Taking a public stand for social justice

My heart is broken after the recent events and the loss of George Floyd’s life in Minneapolis, my beloved home over the last couple of years, along with many other recent tragedies that highlight the racial injustices in the United States. Like many, I hope that these events will lead to fundamental changes and improvements … Read more

Mastering the Art Of A Virtual Interview

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an entirely new (and robust) world of online platforms. All across the globe classrooms, meetings, conferences, and social get-togethers have become virtual. Companies such as Zoom (Zoom Video Communications, San Jose, California), WebEx (Cisco WebEx, Milpitas, California), and BlueJeans (BlueJeans Network, Mountain View, California) have allowed us to maintain social … Read more

March Madness – Dealing with the Stressing of Training

March is synonymous with college basketball, winning brackets (or losing in my case), and general merriment. For those of us in medicine, it may have a different meaning – stresses of matching, winter blues, and a general feeling of being burnt out. For me, March was one of the hardest months to get through in … Read more

On teaching Professionalism

Professionalism is a multi-faceted concept that carries different meanings to different people; it ranges from a physician’s bedside manner and acknowledging mistakes, to how one interacts with their peers and if they show up on time. Not only that, but this all-encompassing term is cited as a core competency by the American Association of Medical … Read more

Building an academic portfolio during medical training: Part 2 – finding your research team

In my previous blog, we discussed why it is important for medical students and trainees to consider research collaborations outside their own institutions, and what types of research studies can be performed using this type of collaboration between young researchers. In this blog, I will focus on how to find potential collaborators and/or join a … Read more

My Three Tips for “Getting Involved”

While we are still incorporating the knowledge from AHA Scientific Sessions 2018’s late breaking trials like REDUCE-IT and TRED-HF into our daily practices, the AHA has already started planning for Scientific Sessions 2019 being held in my current home of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. My co-AHA Early Career Blogger, Jeff Hsu, M.D., Ph.D., and I are excited … Read more

Deconstructing Habits & Engineering Good Ones

For roughly the past 15 years, I essentially have eaten the same breakfast every morning – a bowl of oatmeal with a sliced banana. And every morning, as I wait for the oatmeal to heat up in the microwave, I do push-ups and sit-ups. It has come to the point where my body reflexively moves … Read more

The Struggles of Scientific Writing

After months of collecting and analyzing data, the time has finally arrived to start writing your manuscript. You are excited and ready to share with the research community your groundbreaking findings. Now the only thing standing in between you and your published articles is that blank Microsoft Word document. Can you remember the daunting task … Read more