Choosing a residency program is always a tough decision. While going through interview season, I remember making a mental checklist of things that were important to me: clinical experience, the nature of the residents with whom I’d be working, dedicated faculty, teaching, fellowship opportunities, research and location, among others. Most importantly, being an international medical graduate, I was looking for a place that I could call home for the next chapter of my life, and WashU has been exactly that.
Being born in the US, studying in a fast-developing country like India, and returning to the US for residency has been a very rewarding experience. I was impressed by WashU right from the start. The pre-interview dinner was a great opportunity for me to get to know the residents in the program, and I was pleased to see how warm and welcoming they were. The residents clearly took genuine interest in their program, and this feeling carried over to my interview day as well.
I was amazed by the breadth of clinical experience that WashU had to offer, its commitment to teaching, and how it was a powerhouse in every subspecialty.
This made me confident that WashU was the right choice for me.
My intern year at Barnes-Jewish Hospital encompassed a wide variety of clinical rotations which provided me with well-rounded experience taking care of patients requiring complex care coming from all over the country. It was also a great opportunity for me to meet residents from other departments, many of whom I’d be interacting with in the OR environment very soon. We even attended several “off-service” social events with the attendings and their families! Often, the transition from intern year to CA-1 can be difficult, and it certainly was something I was nervous about, but that has been one of the most enjoyable experiences of my residency thus far. We had the opportunity to learn the basics of the OR and how to handle emergencies in our state-of-the-art simulation center, after which we adopted the “buddy system” with a fellow CA-1 and transitioned through various subspecialty rotations. This formed a solid foundation for our CA-1 year, where we dive right into subspecialties like pediatrics, trauma, CT, OB, transplant, pain, ICU, etc. I have enjoyed working with and learning from my fellow residents as we care for these patients, and I am looking forward to further improving my knowledge and skills in CA-2 and CA-3.
On a more personal note, I am very fortunate to have met my significant other, Nakul, at WashU. We live right next to the hospital in the vibrant Central West End, which is filled with restaurants, bars, shops, and a movie theater. Perhaps my favorite part of this area is the close proximity to Forest Park, which is one of the largest parks in the country! It’s filled with biking trails, free museums, and theaters, and is a great spot to spend time with friends after work or on the weekends.
Looking back now, almost halfway through my residency, I can say with utmost confidence that WashU has been everything I had wanted in a residency program.
I am sure that the people I meet and the experiences I have here will continue to shape me as a doctor and as a person.