This month, in a span of just three weeks, the medical school will celebrate the graduation of more than 60 resident physicians and fellows, and welcome its newest group of first-year residents fresh out of medical school.
“This annual cycle is really an exciting time,” said Dr. Hal B. Jenson, WMed’s founding dean. “For medical students and residents, they perhaps see it as an ending though it’s really not an ending. These events are milestones along the journey.”
On Friday, June 9, 2017, the medical school celebrated its graduating residents and fellows during a ceremony at Miller Auditorium.
Dr. Jenson said this time of year always prompts a bit of reflection on his part and it gives him a chance to look back on the transitions he made from medical school to residency, residency to fellowship, and then post-training.
He recalled how, after graduating from the George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences, he felt like his move into his Pediatrics residency at Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital at Case Western University in Cleveland was “a big leap” and a big change.
What he realized later, though, Dr. Jenson said, was how monumental the transition and change was that came after he completed his residency and then a fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at Yale University School of Medicine.
“As a student, there’s maybe more of a sense when you leave medical school that you’ve made a big leap. When you’re in medical school you don’t see the leap from residency to post-residency as that big, but it’s just as big of a leap or even bigger.”
“The greatest change is really when when you transition from graduate medical education to your career because you’re going from general supervision to no supervision and you’re going from being mostly a team follower to now often being a team leader.”
While this time of year can be one of change and, possibly, anxiety for new and graduating residents, Dr. Jenson said his years of experience as a physician have taught him that medicine is not practiced alone. Every resident, as they complete their training and move on to the next phase of their career, realizes that no one practices medicine independently.
“We all practice medicine as members of teams and good medical care really revolves around teamwork,” Dr. Jenson said. “There are very few settings where physicians practice medicine by themselves.”
Dr. Jenson said post-residency will also bring the opportunity for several of WMed’s most recent graduates to work with – and mentor – resident physicians and medical students. That sharing of knowledge, Dr. Jenson said, is a reminder that “while we’re taking care of today’s patients, we’re also training tomorrow’s physicians so we have a hand in continually improving the health of our community, far into the future.”
“You get a chance to pay back to the next generation of physicians all of the training and mentorship, and coaching that those who went before you have given you in your life,” Dr. Jenson said. “For a lot of us, that is a key reason why we go into medicine and why the field of medicine is so rewarding.”
For those residents who graduated on June 9 and for those who will arrive later in the month as new residents, Dr. Jenson said his message for both groups is the same.
He said he hopes that graduating residents and new residents will work hard but also strive for what he calls a good work-life “blend.” Additionally, he said that he is filled with gratitude for both groups – new and graduating residents – for their willingness to be a part of the WMed family.
“To our graduating residents and fellows, thank you for being a part of Kalamazoo. Even if you’ve only been here for a few years, thank you for sharing a part of your life with us to help make our lives better, and also helping improve the health of our community,” Dr. Jenson said.