Insights on Residency Training

November 24th, 2020

“They Don’t Make ‘Em Like They Used To”

Vivek Sant, MD

“When I was your age, I walked to school uphill both ways, barefoot in the snow!” One of my favorite anecdotes from my attendings is about the cardiothoracic ICU experience in the ’80s and ’90s. Reportedly, each resident would arrive on day 1 of the rotation and would remain in the ICU for 30 straight […]

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November 4th, 2020

The Rise of the Fall

Masood Pasha Syed, MBBS

Having matched into a residency in New England, I was super excited to experience all the seasons. I grew up in tropical countries where we had two seasons — “rainy season” and  “not-so-rainy season” — both of them superimposed on reasonably warm temperatures. Three years out of residency and still in New England, I enjoy […]

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October 7th, 2020

“We Did Everything We Could.”

Vivek Sant, MD

Can we do better when delivering bad news in trauma? On a recent trauma call, we had a busy night, culminating in a horrific motorcycle trauma that came in early in the morning. The patient had devastating injuries and ended up dying. The detectives finally tracked down the patient’s family. I cleaned myself up, put […]

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September 3rd, 2020

“Never Waste a Crisis”: Perspectives from History and Today

Holland Kaplan, MD

The mantra “Never waste a crisis” has stuck with me for the past several months. This statement was reportedly made by Winston Churchill in the 1940s, during World War II. However, a well-known internal medicine faculty member and leader at Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. David Hyman, who recently passed away, also gave us this […]

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August 27th, 2020

“Use The Force”: How Do We Teach in the Operating Room?

Vivek Sant, MD

As I embark on my chief year in general surgery, the aspect I look forward to most is taking junior residents through operations. I am grateful to have had excellent teachers over the past 5 years, and I appreciate the opportunity to pay forward this mentorship. But taking what you have learned and teaching someone […]

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August 12th, 2020

Welcome! Chief Residents for 2020-2021 Join the Panel

Charleen Hamilton

The editors and staff of NEJM Journal Watch warmly welcome our new panel of Chief Residents for the 2020-2021 academic year. This will be a challenging year for all healthcare professionals, and we are grateful that these five dedicated, talented, and busy physicians have agreed to share their concerns and triumphs with the NEJM Journal […]

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June 10th, 2020

Resident Wellness Doesn’t Need to Be Expensive or Elaborate

Daniel Orlovich, MD, PharmD

“We’re not like Stanford” she said to me as we sat next to each other during our breakout session. My cheeks reddened. Somehow, suddenly, I felt as if I became the embodiment of my entire institution. And my furrowed brow revealed my surprise. Her tone softened. “What I mean is, resident wellness is easier when the program […]

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May 27th, 2020

Virtual Residency Recruitment in the Time of COVID

Prarthna Bhardwaj, MD

COVID-19 has undeniably altered life as we know it. As if getting into residency wasn’t hard enough already, COVID has made it a notch harder. Graduate Medical Education across the nation is preferably adopting video interviews for a virtual residency recruitment. This noncontact change was further endorsed by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC). What […]

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February 26th, 2020

Medicare for All: The Healthcare Our Nation Needs

Frances Ue, MD, MPH

Over a month into the new year and feels like the world around us is in grave peril. There are many reasons to lose hope: the climate crisis with Australia’s wildfires, the evolving COVID-19 epidemic, the acquittal of the President’s impeachment charges, and the list goes on. Combined with long hours, sick patients, and seemingly never-ending […]

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February 18th, 2020

How Can Attendings Affect Resident Burnout?

Daniel Orlovich, MD, PharmD

A Sad Short Story Harvard medical school. Stanford general surgery training. Northwestern vascular surgery fellowship. Suicide. This devastating path, taken by a 33-year-old trainee in 2010, is not unique. An estimated one physician commits suicide every single day in the U.S. alone (JAMA 2014; 312:1725). A number of these lives are taken on the hospital premises, places […]

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