Insights on Residency Training

April 14th, 2021

Top 21 Thoughts for ’21

Sneha Shah, MD

What I Wish I’d Known Here is my advice for medical students, interns, and senior residents. These are things I wish someone had told me. I write from the perspective of an outgoing Internal Medicine Chief. Many thanks to my co-chiefs for their input and their support throughout this year. Medical Students Be honest about your […]

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March 5th, 2021

The Season of the Second Year

Stephanie Braunthal, DO

Chief year has taught me that, although residents progress through training linearly, the educational year itself is cyclical, with predictable “seasons” that are marked by specific events and focus on different populations within the residency body. With the completion of intern orientation, the fellowship match, and residency recruitment, there is a palpable shift to the […]

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February 4th, 2021

Engaging with History: Why Do the Actions of Nazi Physicians Matter in Medicine Today?

Holland Kaplan, MD

The reflections and photos in this post are a result of the immersive experience I had via the Fellowship at Auschwitz for the Study of Professional Ethics in 2016. Many assume that Nazi physicians were antisocial, sadistic psychopaths. But viewing the perpetrators of the Holocaust as morally deficient is simply inaccurate; in fact, the Nazis physicians […]

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January 12th, 2021

Vaccine [Rollout] Reactions — In Support of Residents

Stephanie Braunthal, DO

During the first week of the U.S. national vaccine rollout, news outlets reported a protest after a major medical center’s initial COVID-19 vaccine distribution list did not include almost the entirety of their house staff. Less publicly, I have heard about additional instances across the country where trainees as a whole have been or felt […]

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December 31st, 2020

What Time Is It?

Sneha Shah, MD

How many minutes have you given yourself to read this post? There was a time when none of us could tell time. Imagine not knowing what the ever-moving hands of a clock are trying to reveal. My memories skew, but in that era before I could tell time, all I remember is laughter, effervescence, and […]

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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 19th, 2020

Where DO We Go from Here? Being an Osteopathic Physician in 2020

Stephanie Braunthal, DO

The latter portion of 2020 has brought forth an unfortunate series of comments in the news, on social media, and even in the ad of a fashionable scrub company that called into question the credibility of DOs to practice medicine and surgery and to serve as public health experts. As a proud graduate of an […]

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November 10th, 2020

Why I Wore All Black That Day

Sneha Shah, MD

The death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg Even the sharpest dressed attendings come to work donning scrubs in the time of COVID. I was no exception. Halfway through my 2 weeks on service, I appreciated the extra comfort my blue scrubs provided. Then, on September 19th, I wore all black. Those accustomed to seeing me in […]

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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 26th, 2020

Futility as a Cause of Burnout in Residency

Holland Kaplan, MD

At the beginning of my residency training, one of our program leaders defined burnout as “work out of proportion to meaning.” In a sense, I think this also defines futility – performing a disproportionate amount of work compared with the results or meaning you are deriving from the work. The proposed causes of burnout in […]

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