{"id":2922,"date":"2020-07-16T11:53:53","date_gmt":"2020-07-16T15:53:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/?p=2922"},"modified":"2020-07-16T11:56:24","modified_gmt":"2020-07-16T15:56:24","slug":"well-did-you-learn-anything","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/07\/well-did-you-learn-anything\/","title":{"rendered":"Well, Did You Learn Anything?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_2696\" style=\"width: 135px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/10\/AU000_alatimore.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2696\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2696\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/10\/AU000_alatimore.jpg\" alt=\"Allison Latimore, MD\" width=\"125\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2696\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dr. Latimore is the Education Chief Resident at the MedStar Washington Hospital Family Residency Program in Washington, DC<\/p><\/div>\n<p>When I told my friends that I was going to be the Chief of Education for my residency program, they were stunned. How can you be a chief resident as a second-year resident? Isn\u2019t that going to be a lot of work? How can you juggle it all? These were all valid questions that I even asked myself. How am I going to plan lectures, plan my own wedding, learn how to be a senior resident, support the interns, and manage my personal life? Then, a little global pandemic was sprinkled on top. The truth is: I struggled. My wedding ended up being canceled due to the pandemic. Lectures were planned, but some slots required improvisation. There were moments where I felt so defeated, but there also were moments where I felt so accomplished. There was a time that I was faced with adversity and sought guidance from my mother. She said, \u201cWell, did you learn anything?\u201d My mother had an excellent point. I faced challenges this year, and I learned a lot.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/05FC1AE2-7D3C-4120-950C-CD2109364F62.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-2923 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/05FC1AE2-7D3C-4120-950C-CD2109364F62-169x300.jpeg\" alt=\"Allison and her colleagues\" width=\"169\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/05FC1AE2-7D3C-4120-950C-CD2109364F62-169x300.jpeg 169w, https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/05FC1AE2-7D3C-4120-950C-CD2109364F62-576x1024.jpeg 576w, https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/05FC1AE2-7D3C-4120-950C-CD2109364F62.jpeg 750w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 169px) 100vw, 169px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>\n<h2>As a chief, you are not above learning or correction<\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>You are still a resident. You are still in this program to learn. You are still in training and will get things wrong. You might not manage a patient the way that your attending would. You might miss something. Chief does not equate to perfection. In this role, you have to be willing to lead and to be willing to be taught. You have to know when you are in over your head and when to ask for help.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"2\">\n<li>\n<h2>Calendars, reminders, and planners are your best friend<\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Administration is a large part of the chief role. It is impossible to keep all tasks and meetings in your head. To avoid forgetting things, keep a planner or use your smart phone to your advantage. As soon as someone would give me a new task, I would immediately put a reminder in my phone.<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/EB161242-9C14-4A0B-BD90-614BCCCA6873_1_201_a.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-2926 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/EB161242-9C14-4A0B-BD90-614BCCCA6873_1_201_a-300x169.jpeg\" alt=\"conference sleeping\" width=\"300\" height=\"169\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/EB161242-9C14-4A0B-BD90-614BCCCA6873_1_201_a-300x169.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/EB161242-9C14-4A0B-BD90-614BCCCA6873_1_201_a-768x432.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/EB161242-9C14-4A0B-BD90-614BCCCA6873_1_201_a-1024x576.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol start=\"3\">\n<li>\n<h2>Conflict resolution skills can always use development<\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>As physicians, we get conflict resolution training often and it might seem redundant. As a chief, your colleagues will come to you about different situations. You need to know when someone actually wants advice or just an ear for listening. You should be ready to give objective advice when asked. It is hard to be completely objective when you are still in a resident role, but you have to try your best to understand the different perspectives. Even if this means disagreeing with your colleagues.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/5C959DBA-4450-476E-A31B-1C61B113783E.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2925 size-medium alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/5C959DBA-4450-476E-A31B-1C61B113783E-300x200.jpeg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/5C959DBA-4450-476E-A31B-1C61B113783E-300x200.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/5C959DBA-4450-476E-A31B-1C61B113783E-768x513.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2020\/07\/5C959DBA-4450-476E-A31B-1C61B113783E-1024x684.jpeg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<ol start=\"4\">\n<li>\n<h2>Things will not always go as planned<\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Having to cancel a wedding due to a pandemic is an extreme example, but you have to be flexible. As a chief, last minute changes will come up and you have to adapt. Be ready to be called in to cover people. Be ready to manage lecturer cancellations. Being willing to step in when things are going awry is one of the biggest parts of the job.<\/p>\n<ol start=\"5\">\n<li>\n<h2>Make the most of this experience<\/h2>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Being a chief is an honor and a privilege. Use this opportunity to grow as a leader, a physician, and an educator. Build your resum\u00e9 during this time. Attend conferences when the opportunity is available and use your administrative time wisely. Most importantly, represent your fellow residents as you would like to be represented and maintain your role as a liaison between faculty and the residents.<\/p>\n<p>Do you have any tips for chief residents? Please leave some advice in the comments below.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/resident360.nejm.org\/\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-926\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2017\/03\/genMedRes360Ad540x250.jpg\" alt=\"NEJM Resident 360\" width=\"540\" height=\"250\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When I told my friends that I was going to be the Chief of Education for my residency program, they were stunned. How can you be a chief resident as a second-year resident? Isn\u2019t that going to be a lot of work? How can you juggle it all? These were all valid questions that I [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1300,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[17,1147,538,33,34],"class_list":["post-2922","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-about-residency","tag-chief-resident","tag-covid-19","tag-family-medicine","tag-reflections","tag-residency"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v17.1.2 (Yoast SEO v20.8) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Well, Did You Learn Anything? - Insights on Residency Training<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Dr. Latimore learned a lot during her Chief year \u2014 scheduling and organization, dispute resolution, and pandemic wedding cancellation etiquette.