June 24th, 2020
Top 10 Tips for New Interns and Residents in the COVID Era
Frances Ue, MD, MPH
The month of June is traditionally an exciting time of transition across the country. A time where we welcome a new class of bright-eyed interns, and say goodbye to our senior graduates — who have become shining stars and leaders in our communities. This year, however, is unique, with the start of the new academic year […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
March 5th, 2020
Should We Avoid Exposing Residents to Coronavirus?
Eric Bressman, MD
The arrival of the novel coronavirus to the U.S., and the inevitability of its eventual spread, raises an interesting question: Should we avoid exposing residents to the virus? Before we try to answer this question, we should start with some important qualifiers. While a good deal about this novel virus remains unknown, the majority of […]
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, […]
November 26th, 2019
Of Metrics and Medicine
Eric Bressman, MD
One of the least motivating requests I received routinely as a new intern was something like, “… and can we make sure this is a discharge before noon?” I recall a particularly eager nursing manager surveying the resident teams on her unit to gauge our interest in arriving even earlier each morning (5 AM, perhaps?) […]
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. […]
January 5th, 2019
I Call BS on Work–Life Balance
Ellen Poulose-Redger, MD
Physician wellbeing, burnout, and “work-life balance” are pretty common topics in training. We start at intern orientation, discussing how to work 80 hours a week, eat, sleep, exercise, and still have some semblance of a social life. It’s like we’ve forgotten the origins of our job title: “resident” or “house staff” — implying that, until recently […]
December 20th, 2018
Medicine Robbed Me of My 20s
Scott Hippe, MD
“Medicine robbed me of my 20s.” I’ve heard the line many times in my medical training. It often comes accompanied by a long sigh, a slow sip of coffee, and a glazed stare off into the distance. “Imagine what could’ve been,” the seasoned physician muses, “if I had my 20s to do over, without medicine.” But now, […]