I said in my last post that I would have more to say about the importance of our education mission, especially as it gets so much focus at the end of an academic year. In some ways last month’s medical school graduation was the appetizer to the main course of our residency and fellowship graduations this month. Many of us form strong bonds with our medical students, of course, but our residents and fellows get far more of our time. These trainees are members of our department, our colleagues. We work side by side almost daily with our residents from their intern year on and, if we have done our job well, those same residents often join one of our fellowship programs and even our faculty. For anywhere from three to six years or more, we shepherd these physicians at the start of their careers through some of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of their professional lives. It is an immense privilege and arguably one of the main reasons so many of us choose and then stay in academic medicine.
It is important that we celebrate the milestones of our residency and fellowship graduates. Their achievements in large and small ways represent immense mental, physical, and emotional effort and are the output of years and years of study and training. A trainee perseveres through moments of self-doubt, finds determination and new paths in setbacks, and never rests for too long in satisfaction when they inevitably find success. I remember cycling through all those moments and more in my residency and fellowship days. But in each of those downs and those ups, I can remember always being able to connect with those people who had been right where I was. My peers, of course, my compatriots who were currently dealing with the same thing, but also my mentors, both formal and informal, who were ready to cheer or to console depending on what I needed. Those bonds never break, and I am still grateful for their influence and support.
Photo for reflection
Bonds can form because of our shared experience. Someone else knows exactly how you feel because they encountered an identical moment themselves. Dr. Paul Rothman, a former Internal Medicine Chair here, recently sent me a copy of the photo below he found during an office clean-out. About 13 years ago, these six men posed in what we now call the Library, one of our conference rooms, each of them knowing some of what the others had faced. From left to right, you can see Drs. Frank Abboud, Jeff Field, Mark Anderson, Peter Densen, Paul Rothman, and Jim Clifton. How many problems were solved between the six of these leaders? How much creativity and diplomacy did they bring to bear on a daily basis? How many faculty members, some still currently serving here today, did they recruit? How many did they watch progress through the ranks of faculty advancement? These are the questions that I think about when I look at this photo, the road this department has traveled for more than 150 years.
Upi’s “Oh, WOW” moment
And then I think about our present and the future. I am still so impressed by the breadth of activity that goes on in this department, the scope of our research, and the fertile ground that exists here for projects. Especially those projects led by our junior faculty and trainees in the realm of education. Last week’s annual GME Leadership Symposium brought our leadership in this area into focus. Two of our department’s members’ posters took first and second place in the poster competition, well done! If you scroll the abstract guide, you can see a number of problems being confronted from many angles by our colleagues. Everything from becoming better teachers of medicine here and in other countries to how to better understand complex and difficult-to-define conditions like sarcoidosis. Our department’s quality in education has many measures and they all point to why we are among the very best in the nation. This is a great time to be reminded just how good you all are at what you do.
Next week we will celebrate our residency graduates. Judging by the stories I have heard and seen from years’ past, the evening promises to be filled with laughter, some tears, and another reminder of many of the things I write about here today. Tonight, this weekend, and over the next few weeks, our divisions will also gather to celebrate their graduating fellows. We will provide recaps and photos for as many of these events as we can get to. Stay tuned for those slideshows but take lots of photos yourselves too! I hope you all have a great time and remember how important even these moments of reflection are to the important work we do.