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/07\/well-did-you-learn-anything\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Well, Did You Learn Anything?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Dr. Latimore learned a lot during her Chief year \u2014 scheduling and organization, dispute resolution, and pandemic wedding cancellation etiquette.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/07\/well-did-you-learn-anything\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Insights on Residency Training\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-07-16T15:53:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-07-16T15:56:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/10\/AU000_alatimore.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Allison Latimore, MD\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Allison Latimore, MD\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/07\/well-did-you-learn-anything\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/07\/well-did-you-learn-anything\/\",\"name\":\"Well, Did You Learn Anything? - Insights on Residency Training\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-07-16T15:53:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-07-16T15:56:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/01295d1d72404002598c456020d369ce\"},\"description\":\"Dr. Latimore learned a lot during her Chief year \u2014 scheduling and organization, dispute resolution, and pandemic wedding cancellation etiquette.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/07\/well-did-you-learn-anything\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/07\/well-did-you-learn-anything\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/07\/well-did-you-learn-anything\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Well, Did You Learn&nbsp;Anything?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/\",\"name\":\"Insights on Residency Training\",\"description\":\"Observation of residents across diverse medical specialties\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/01295d1d72404002598c456020d369ce\",\"name\":\"Allison Latimore, MD\",\"description\":\"Allison is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. Yes, she is ashamed of all Atlanta sports teams (except Atlanta United). She is a proud graduate of Howard University and Meharry Medical College, two of the most prestigious historically black colleges\/universities in the world. After spending 5 years in Nashville getting her master's degree and MD, Allison returned to Washington, DC, for residency at Medstar Health\/Georgetown-Washington Hospital Center Family Medicine Residency Program, where she is currently a chief resident. In her free time, you will catch her spending time with her fianc\u00e9, facetiming her twin sister and parents, shopping online, listening to her Spotify playlists, or trying out new natural hairstyles. After residency, Allison plans on pursuing a career in health policy and health media.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/author\/alatimore\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Well, Did You Learn Anything? - Insights on Residency Training","description":"Dr. Latimore learned a lot during her Chief year \u2014 scheduling and organization, dispute resolution, and pandemic wedding cancellation etiquette.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/07\/well-did-you-learn-anything\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Well, Did You Learn Anything?","og_description":"Dr. Latimore learned a lot during her Chief year \u2014 scheduling and organization, dispute resolution, and pandemic wedding cancellation etiquette.","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/07\/well-did-you-learn-anything\/","og_site_name":"Insights on Residency Training","article_published_time":"2020-07-16T15:53:53+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-07-16T15:56:24+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/4\/2019\/10\/AU000_alatimore.jpg"}],"author":"Allison Latimore, MD","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Allison Latimore, MD","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/07\/well-did-you-learn-anything\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/07\/well-did-you-learn-anything\/","name":"Well, Did You Learn Anything? - Insights on Residency Training","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#website"},"datePublished":"2020-07-16T15:53:53+00:00","dateModified":"2020-07-16T15:56:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/01295d1d72404002598c456020d369ce"},"description":"Dr. Latimore learned a lot during her Chief year \u2014 scheduling and organization, dispute resolution, and pandemic wedding cancellation etiquette.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/07\/well-did-you-learn-anything\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/07\/well-did-you-learn-anything\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/2020\/07\/well-did-you-learn-anything\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Well, Did You Learn&nbsp;Anything?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/","name":"Insights on Residency Training","description":"Observation of residents across diverse medical specialties","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/#\/schema\/person\/01295d1d72404002598c456020d369ce","name":"Allison Latimore, MD","description":"Allison is a native of Atlanta, Georgia. Yes, she is ashamed of all Atlanta sports teams (except Atlanta United). She is a proud graduate of Howard University and Meharry Medical College, two of the most prestigious historically black colleges\/universities in the world. After spending 5 years in Nashville getting her master's degree and MD, Allison returned to Washington, DC, for residency at Medstar Health\/Georgetown-Washington Hospital Center Family Medicine Residency Program, where she is currently a chief resident. In her free time, you will catch her spending time with her fianc\u00e9, facetiming her twin sister and parents, shopping online, listening to her Spotify playlists, or trying out new natural hairstyles. After residency, Allison plans on pursuing a career in health policy and health media.","url":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/author\/alatimore\/"}]}},"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2922","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1300"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2922"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2922\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2922"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2922"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nejm.org\/general-medicine\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2922"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}