During her year as a chief resident at Yale School of Medicine (YSM), Priyadarshini Balasubramanian, MD, was caring for patients at Bridgeport Hospital while the COVID-19 pandemic was in its initial surge.
Before the pandemic, there was one medical intensive care unit at the hospital, which is part of Yale New Haven Health System. “We had to open multiple COVID units,” said Balasubramanian, a clinical fellow in diabetes, endocrinology, and metabolism in the Section of Endocrinology & Metabolism in the Department of Internal Medicine at YSM.
As chief resident, one of her main concerns was the well-being of the residents she supervised who also were caring for patients on the COVID wards. She found herself changing their work schedules almost every day. “I wanted to make sure that the residents were not too fatigued because they were doing so much critical care,” she said. “We wanted to give them sufficient breaks so they could relax and recuperate before they went back on service again.”
Balasubramanian remembers those early days of the pandemic as being not only exhausting and medically challenging, but heartbreaking as well.
“A lot of patients were by themselves, no visitors were allowed,” she said. “I could see patients who were critically ill, but they were chatting on FaceTime with their families because their families could not visit them. It was really hard.”
Balasubramanian’s chief residency ended in June 2020. She began a two-year clinical fellowship in July 2020. She will begin a new phase of her career as an assistant professor in the Section of Endocrinology and Metabolism in July of 2022.
Balasubramanian looks forward to seeing patients in both inpatient and outpatient settings. She expects to see patients with pituitary disorders and diabetes and also at endocrine clinics, where she will treat thyroid, parathyroid, and adrenal disorders. She enjoys teaching and hopes to have the opportunity to train residents and fellows someday.
“Yale was my first choice for a fellowship because I was really impressed by all the attendings and their knowledge and their willingness to teach,” she said. “I feel like you learn a lot when you're with residents and fellows because they constantly ask you questions, and it forces you to keep updated.”
Her experiences as a resident and fellow at YSM paved the way for a career at Yale. “I really enjoy the department of internal medicine. It’s very friendly; like a family. I feel very comfortable being here,” she said.
As her career progresses, Balasubramanian would like to specialize in women’s health, specifically endocrine disorders in pregnancy. “I’m fascinated by pregnancy physiology,” she said. “Pregnancy physiology is totally different from normal adult physiology,” she explained. “A lot of our hormones change during pregnancy in order to adapt to the pregnant state and also to give nutrients to your baby.” She developed a special interest in this area after she saw a case of congenital adrenal hyperplasia in pregnancy. “It's totally different from how you manage adult endocrine patients,” she said.
Balasubramanian has recent, first-hand experience with pregnancy, having had a baby three months ago. “I know how difficult it is to be pregnant and to go through all those changes in your body,” she said. “Most of those changes are hormone-related -- it's all endocrine. And I feel like I would like to do something to make women’s lives better.”
In her free time, Balasubramanian enjoys listening to Indian classical music and singing, having been classically trained as a musician and vocalist in India. “I hope to teach my son some Indian classical music, if I can,” she said.
Yale’s Section of Endocrinology & Metabolism works to improve the health of individuals with endocrine and metabolic diseases by advancing scientific knowledge; applying new information to patient care; and training the next generation of physicians and scientists to become leaders in the field. To learn more about their work, visit Endocrinology & Metabolism.