June 29th, 2022
The Talent Code of Residency Training
Abdullah Al-abcha, MD
After spending 4 to 6 years in medical school, physicians typically spend 3 to 7 years in residency training. Residency training is a crucial step that shapes us as physicians. We spend long hours at the hospital taking care of patients, and we learn directly from these encounters. We also spend a lot of hours […]
May 4th, 2022
Insights from the AAFP Physician Health and Well-Being Conference
Mikita Arora, MD
Physician well-being has long been an issue in all medical fields, but especially in primary care — the concept of well-being is to heal the healers. Right now, this is especially important to those who have are burdened with burnout and the COVID-19 pandemic. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend the […]
April 26th, 2022
Enjoy the Journey – You Deserve It
Brandon Temte, DO
A few years back, I was a third-year medical student, exhausted on my general surgery rotation. I woke up at 4 am to the sound and smell of my coffee maker, muttering to myself, “only 1 week left.” I did not intend to become a surgeon, but I showed up early each day to get […]
February 18th, 2021
The Human Side of Medicine — Grieving the Loss of Our Patients
Masood Pasha Syed, MBBS
“The life of the dead is placed in the memories of the living” — Marcus Tullius Cicero Growing up in a family of physicians, I was exposed early to healthcare from the provider side. Some days, my father would come home late after a long surgery with an unanticipated complication or an unexpected outcome and would […]
September 11th, 2020
Emotional Intelligence During a Pandemic
Masood Pasha Syed, MBBS
“We are the keepers of each other’s future,” my program director said in her speech on our graduation day. These words have resonated in my mind and inspired me in laying the foundation for my chief residency year. We all have the opportunity and responsibility to teach and learn from each other. I remember the […]
August 5th, 2020
Can We Rename Resident Burnout, Please?
Daniel Orlovich, MD, PharmD
It is time we stopped framing resident burnout in a certain way. Let’s be honest, the current descriptions give us nothing to build on. How is burnout currently framed? In a strict academic sense, we are guided by clear, globally accepted definitions. We are familiar with Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, depersonalization, emotional exhaustion, and reduced personal […]
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 […]
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 […]