Resident Corner
Better Good Than Lucky
In a 1978 report, psychologist Dr. Pauline Clance shared her observation that high-achieving women in the workplace were often reticent to acknowledge their own personal or professional successes.
MAY 16, 2022
Neverisms, Alwaysisms And the Dangers of Absolutisms in Surgery
“I’m just a product of my training.” I’ve heard this phrase, or a version of it, more than a few times in general surgery residency.
MAY 4, 2021
Lessons in Insignificance
The residents’ mail was delivered halfway through morning clinic, and I opened a letter from a regional referral center in my area. I had referred a patient months ago for consideration for organ transplant, and this letter was informing me that he/she was not currently eligible but could be at some point in the future. This was a monumental decision after months of studies and appointments.
OCTOBER 8, 2020
Stories of Surgery
Most will recall that in the Greek epic poem, “The Odyssey,” the warrior Odysseus is desperately trying to return home after war.
AUGUST 31, 2020
Residency During COVID-19: Business as (Un)Usual
The restructuring of university hospitals as a result of COVID-19 forced residency programs across the United States to quickly adapt, in terms of both manpower and academics.
JULY 6, 2020
Birds, Balance and Burnout
When I was on my general surgery sub-internship as a fourth-year medical student, the residents advised me to avoid listing hobbies on my curriculum vitae because, in their words, “program directors resent things that take time away from the hospital.”
APRIL 16, 2020
Hire for Attitude, Train for Skill?
This advertisement appeared in the London papers during the winter of 1913. Irish explorer Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton printed the ad in the hope of building a team capable of crossing the continent of Antarctica from sea to sea. Shockingly, he received over 5,000 responses. Thirty-four days after embarking, the ship became entrapped by ice, causing Shackleton and his 28 men to abandon ship. The events that followed can only be described as a tribute to human survival. Traveling by foot and improvised rafts, the crew survived for 20 months in subzero weather. In the end, every single one of his men came back alive. He called the ship the S.S. Endurance after his family’s motto: Fortitudine vincimus, or “by endurance we conquer.”
FEBRUARY 27, 2020
The Future of ‘See One, Do One, Teach One’
For decades, the phrase “see one, do one, teach one” was as much a part of the residency experience as pagers and call rooms.
DECEMBER 23, 2019
Advanced Practice Providers in Surgical Residency
Advanced practice providers, also referred to as nonphysician clinicians, play an increasingly important role in the delivery of accessible and affordable health care in the United States.
OCTOBER 25, 2019
Being a Surgeon in a Technician’s World
As much as I would like to think that I don’t perpetuate the “bitter junior resident” stereotype, I am not immune. I wrote these observations in the hope of finding a strand of greatness that lingers in the stories of older, senior surgeons.
AUGUST 7, 2019
The Place of Research During Surgical Residency
Four years ago, as an intern, the presentation and diagnosis seemed novel, uncommon. One case report and $800 later, I could proudly say I was a published resident. A line was added to my CV, and I was praised for my work at a six-month evaluation.
JUNE 10, 2019
Thoughts on Surgical Mentorship
For a long time, the process of mentoring surgeons has been a mantelpiece of the profession, predating any structured education in the United States and Europe.
APRIL 11, 2019
