The future is bright
On Wednesday morning I had the opportunity to kick off the Surviving and Thriving During the Research Years workshop for post-doctoral fellows. This one-day conference was organized by Nisha Bansal and Pavan Bhatraju with the help of Conrad Liles and was extremely well-attended by a number of residents, fellows, post-docs, and faculty speakers.
I usually come to these conferences ready to energize and inspire the trainees, but I often leave as the energized and inspired one after all the wonderful stories and lectures. Regardless, I hope that the trainees heard my message of encouragement and support for research in the DOM!
From there, I drove straight to UW's Pack Forest to join the residency leadership retreat. There were so many highlights from those two days including:
- Observing hours of brainstorming with John Choe at the helm as the residency leadership talked about their brand and values and how to continue optimizing the educational experience for the residents.
- A snack table full of everyone's favorite snacks. I brought jalapeno chips, nerd gummy clusters, and nutty bars and quite enjoyed the Trader Joe's ghost pepper chips and sweet treats.
- Getting to know many of the passionate and dedicated APDs, residency staff, and chief residents over meals and community circles.
- Listening to an impromptu ukulele concert courtesy of John Choe and Andréa Campbell (aka AC/JC) with vocals by Chris Knight.
- Watching our talented faculty and staff belt out Karaoke with a mix of country, Disney, and classics like Journey ballads and Bohemian Rhapsody. Apparently to work in the residency program as a leader, you have to be able to sing really well i.e. I would never qualify for a job here.
- Meeting the energetic interns and moderating two of their sessions (selfie included!)
The last day of the retreat was also GME Professionals Day, and I could see (and appreciate!) all the hard work that went into organizing this. THANK YOU to all our staff who work tirelessly on behalf of our residents and fellows.
As a leader here, it's hard not to be full of hope and optimism when you get to meet the future clinicians, educators, and researchers who will use their talents to contribute to UW and the broader community for years to come.
P.S. We decided to accompany my sister's family to Oregon this weekend and did some serious shopping in Portland. Our main goal was to get my mom a classy gift for her upcoming 80th birthday, but we might have gone a bit overboard. But how can you resist when there is no sales tax?!
P.P.S. At the research retreat on Wednesday I chatted with 3 pulmonary fellows about fantasy football and subsequently got an invite to play on Thursday. Now I'm worried because they already seem more organized than many of the fellows I've played with over the years. But bring it on!!!