Month: August 2020
In a World of Social Distancing, Getting Personal in Your Residency (or Fellowship) Application
By Jaime Lewis This year is a curious year, a once in a century, one in a lifetime sort of year. And for some of you reading this blog, the year will coincide with other once in a lifetime events. I sit here tonight thinking of the fourth year medical students I advise who will soon be sending out applications for residency. Many have confirmed their field of interest, identified letter writers, and compiled their resumes. And many are also staring at blank (or nearly blank) pages on their computers, as I did just a few moments ago, trying to figure out how to write a personal statement. They are inevitably concerned that their personal statement will have more importance this year than in others. While I’m not sure if this is true, I do know that this statement is the next page in a story that will follow them...
New AWS Trainee Award Celebrating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Keeping in line with the theme “Strength in Diversity” at the AWS National Conference (virtual meeting being held September 12th and October 3rd, register here), the AWS launched a new trainee Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Award. This award is intended to celebrate medical students, residents, and fellows of diverse backgrounds; help welcome them into the community of women surgeons; and provide an avenue for leadership development. Preparation for the award has been in the works since 2019 and was built in collaboration with AWS liaisons from the Society of Asian Academic Surgeons (SAAS), The Society of Black Academic Surgeons (SBAS), the Latino Surgical Society (LSS), and the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS). Applications are due August 21st. The new award program will sponsor up to 16 trainees each year to attend the AWS Annual Conference. In conjunction with AWS, each partner society will help co-sponsor up to 4 attendees. Because...
The Jill of All Trades
By Joy Alvarado I was once a general surgery enthusiast. I stood steadfast in my belief in the renaissance surgeon, and convinced many others that our nation was in dire need of a general surgery revival. General surgeons, I told the nay-sayers, can do it all. They work on almost every part of the body, and see patients in a variety of settings, including the emergency department. Versatility and portability renders them the swiss army knives of surgery. I felt that the general surgeon’s foundational expertise in a broad variety of cases renders her far from becoming obsolete. However, the general surgeon workforce is declining. A 2018 study predicts a shortage of 2,525 general surgeons by the year 2030, and a shortage of 25,500 general surgeons by 2050. Some believe that changes in residency funding is the culprit for this decline. A report published in 1980 by the Graduate Medical...
A new program brings change for women in surgery
By the General Surgery Residents of Tower Health While female General Surgery residents still number less than their male counterparts, that is not the case at the Tower Health General Surgery residency program in West Reading, PA. The program, which began in 2019, is currently comprised of 100% female residents, after having matched an entirely female intern class in 2020. It has been interesting to observe various people’s reactions to the news of a completely female General Surgery residency, from the look of shock to the slow smile to the comments such as “well at least you won’t have any smelly boys to stink up your call room!” Although the Tower Health program may be lacking in male residents at the moment, there is still a great deal of diversity, as each of the current residents have a very different background and path to General Surgery. There are also opportunities...
Residents on the Front Lines in NYC
By Tamar Nobel, MD “In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or step back into safety.” - Abraham Maslow The darker sides of the COVID-19 pandemic have been well documented in the media by our colleagues. Although the pandemic rages on elsewhere, as New York City enters a recovery phase my objective here is to focus on the ways in which we have grown and the future impact of this experience, from my perspective as a general surgery resident-turned-COVID provider in New York City. Compassion, collegiality and community The suffering and loss experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic carried a heavy emotional toll. As providers, one of the most challenging aspects of this experience was the way hospital policies changed our ability to support and guide families through making the most difficult of decisions surrounding end-of-life care. Bans on visitation resulted in virtual solutions to...