Hi Everyone,
If I’ve learned anything as a program director, it’s that recruitment is everything. Residency hours are long and patients are sick. We face pandemics, crowded hospitals, and threats to clinical and research funding. But with smart, resilient, kind residents, we will flourish.
Our residency has a storied history of graduates who have become international leaders in research, education, innovation, and clinical medicine. As residents, they helped create many of our program’s crown jewels: Refugee Clinic, the Distinctions, Arts Night, the Beeson Bombers, the Beeson Beat, Color Block Retreats, and more. They worked with leadership to eliminate 28-hour-call (RIP), tweak the VA admission structure (almost there), and create innovative rotations (DEFINE-HM, Cardiology Blue, and more). They helped improve work climate (Women in Trad IM), upgrade outpatient learning (Education Half Days), and foster wellness (Color Block Events).
We thrive because of resident leadership on the Executive Council, Program Evaluation Committee, Welcoming Committee, Wellness Committee, and the Resident Procedure Team. We flourish because of residents who lead interest groups and task forces to improve education, evaluations, and sign out.
Every day I hear about residents who are recognized by nursing leadership for their collaboration, response to emergencies, and support for stressed patients and families. I hear about residents who step up when colleagues are overwhelmed, take extra steps to ensure safe discharges, and speak up when they witness mistreatment. Every day, I learn from residents at report and swell with pride when they present their research.
I hope to finish the rank list today. It’s quite the task. We interview hundreds of applicants, and to rank them, we need to score each candidate on their clinical performance, scholarship, leadership, personal statement, interview scores and more. But it’s not the sheer volume that makes the task hard; it’s hard because the candidates are all spectacular. They’ve excelled on clerkships, aced Step 2, published extensively, led clinics and interest groups, and served in national organizations. Their personal statements are a joy to read. Many have traveled long distances, literally and figuratively, to reach this point. Their letters of recommendation fill me with hope for the future of our residency and profession: the brilliant, idealistic, compassionate physicians who will join us in June.
So, how do we make the list? In short, we transform each domain into a number, which is weighted with a formula:
=F2:F567*100+(G2:G567^2)*50+((H2:H567)/2)^1.25+(I2:I567^1.75)*15+(J2:J567^1.75)*15+(K2:K567^1.75)*5+ L2:L567*5+ M2:M567*10+ N2:N567*10+ O2:O567*10+(P2:P567^1.75)*125+ Q2:Q567*100+R2:R567*100
The formula generates a score and the score generates a rank, which I hope to post and certify today or tomorrow.
Our talented applicants can go to just about any residency they want, and we’ve worked hard since early October to show the candidates all the opportunities they’ll have to learn and contribute if they choose Yale. Match Day is March 21, and before we know it, we’ll learn who will join the ranks of “good as any, nicer than most.”
Enjoy your Sunday, everyone, despite the gray skies and freezing rain. I’m not sure if I’ll be venturing outdoors yet…
Mark
What I’m reading and listening to:
- Every 100 Years America Produces a Robert Kennedy Jr. By Jessica Grose
- Deborah Rhodes: A Breast-Cancer Screening Breakthrough on Health & Veritas with Harlan Krumholz and Howie Forman
- I Used to Run the N.I.H. Here’s What Worries Me. By Harold Varmus