Insights on Residency Training

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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February 19th, 2019

Do You Have a Peer Mentor? Do You Need One?

Cassandra Fritz, MD

Cassandra Fritz, MD, is a Chief Resident at Barnes-Jewish Hospital and Washington University Medical School in St. Louis, MO Mentorship is a common topic in medicine. We, as a profession, spend significant time discussing, attending workshops about, and researching the role of mentorship. Mentorship is key to personal development, career choice, and improved academic productivity. Yet, it wasn’t […]

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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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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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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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September 18th, 2017

Beast Mode Is Back! When Actions Speak Louder

John Junyoung Lee, MD

Cal Football I bleed blue and gold. No, I am not talking about Michigan, West Virginia, or Notre Dame. I am definitely not talking about UCLA Bruins (by the way, UCLA fans, a bruin is a brown bear). That’s right — I am a die-hard Cal Bears fan. Thanks to Cal football, and particularly to legendary Marshawn […]

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May 16th, 2017

Constructive Criticism

Joseph Cooper, MD

Here are some questions that are still on my mind as I approach the tail end of my chief year. I’m thinking about the best ways to offer constructive feedback. What is the best way to approach a struggling learner? What is the best way to give guidance and feedback without being perceived as a tyrant […]

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February 24th, 2017

Z71.1: Worried Well

April Edwards, MD

I took my dog to the vet today. You’d think this would be a straightforward sort of thing for a medical professional. You’d be wrong. When I woke my dog up at 5:15am (my new daily start time, as it’s apparently the only way I can find time to do board questions, and is also the […]

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December 22nd, 2016

“Pimping”: Malignant or Not?

Joseph Cooper, MD

One of the most respected and skilled clinician-educators (and, of course, he is an Infectious Diseases specialist) at our institute came into my office, sat down, and immediately starting eating pretzels. “Let me know what you think about this,” he said between bites. He went on to recapitulate a recent interaction he had with the members […]

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