Older physicians often bemoan what’s perceived as a decline in professionalism during residency training. Caps on the number of inpatients assigned to an intern or resident. Duty hour limits. Wellness retreats. While these may be imperfect, they’re at least aligned with or heading in the direction of what is the right way to balance the rigors of a lifetime of training in and practicing medicine with the safety, quality, and …
In February 2024, the resident physicians in South Korea resigned in waves. This was not a strike; striking seemed meaningless, and the residents went right on quitting. This occurred after the Korean government promulgated health care reform plans to tackle major problems brewing under the nation’s universal health insurance system. One of the plans–to increase the medical school quota across the nation by 66 percent …
Although I have a deep respect for everyone who contributes to the education of our next generation of physicians, I also feel that the current hierarchy in graduate medical education is damaging U.S. health care. That is, the best students go to the best residency programs and get the best jobs and subsequently teach the best students, and so on, creating highly respected centers of excellence. That’s wonderful, but how …
As a lifelong learner who takes pride in self-directed learning, the importance of mentorship has not always been readily obvious to me. When I completed my residency and embarked on a career in academic medicine, little did I realize how important the mentorship of my then department chair, Dr. Janet Townsend, would be in terms of my career progression. In addition to supporting my commitment to staying clinically active while …
Artificial intelligence (AI) promises to revolutionize the practice of medicine by expanding our knowledge and reducing our workload. However, physicians should tread carefully and take heed of the example set by other industries. For example, AI was at the core of the negotiations in the recent 2023 Screen Actors Guild (SAG) and Writers Guild of America (WGA) strike. “AI was a dealbreaker,” said Fran Drescher, a union leader of the …
Closing a residency program can significantly disrupt a physician’s training. In 2019, the closure of Hahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia forced 570 residents to find new placements. First-year residents discovered a week before they started that the hospital was closing after its owner filed for bankruptcy.
Fast forward to January 2024. Within days, two additional residency training programs in the Philadelphia area announced closures.
Albert Einstein Medical Center said it was ending its …
Amidst significant rises in resident unionization, a policy shift is warranted to guarantee equitable compensation and overtime pay for resident physicians contending with demanding 80-hour workweeks. On October 13, 2023, California Governor Gavin Newsom made history by signing California Senate Bill No. 525 (SB 525) into law. This monumental legislation will increase the minimum wage for California health care employees to $25 per hour. While SB 525 addresses the …
I, like many of my peers in medicine, am a terrible sleeper.
And it’s no wonder, after all. I spent the better part of my twenties and thirties training my brain not to give in to sleep when I needed it. Then, in the rare hours I did sleep, I was forced to wake at a moment’s notice and go from deep sleep to high alert. Sometimes, I was asked to …
Considering that the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) primarily evaluates candidates’ general medical knowledge, there is a growing need to introduce specialty-specific pre-training examinations (PTEs). This is because the USMLE’s focus on overall medical knowledge may not accurately predict the performance of applicants in their specialty-specific in-training examinations (ITEs). The introduction of PTEs could serve as a more reliable indicator of applicants’ commitment and aptitude for their chosen specialties. …
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Heather Furnas, an adjunct clinical associate professor at Stanford and an aesthetic surgeon, joins us as we delve into the intricate world of recommendation letters, biases in evaluations, and their impact on diverse fields. Heather lends her …
In recent years, the disparities between doctor of osteopathy (DO) and doctor of medicine (MD) applicants in securing coveted residency slots across various medical subspecialties have garnered increased attention. Despite the acceptance of DO-trained physicians within the broader medical community, there remains a significant discrepancy in match rates between DO and MD applicants in highly competitive specialties. This disparity is complex and multifaceted, requiring efforts from every level of the …
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We discuss the striking similarities between the Kentucky Derby and the challenges of medical training. Our guest, Corinne Sundar Rao, an internal medicine physician, shares valuable insights based on her expertise. We explore the shared traits of …
The debate surrounding graduate medical education (GME) revolves around whether one should dedicate themselves to their current residency or focus on future fellowship opportunities. This confusion becomes more pronounced after completing fellowship programs, especially in inpatient settings, where specialists consult with generalists who have completed residency programs and obtained board certification without pursuing further specialization.
The fundamental question is whether generalists should be regarded and treated as specialists. Looking towards the …
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Join Kelley Butler, a family medicine resident and member of the Committee of Interns and Residents/SEIU, as we delve into the financial struggles faced by health care workers, focusing on the experiences of resident physicians. We discuss …
The query surrounding graduate medical education (GME) programs and their faculty revolves around whether they truly recognize the value of residents. Assessing their value can be subjective as well as objective. Here are some questions that programs, faculty, and residents should contemplate before drawing their own conclusions.
Do health care institutions incur financial losses when they have residents who cannot directly bill health care payers for their services, compared to institutions …
I remember it like it was yesterday. Orientation had concluded, and it was showtime. Officially July 1st. It felt like all the cramming from the last few weeks was sitting astutely in my upper chest. My breathing was fairly shallow, and my brain was in an emotional fog, resembling a salad. Internal neon flash signs were going off every few seconds.
Many of these thoughts went like, “This is where they …
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“Say her name,” “She didn’t deserve this,” and “The system failed you” were the sentiments expressed on social media by resident physicians and trainees in medicine on the death of Dr. Nakita Mortimer, an advocate, mentor, physician trainee union organizer, and Black woman resident physician who tragically ended her life on May 26, 2023.
This narrative is all too common within medicine’s ivory tower, as suicide is the Read more…
Letters of recommendation help open gates to university admissions, jobs, and scholarships. Now that more colleges are ditching SAT/ACT requirements and medical schools are grading pass/fail, these letters will likely rise in importance. As a decision-maker myself, I rely on a letter writer’s personal judgment in vouching for (or not mentioning) an applicant’s work ethic, experience, and character.
At least I did—until the subject of one of my own letters …
The ABIM (American Board of Internal Medicine) Certification exam is not always about the assessment of your knowledge but also about knowing the right strategies, which are keys to success. I passed the ABIM Board Certification Exam without any review course. I had to sign up to work as an attending physician on July 1st due to my financial and visa limitations.
In this article, I will discuss effective preparation methods …
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As a therapist and physician spouse who works with physicians and physician couples, I’ve seen the excitement and difficulty of exiting medical training and becoming an attending. The shift is a celebratory culmination of the physician’s hard work and a jarring transition with its unique challenges. Here are six things a new attending can do to recover from their residency experience and build a thriving next chapter.
1. Process …
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