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Category: October 2018

For October, we asked members if there was anything they wish they could have changed about/during their training experience. A common thread among the responses was that we must all remember to take time to appreciate the small things, because life is busy and it sure does fly by fast.

Patient Safety Scenario #7: Risk Of Retained Foreign Objects

This essay is the seventh installment of the monthly Patient Safety essays, produced by the Patient Safety Subcommittee of the Ethics and Professionalism Committee. The essays are written in the spirit of the aviation industry’s “Black Box Thinking” in order to inform and improve our medical safety record. To read earlier essays and learn how to […]

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Workplace Politics And The Steep Learning Curve Of Practice

By Sonya Paisley Agnew, MD While it is widely understood that your first few years of practice will represent the steepest learning curve of your medical education, I was very surprised to realize how much the business aspects and the political machinery of medicine had in my early career as a surgical attending. As I moved […]

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How To Maximize Your Training Experience

By Jacob Brubacher, MD Our training is short! I would have never guessed I would say this – but now that it is over, it seems to have gone by quite quickly. I encourage my residents to make the most of it because it “flies” by – they mostly look at me like I am crazy. […]

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When Do We Speak Out?

By Charity S. Burke, MD The Hippocratic Oath makes us swear to do not harm, but how much harm do we do if we know that our colleagues are doing harm and do nothing?  What are the proper steps to take if the standards of our profession have been grossly violated?  No one likes a […]

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Lacking Patient Continuity

By Matthew B. Cantlon, MD One of the most challenging aspects of my training was the limited development of physician-patient relationships due to a lack of patient continuity. In order to learn, absorb, and apply all that is necessary to become a competent physician it requires continuous change – from outpatient clinics to inpatient wards; […]

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My Training In Italy And With Dr. Kleinert

By Fabio C. Curini-Galletti, MD I am Fabio Curini-Galletti, an Italian and European Certified Hand Surgeon Specialist and International Member of ASSH and AAHS. My story: after graduating in medicine (1978 University of Pisa, Italy, 6 years) I did a six-month internship in the Department of Orthopedics of Grosseto (a small town in Tuscany, Italy); later […]

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A Need For Increased Volunteerism

By Charles Ekstein, MD I’ll always be grateful for the training and mentorship that I received during my fellowship year, a formative compendium on hand surgery from some of the most respected surgeons at the Hospital for Special Surgery. From complex wrist reconstructions to total elbow replacements and everything in between, it was one of […]

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Residency: Current And Forthcoming Changes

By Duretti T. Fufa, MD In my brand new role as orthopaedic surgery residency program director, I’ve given a lot of thought to change in residency training. I decided to focus this perspective on notable shifts I have observed as well as what I think may be changes on the horizon. One change has been […]

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More International Experience Is Needed

By Yuri C. Lansinger, MD One thing I wish I could have crammed into an already packed year of hand surgery fellowship is an international hand surgery experience, either through a visiting fellowship or a medical mission trip. Some fellowship programs may already incorporate it; others may have sought out such opportunities on their own […]

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How To Avoid A Lawsuit

By Edward B. Lipp, MD I had my mentorship with Dr. Raymond Curtis in 1968 in Baltimore. Probably the most enduring thing I learned was how to handle a disgruntled patient. Many treatment concepts change with time, this advice, however, is as valid today as it was 50 years ago. Be understanding.  Arrogance is a killer.  […]

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