Insights on Residency Training

July 1st, 2020

Dual Crises and the Call for Resident Unionization

Eric Bressman, MD

On March 20th, as the chaos of the unfolding pandemic enveloped New York City, Governor Cuomo issued Executive Order 202.10, which, among other directives, temporarily suspended work hour restrictions for medical residents in New York State. These regulations, which had been enacted 30 years prior, were the consequence of the journalist Sidney Zion’s well-publicized crusade […]

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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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April 30th, 2020

Why Is Burnout Still Occurring, Even with Work-Hour Restrictions?

Daniel Orlovich, MD, PharmD

“Daniel, this guy is one… sick… puppy,” he stated emphatically, drawing out the last three words.  I put my phone down and turned my chair away from the computer. He had my attention. Not because I haven’t taken care of any sick patients before, but because this statement was coming from him. I’m sure your hospital has […]

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April 24th, 2020

Pass or Fail — USMLE Step 1

Allison Latimore, MD

We All Take Tests In January 2020, it was announced by the US Medical Licensing Examination that USMLE Step 1 scoring would change from a 3-digit score to pass or fail. I’m sure some budding and current medical students are jumping for joy. Some residents and attendings probably are brooding jealously, thinking of all the stress, […]

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February 6th, 2020

I’m Graduating from Residency! What’s Next?

Prarthna Bhardwaj, MD

My whole life, I have always wanted to do something that will be remembered. Becoming a physician was a hard but well-thought-out choice. Toward the end of my residency, I knew I wanted to be a hematologist-oncologist, but I had no idea what type of career pathway I wanted to pursue. During the APDIM Chief Resident Annual Meeting last year, […]

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January 31st, 2020

Sorry, We’re Transitioning

Allison Latimore, MD

“We are transitioning.” In July of my intern year, this was the sentence that the CEO of our community hospital used to tell the staff that the hospital was closing its inpatient services. The emotions that traversed my mind were quite vast, to say the least. Anger was undeniably at the top of the list, […]

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December 12th, 2019

Why Did I Spend an Extra Year as a Chief Resident?

Prarthna Bhardwaj, MD

I was in conversation with a residency applicant recently when we broached the topic of my career plans. I explained that I was interested in pursuing a hematology/oncology fellowship in the future. He asked “Why did you do a chief year, then? Were you trying to improve your application?” At first, I was somewhat offended, […]

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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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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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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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