Testimonials

How well did SIUH prepare you for your current role?

“No program is perfect and there will always be holes in your training, based on patient population, timing, and luck. But I feel like if there's something major that someone felt unprepared with after graduating from SIUH, that's on them. Every opportunity was made to maximize the training for everyone in a 3 year program. We were an exception because we were the first class, so we didn't have to compete with other residents for procedures, so I can only speak on account of my own experience.As a fellow (at what most would consider a "prestigious" academic institution), I was an attending, when really I was a PGY-4. Most EM programs are 4 years, so I didn't really feel like an attending during my time there. Nevertheless, I would supervise all residents as an attending, including PGY-3. I definitely felt that my skill set and clinical acumen was stronger at a PGY-3 level than most of their PGY-3 residents, which was very reassuring considering I trained at a new program and all of the uncertainties associated with that, not to mention the loss of self esteem and confidence associated with having to scramble after not matching. All in all, everything worked out and I'm very grateful for the opportunity that I was given to train at SIUH.”

“I felt extremely prepared for my role as an attending and I don't know that there is much else that could have been done differently. I find that I had a lot more experience with procedures and acuity then a lot of other new attendings.”

“There is no question that SIUH gave me the entire set of skills necessary to excel as an attending post-residency. The specific rotations that we had set up for us gave us the additional skills. Working at a community hospital that basically is expected to provide academic hospital level care (without any of the features/supports that come with that designation), the rotations such as burn ICU, trauma/SICU, MICU, ortho/hand, radiology helped me get the confidence to do all the things expected in that rotation without necessarily having all of those features at all times.

“Our closest burn unit is 80 miles away and most of the time I will just manage burn patients between myself and the local plastic surgeon (if possible). Radiology - we work at our secondary hospital (Falmouth Hospital) where x-ray imaging studies are NOT read overnight. We are IT. This rotation had given me the confidence to be able to read all the studies that I do by myself. SICU/ICU - during the COVID pandemic, we were asked to step up and take over the ICU for any excess in patients that would result in more than 13 patients being admitted to our ICU. We were to run the telemetry floors which were converted into ICU rooms.”

“The best way that SIUH prepared me to make the transition to attending was to make it so that I could handle having 16 patients on my census as a senior attending and trying to see as many patients as possible on the overnights. In a 100% RVU based system, where the goal dispo time for all discharged patients is 110 minutes from door to discharge (this includes their radiology testing etc)...this was huge.

“The ultrasound attendings gave me the confidence to be able to do multiple types of ultrasounds to be able to diagnose my patients without relying on xray/ct. They sparked a desire to learn more about ultrasound so that I do nerve blocks now (interscalene/regional anesthesia) and ultrasound guided LPs now and place most, if not all, the difficult IVs that our IV therapy team can't get.”

What are some positive reflections of your training at SIUH?

“Everything! Great training. Amazing mentors, faculty. Truly wanted to see us succeed. Just like any new grad, I was a little reluctant to be on my own and the first few years as an attending (especially at an academic institution) were challenging. However, at this point, I don't ever feel like there's a scenario I'm unprepared for. Time flies!”

“We had a GREAT core faculty who were talented in their specific fields of emergency medicine who had a fire to teach and correct our mistakes to make us the best physicians that we could be. We were the first intern class after the interns had graduated which I think made it even more special. The program was very malleable (as I think it probably still is). Dr. Weizberg is a great orchestrator and visionary and with Dr. Ardolic having his back, it was the perfect scenario to make a brilliant residency program and to keep it fresh and alive by constantly evaluating on how to manage it better. We were so close as a class and that certainly helped us grow as physicians as well. It certainly helped that 3/8 of us always lived in the same house at all times so we had a good support system going on at home to continually improve/study (yes something good did come out of the bro-house). Dr. Weizberg's Tuesday night protected time being the perfect opportunity to give rise to our "Tuesday Night Shenanigans" which helped keep wellness a priority outside of anything that the leadership of the program could have done for us. The rotations outside the ED I remember fondly were the burn unit/SICU/MICU rotations. The entire residency itself felt like a family affair and SIUH will always be my family.”

“1) confidence in my ability to successfully manage time and volume

2) strong emphasis on critical care which I now deal with daily. The more critical care training, the better

3) learning, when things are not clear, to make a decision and take responsibility for that decision"

“I feel that my training at SIUH has more than suffice to prepare me to work in both the community and academic settings. I feel ready to address any situation that comes up and I am incredibly grateful for the training I received during residency.”

“I was actually just reading through some emails from the new job - one of them was about the most common med mal cases USACS has seen. They described 3 cases - discharging patients with tachycardia, elderly with abdominal pain, and NIHSS limitations with posterior stroke. I have learned to be extra vigilant about all 3 of these cases at SIUH from my attendings and in PI. It made me feel proud to have trained at SIUH. I'm sure I'll have a lot more of these types of moments as I start working.”

“Involved attendings, program very supportive and receptive to feedback. Always felt like our best interests were kept in mind. “

“In my opinion the most unique thing about doing residency at SIUH is the family like experience. Attendings were really invested in our education and we always felt that we had the support of our administration no what issues might arise. This is something that I have not seen anywhere else I've been. “