Residency can be one of the busiest, most rewarding and most formative phases of a physician’s career. A new Voices of UMassMed podcast honors the journey of resident physicians and fellows who are jointly trained at UMass Medical School and UMass Memorial Health Care.
The week of Feb. 22 to 26 has been designated Graduate Medical Education Appreciation Week at the Medical School. Each year, UMMS and UMass Memorial train and mentor 600 residents and fellows across 56 accredited training programs. In the new Voices of UMassMed episode, Deborah M. DeMarco, MD, FACP, professor of medicine, senior associate dean for clinical affairs and associate dean for graduate medical education, highlights the programs.
“It’s really a very practical, hands-on training that they get through, anywhere from one to seven years,” said Dr. DeMarco.
Meme Tran, MD’19, and Robert Le, MD, joined the podcast to share an inside perspective about how their residency training, particularly in the midst of a global pandemic, is helping to shape their skills and personal approach to practicing medicine.
“I think a lot of our resilience comes from support from our programs and our co-residents,” said Dr. Tran, second-year emergency medicine resident. “It’s the family at UMass. It’s the people at UMass. That’s how I balance getting to work every day.”
“You’ve got to take everything one step at a time. There’s a lot to learn. There’s a lot to really approach and chew and digest,” said Dr. Le, second-year internal medicine resident. “You really do develop your own style during these years, because there’s very little that’s black and white. In medicine, there’s usually several ways that you can do things and you find what’s comfortable for you.”
To listen to the full podcast, visit: umassmed.edu/news/voices. To be notified when a new episode is available, subscribe on SoundCloud or iTunes.
