Pictured L to R: Kevin Schwalbach, Seema Kumar, Steven Allon, and Sean Carter2020. Four numbers. A thousand meanings and memories to each person.
2020 has been a challenge. Our spirit persists, however, and we express our gratitude for the wonderful program leadership of Dr. Willett and Dr. Morris and the outstanding residents in our program. We are thankful to be chiefs for a residency program that models excellence without ego in their service to their patients, each other, and our community.
When we accepted our future roles as Chief Residents in 2019, none of us envisioned what our chief year has so far entailed. We began some responsibilities early, by leading the return of our morning reports on Zoom in April. The job officially began with greeting the fantastic new PGY-1 class during their orientation in June. We have enjoyed learning about each one of them and observing their growth as physicians. We have maintained a tradition of excellent academic instruction in our conferences, successfully transitioning our conferences to virtual and hybrid formats. The residents have also been able to enjoy socially distant events including Legacy Dinner at Aldridge Gardens, PGY2 Bootcamp at Margaret Cameron Spain, and Camp Dismukes at Oak Mountain to reconnect with our program as a whole.
We have continued the changes to the ambulatory block spearheaded by Jordan Crocker and Stephen Stuart, two chiefs from 2019-20. The block offers immersive clinical experiences in dedicated subspecialty weeks. We anticipate the addition of Infectious Disease and Addiction Medicine weeks to create a comprehensive ambulatory experience over the course of residency. The PGY-1 schedule has also undergone an overhaul that ensures a pattern of two wards followed by one non-ward month (helping with wellness!). Additionally, interns now have clinic only during their non-ward months for a complete day per week which has helped them acclimate more quickly to ambulatory practice. We anticipate an additional ambulatory experience in the next academic year that will replace one of the two PGY-2 CCU months. This will create a more balanced training experience throughout residency. Finally, we are crafting a series of intern boot camp lectures to help our newest residents hit the ground running.
We now look forward to the virtual interview season which we have had to adapt in many ways. In order to highlight our special Birmingham community for all prospective applicants we have become more active on social media. (Check out our Twitter and Instagram @uabimres!) Residents have helped with “Day in the Life” videos, “Take Overs” on social media and virtual hospital tours. This year our entire interview experience has been translated to Zoom. Applicants have the opportunity to participate in a pre-interview social hour and select diversity mixers with residents, and we offer a huge thank you to Dr. Karla Williams and Dr. KeAndrea Titer for their work. On interview day, applicants still have plenty of virtual time with our program directors, CMRs and members of the intern selection committee. To top it all off, we send interviewees hand-written postcards from residents so they can feel the love from Birmingham.
As the calendar year draws to a close, we reflect on both the challenges of a prolonged pandemic and increasing exposure to systemic racism rampant in our country. Yet moving into the new year it is with a resolution to continue our fight both of these scourges within our program, health systems, and wider community. It’s safe to say none of us will forget our experiences and growth from 2020. We look forward to continued maturation of our residents in the next six months of 2021, and hope to continue to encourage and advocate for them and their growth.
- Kevin, Sean, Seema, and Steven