Hi everyone,
Residency is a carousel. Each June, the spinning stops to let some riders off and new ones on. This week, the current Chiefs will step down as new Chiefs ascend. Next Sunday, seniors will graduate and, three days later, new interns start orientation. This month, I’ll submit graduates’ names to the ABIM so they can sit for the Boards, and I’ll write 40-plus letters of recommendation for residents applying to fellowship. On June 20th, our current PGY1s finish their internship, and on June 23rd, they’ll return as seniors as we spin into a new academic year.
Other cycles take longer. Year by year, residency leadership adds returning graduates: Beth Marhoffer at the VA; Joe Canterino on Donaldson; Jen Ouellet on Cooney; Max Stahl on Duffy; and Ben Rodwin, Isabel Bazan, and Jackie Savage as APDs. Nothing beats watching young graduates return to teach the next generation.
Like a carousel’s painted ponies, each year has its ups and downs, joys and sorrows, successes and challenges. And like a carousel, there will always be young doctors lining up to board as graduates step away, grateful for the ride. And each June, after a brief pause to change riders, the music will start again and the carousel will spin anew.
Enjoy your Sunday, everyone. I’ll be taking a spin on the Farmington Canal before heading to Queens for a special Chinese dinner.
Mark
P.S. Next Sunday’s Program Director’s note will publish in the evening, after graduation.
P.P.S. For those of you applying to fellowship, please review these Fellowship Application FAQs
P.P.P.S. What I’m reading and listening to:
• Plain History: How Adolf Hitler Destroyed German Democracy in Six Months on Plain English with Derek Thompson
• HIV’s Most Promising Breakthrough Has Taken a Hit By Katherine J. Wu
• Really, Secretary Rubio? I’m Lying About Kids Dying Under Trump? By Nicholas Kristof
• They Inhaled a Gas and Scaled Everest in Days. Is It the Future of Mountaineering? By Jonathan Wolfe and Bhadra Sharma