Allied Health Professional Guest Writer
Hematology–Oncology Fellowship Program at William Beaumont Hospital
Theresa Marcus is the Education Program Coordinator for the Hematology–Oncology Fellowship Program at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak, MI. She also serves as the Administrative Assistant to the Hematology-Oncology Department Chair: Ishmael
Jaiyesimi, DO.
Theresa is certified by the Training Administrators of Graduate Medical Education (TAGME) and was on the task force that created the coordinator exam for certification in Hematology–Oncology. She was one of the first of four coordinators to take the exam and become nationally certified. She has been a coordinator in the fellowship program since 2002 and was instrumental in the process of expanding the fellowship program in 2008 from a Medical Oncology program only to a combined
Hematology and Oncology fellowship program.
Currently, Theresa is a member of the Graduate Medical Education (GME)
Coordinator Committee, the Association of Program Directors of Internal
Medicine (APDIM), and the American Society of Clinical Oncology
(ASCO).
As the anesthetic wore off, the doctor looked at me and said, “We found a tumor and we think it’s cancer.” I struggled to make sense of that nightmarish phrase and even yearned to be put back under. I was terrified and uncertain about what the coming months would bring as a 36-year-old with a new diagnosis of colon cancer.
In the past two months, a group of Harvard medical students have launched the “End Step 2 CS” campaign, an effort to do away with the portion of the U.S. Medical Licensing Exam that tests clinical and communications skills in a hands-on, day-long clinic simulation using standardized patients. Not only is the Step 2 CS exam a necessary public safeguard, it has greatly strengthened the curriculum of medical schools nationwide.
A surgical resident writes: “Several recent studies suggest current general surgery residents are poorly trained and unprepared for independent practice at the completion of residency. In general, do you agree that current general surgery residents are poorly trained and unable to operate independently at the completion of residency?”
It’s 2 a.m., and the patient’s blood pressure is beginning to rapidly decrease. Every IV line is occupied by an antibiotic or IV fluids, and we are in need of a vasoactive medication. The nurse comes to my computer and sternly states, “We can no longer avoid it. I think the patient needs a central line.” I quickly say “okay,” but I don’t move. I am momentarily frozen by my unease with the bedside procedure ahead.
I recently recreated a now-famous business school study on a subset of residents in my internal medicine residency program. In the original study, researchers asked students to read a case of the real-life venture capitalist Heidi Roizen, who expertly leveraged an extensive professional network to forward her career. Half of the students read the original case; half were given a case in which Heidi’s name was switched to Howard — a fictional male persona.
In an ideal world we would all die at home with our loved ones caring for us, slowly slipping away in our sleep into the placid beyond. But why doesn’t it happen this way? There’s a dignity to that way because of its organic simplicity. It’s how people used to die prior to modern medicine and before we started needing to always “fix the problem.”
As students, most of us have heard about (or seen, as attendees in previous years) the raw emotions on display during Match Day. From sheer elation to disappointment, from intense displays to composed reactions, Match Day often showcases a wide spectrum of emotions.
Medical students quickly become familiar with residency match (“the Match”). Almost every attending and resident physician has interesting stories about his or her experience. These factors have helped tether the Match in student consciousness. But behind the massive collection of coverage, opinion, anecdotal stories (and lore), we students sometimes miss what a unique way it is to find our first jobs as physicians.
Given the wide array of adverse reactions that can potentially occur from taking medications, how much time should be spent discussing these side effects at the doctor’s office? Which possible reactions should be emphasized and which should be deferred?
Over the course of residency and fellowship training, it’s likely that almost all trainees will encounter veterans through rotations at Veterans Affairs (VA) facilities. With mandates from Title 38 and long-standing relationships with academic institutions nationwide, the Veterans Health Administration plays a significant role in shaping the education of future medical professionals.
Resident Physician Contributing Writer
Boston University
Liang is a physician and writer who believes deeply that better health requires efforts to address disease at both the clinical and public health levels. He is passionate about using a global perspective to combine those perspectives in his career.
