nonmedical communities about what I saw, erasing the irrational fears that have guided the discussion […]

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January 22nd, 2016

Today’s Medical Care — A Trap for the Sick and Elderly ?

Andrew Ip, MD

One of the great things about serving as chief resident this year is the opportunity to attend wards.  Below is a short story about a patient that was admitted to my team for less than 1 hour, but whose impact on me will last the rest of my career: In November, I had the privilege to […]

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January 15th, 2016

Zaatari: Day 0–1

Ahmad Yousaf, MD

“I am going to a Syrian refugee camp.” The words came out of my mouth without hesitation, and my wife’s reaction is exactly what I expected… She already knew. After 5 years of marriage and 8 years of being stuck with me, she knew how I was going to react when I saw the medical mission […]

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December 29th, 2015

Holiday Reflection

Briana Buckner, MD

Once a year, we have this very exciting period of time filled with holiday fun. The holidays bring families together, children get excited for Santa Claus, and the parking lots of malls make you think really hard about every gift you are seeking to buy. Despite all this excitement, the holidays can mean something a tad […]

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December 18th, 2015

Morbidity and Mortality

Ahmad Yousaf, MD

He nervously shifted in his position in front of the audience of his peers. His voice was a little shaky, and the few words trying to escape his lips were chewed and swallowed. He was narrating a case in which a colleague’s sense of urgency, or rather, her lack thereof, likely negatively affected his patient. She […]

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December 15th, 2015

Frequent Flier

Ahmad Yousaf, MD

The name of the patient has been changed to preserve his privacy. “Donald passed away.” We had been sitting in the chiefs’ office with a few of the attendings who had all had Donald on their service at one time or another. Everybody exhaled a collective sigh, soaking in the sting of the knowledge of Don’s death; then, […]

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November 27th, 2015

A Generation of Softies

Ahmad Yousaf, MD

I watch as my almost-2-year-old daughter awkwardly climbs the stairs. I do not hold her hand, but I do not turn my back on her either. She is still clumsy, and her little bowed legs often miss their targeted landing spots. She holds on to the rail with a vice grip that steadies each monumental […]

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November 20th, 2015

Crossover

Raktim Ghosh, MD

My final year of residency is almost halfway complete. The job market for 2016 is heating up. For last month, I have been starting my day by browsing job websites and checking emails from the recruiters. After completing two residencies in two different specialties and one research fellowship, I want to get an academic hospital medicine position, but choosing […]

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November 13th, 2015

Procedural Competency

Briana Buckner, MD

It’s 2 am, and the patient’s blood pressure is beginning to rapidly decrease. Every IV line is occupied by an antibiotic or IV fluids, and we are in need of a vasoactive medication. The nurse comes to my computer and sternly states, “We can no longer avoid it. I think the patient needs a central […]

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October 23rd, 2015

Musings from Japan

Gregory Shumer, MD

I spent the first two weeks of October in rural Shizuoka, Japan, rotating through clinics and hospitals in Mori-machi and Kikugawa, and observing medical education at Hamamatsu Medical School.  The University of Michigan Department of Family Medicine has a unique and positive relationship with the Shizuoka Family Medicine residency program that allows for collaboration.  I […]

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