Editor-in-Chief
Campbell University
In 2015, Lydia graduated magna cum laude from Campbell University with a Bachelor of Business Administration in healthcare management and a minor in general science. While completing her undergraduate degree as a Campbell "fighting camel," Lydia was inducted into numerous honor societies including Phi Kappa Phi, Delta Mu Delta, Pre-Med Allied Health, and Who's Who Among Students: Class of 2015.
Lydia applied and was accepted into medical school at age 19 and matriculated soon after she turned 20. During her third-year of medical school, she applied and independently pursued a Master of Business Administration separately from her doctoral studies.
Throughout medical school, Lydia wrote stories about her experiences learning clinical skills and reflecting on life through poetry, and she began as a contributing author for in-Training Magazine. Before becoming one of the editors-in-chief of in-House Magazine, Lydia was editor-in-chief of the Campbell University Community Care Clinic newsletter and is managing editor emeritus of in-Training Magazine.
In her pursuit to study anesthesiology, she has published physiology pieces on PubMed and StatPearls, LLC which have been subsequently cited on over 90 different medical journals and academic texts. She has been published by KevinMD, social media's leading physician voice and in Essays & Poems From Medical School, for a piece which she co-authored with the novel's author, Dr. Kamiar Rueckhert.
In May 2019, she graduated cum laude with a Doctorate of Osteopathic Medicine and summa cum laude with a Master of Business Administration. Lydia co-matched in 2019 via the NRMP into an intern position at Campbell University and advanced anesthesiology residency at the University of Central Florida. After residency, Lydia plans to pursue fellowship in pediatric anesthesiology and advanced fellowship in pediatric cardio-thoracic anesthesiology.
Lydia would like to personally thank and recognize two women who have been paramount in her writing education: her beautiful mother for pressing her to strive for success while homeschooling her from Kindergarten through high school and her beloved college English professor and dear friend, Mrs. Susan Cannady, who continues to encourage her to find her own voice.
*Disclaimer: The opinions and views expressed in any publication written by the author are those solely of the author. They do not reflect the opinions or views of any university, institution, organization, or medical facility of which the author may or may not be affiliated.*
Has social distancing paradoxically made us closer? Can disease be tragically beautiful? I pondered these questions as I reminisced over the past few weeks working on one of the medicine floors in my hospital, grappling with these thoughts almost every moment as I have witnessed the world respond to the COVID-19 pandemic.
My own experience has felt a bit like wading through a swamp of hysteria, grief, misinformation and lack of leadership (locally and globally) while attempting to find clarity in the mire. This has unintentionally prompted me to re-evaluate my own toolkit of coping mechanisms and the ways in which I can maintain my own semblance of sanity. Whether you are feeling overwhelmed, anxious, scattered or even just bored, listless, or helpless. I hope that one or more of these cognitive approaches can be helpful.
During my fourth year of medical school, I was completely unaware that I was suffering from clinical depression. Even now as I write this, I struggle to put my finger on how it all started. Was my appetite the first thing to go? Or the loss of enjoyment in socializing and sex? Maybe it was all three at once. It is truly too hard to tell.
Medical training and practice exposes us simultaneously to the beauty and tragedy of life. As a resident, you are thrown into a strange world in which death will often sit as an unwanted companion in the room with you and your patient.
Attending Physician Guest Writer
Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth
Dr. Ronan is an associate professor of neurology and medicine at the Geisel School of Medicine and is the program director of the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Neurology Residency.
Practical Wellness: Perspectives from a Program Director
A program director's perspectives on practical wellness in residency and how graduate medical education leadership can facilitate housestaff resiliency and self-advocacy.
