mentorship
The Ideal Team Player
By Jean Miner, MD In all aspects of our lives, we are members of a “team”. We are members of our family “team” first and then head to school at a young age and are paired off on the playground. Many of us joined teams throughout our lives for sports, debate, math, dance, etc… As we get older, we start to value the importance of teamwork to accomplish goals or projects. Think about the college chemistry lab partners or the members of a committee who helped (or hindered) meet deadlines or complete tasks. As surgeons, we are always members of a team- in the operating room, clinic, and patient wards. Ultimately, in life we belong to numerous teams.Recently, the members of the AWS Clinical Practice Committee (CPC) held a book club discussion using The Ideal Team Player by Patrick Lencioni. Our lively discussion quickly turned into a focus on leadership...
So you want to be a Surgeon in the United States? 6 Tips to Succeed as an International Medical Graduate (IMG)
By Sristi Sharma Congratulations! Your ambition of becoming a surgeon in the United States has finally brought you to this country. You have left your family, your life and everything behind to train in an environment that is completely new to you. You know that you have a steep learning curve ahead of you-be it clinical, personal or social. So how do you navigate this new phase of your career? There are unique challenges that come with being an IMG in the States. Here are 6 tips that will help you become the best surgical trainee you can be: Be good…no excellent…at what you do! Know your subject inside out and practice your surgical skills . Challenge yourself to learn more everyday. There is no substitute for hard work, and as a foreign medical graduate you will have to work even harder to prove yourself everyday. Learn the system: Do...
AWS Day of Service 9/9/17
By Simin G. Roward Being a medical student is challenging: between studying, rotations and research, it seems there isn’t enough time for everything. Often, it's easy to lose track of why we chose this profession in the first place. Community service and engagement are put on hold amidst other pressing responsibilities. The goal of the AWS National Day of Service is to designate a day on which medical students from all over the country would come together with residents and attendings and make service to others a priority. The members of AWS are compassionate, humanistic leaders, who chose the field of surgery because of the ability to make lasting improvements in people's health and to provide a vital service to communities. These positive characteristics were exemplified in last year’s AWS National Day of Service event, where students nationwide provided much needed services and donations to their community. These service events...
Perception of Personal Success in Burnout
By Shree Agrawal In the preclinical years of medical school, the idea of burnout among healthcare workers is more of an abstract concept. The unique environment of healthcare, regardless of specialty or academic/private practice settings, has been shown to make all healthcare providers vulnerable to burnout.(1)(2) In my observations on clinical rotations, it seems highly successful peers, trainees, and faculty, who may have multiple publications, excellent clinical skills, and a strong work ethic, can also be the same individuals who unexpectedly experience burnout. Interactions with someone who does not realize they may actually be experiencing burnout are challenging, even for individuals who are at the fray of most clinical situations. Some of the key manifestations of burnout include emotional exhaustion, cynicism, depersonalization or isolation, feelings of ineffectiveness, and lack of accomplishment, as shown in Figure 1.(3) Some of these features are difficult to fully notice in brief professional interactions with...
My First Delivery Was My Own: A Medical Student’s Journey into Motherhood
By Grace K DeHoff, MS III I had my first child in November of my 2nd year of medical school. My husband and I tried to plan for a winter break baby but were surprised a little earlier. With plenty of open communication with my school, an unbelievable support system in my husband and my classmates, and more multitasking than I ever knew was possible, I had my child and was able to return to school full time after two weeks off. I was able to make up the missed work over Christmas break. The experience taught me a lot about why so few women decide to have children during medical school. Unfortunately, the alternative to waiting until after residency leaves many women delaying pregnancy to their their late 30s to 40s. Complication rates, infertility and genetic disorders all increase with increasing maternal age. This leaves female physicians with a...
The History of the Match and the Perspective From One Medical Student’s Journey
By Hilary McCrary, MPH Throughout all of medical school, I always looked up to the current fourth year students. They seemed so seasoned and prepared to make the transition from student to doctor. The fourth year of medical school is also highly anticipated, as it is what medical students perceive as the first time they are solely focusing on their chosen career and traveling across the country for either away rotations or interviews. Now that I am towards the end of this process, I have had time to reflect on all of the components that go into the Match and what is takes to get there. The Match process was created in 1952 as a way to address concerns related to institutions offering a spot for residency training earlier than other competing institutions.1 This previous design put pressure on applicants to accept multiple appointments, as positions were typically offered over...
The Greenberg Spike: How speaking out on implicit bias and gender equity in surgery continues to trend
By Marissa A. Boeck When #ILookLikeASurgeon went viral in August 2015, many expected a short lived hashtag. Yet Dr. Caprice Greenberg, the president of the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS), has shown the conversation on diversity, inclusion, and equity in surgery is far from over. During the recent AAS and Society of University Surgeons (SUS) 12th annual conference in Las Vegas, Nevada around 2,000 medical students, residents, fellows, and attendings gathered to network, mentor, collaborate, and discuss academic surgery. Despite the abundance of stiff competition, the AAS Presidential Address “Sticky Floors and Glass Ceilings” by Dr. Greenberg stole the show. All those packed into the large event hall immediately knew the focus: women in surgery. This subject continues to be pertinent and necessary to discuss despite many notable advances, such as both the current and incoming presidents of the AAS and SUS being female. Yet Dr. Greenberg steered the conversation...
The Intersection of Race and Gender in Surgery
By Mohini Dasari In light of February being Black History Month, I was inspired to write about the intersection of race and gender in surgery. As a woman of color currently applying to surgical residency programs, the issues of diversity and gender have been on my mind for quite some time. While diversity can also refer to socioeconomic status, religion and sexual orientation, I will be focusing on one definition of diversity: race/ethnicity. Why does race matter? Do we live in a post-racial society, where we can all identify together under broader terms such as “women”? Can all women identify under the single label of “women in surgery” within a traditionally male-dominated field? While I would like to say yes, for the sake of unity, I must say “yes and no.” Whenever I go to national meetings, or when I was on the interview trail, I usually count how many...
Coming soon! AWS on Facebook
By Cornelia Griggs Like most surgical residents, I used to think of social media as an easy way to connect with friends, to discover interesting articles, and a way to occupy my hands during the (few) idle moments of my day. Whether it was scrolling through Instagram while waiting for an elevator or checking out articles on Facebook before I fell asleep at night, social media was just a casual time filler. Over the past year, however, social media has played an increasingly important role in my professional world. Shortly after I had my daughter in October, one of my attendings added me to a secret group on Facebook for surgeon mothers. The group is an offshoot of a hugely popular community that many of you may have heard about- the Physician Moms Group, which now has over 60,000 members. As Dr. Stephanie Bonne described in her blog post last...
An Open Letter to Young Women Considering a Career in Surgery
This post originally appeared in Hot Heels, Cool Kicks, & a Scalpel Dear Young Woman Considering a Career in Surgery, It was lovely to meet you the other day. Many times a month, a young woman just like you comes to me with similar interests and concerns. “I really love surgery,” she says, ” But I am afraid of the lifestyle and I really want to have a family.” Oh, and thank you for also inviting me to speak at your seminar the other day on Women in Traditionally Male Dominated Fields. I have been speaking at similar panel sessions since 2005 when I was a bit of a novelty at my training program as a clinical PGY-4 with an infant daughter. Your collective curiosity on what my life must be like is of great interest to me because to me it’s just my life. It’s the only reality that...
