DRH Chief Chatter

Ch-Ch-Changes

As the brutally long winter finally faded from Detroit, summer emerged, and with it came change. The first occurred when we got a new member to the DRH family! Connor McRae was born on May 7th, 2019 to our very own Dr. Matthew McRae and his amazing wife Jessica McRae. He smiles, eats, poops, and inherited McRae's game face.

Meanwhile, we said our goodbyes to our recent graduates, the new seniors began planning their futures, and it all seems like yesterday we graduated medical school… but for the other 14 new additions to the DRH family, it was just yesterday. July marked the great change of residency, as we welcomed our new interns, the Class of 2022, to Detroit!

Orientation here is a rite of passage, including both hallowed and new traditions. The PGY-2s welcomed our interns with the ever-popular pedal pub of Detroit, while the PGY-3s hosted a sunny day at Belle Isle where yard games were aplenty and no bicep tendons were injured. Our PD, Dr. Olsen, led his yearly river float, including a succulent pig roast from his infamous green egg. Finally, orientation was concluded with the ultimate tradition: retreat. Every year our senior residents and interns journey up North to participate in team building events, small group didactics, competitive volleyball, and celebrations. This event climaxes in a passing of the torch… or rather passing of the fanny pack. A fashion statement once started by some of the most legendary attendings at Receiving, the fanny pack has come to encapsulate not only the pinnacle of versatility, but also the spirit of the program. The transition from orientee to DRH resident occurs when the PGY-3s gift their respective interns a personalized fanny pack of their own.

The change to residency is difficult; it's exciting yet filled with trepidation. You find yourself working in a foreign place, inheriting new responsibility, and facing many successes and failures. This year marked a new tradition for us in the form of "The DRH Chronicles", where residents, faculty, and alumni compiled a book of all their fondest intern memories, stories, and advice. A copy was given to each of our new interns to welcome them to our family and lend them perspective.

Our didactic conferences also have seen new developments. We honed our flipped classroom/small group-based curriculum, and began a new mini-lecture series headed by our administrative chief, Dr. Becca Bajkowski, aptly named the "Admini Lectures". This includes practical talks on EM topics, procedure demonstrations, and guest lectures from our fantastic ED pharmacists. This year we are fostering more involvement with our consulting services, and so far have had successful collaborations with our Dermatology, Critical Care, RT, and Neurology services. It has been a great opportunity to build good relationships with our colleagues, and gain their insight on EM topics. On the research front, we continue to promote our residents' involvement in clinical and educational research. A huge shout out to one of our new interns, Roberto Hurtado Fiel, as despite just starting residency he managed to travel to Anaheim this August and presented his project, "Identification of the First Human Isolate of Shewanella Haliotis Infection in the Western Hemisphere by Sequencing 16S rRNA Gene" at the AACC!

Summer has brought us many changes; new family members, responsibilities, and educational opportunities. We are looking forward to this year and all the growth that will come with it. As the interns embrace their roles as physicians, the PGY-2s learn to hold their own in the modules, and the seniors inch closer to green-badge status, we remember the words of Rocky Balboa, "If I can change…and you can change… EVERYBODY can change!"

DRH CHIEFS, CLASS OF 2020