Dr. Annemarie Thompson
Residency Program Director

September 12, 2019

Dear Colleagues,

Now that the new academic year is underway, it seems fitting to take a look back to summer, give a welcome shout-out to all of our new folks, and say a fond farewell to Jessica Burkhart, who will begin her new position with our Duke GME office next week. Read below for all the deets.

The summer begins with an ending, specifically the end of our CA-3 residents’ training and a celebration of their achievements. In June, we graduated an outstanding group of physicians that will embark on new journeys. We wish them the best and know they will succeed in their endeavors. Graduation was a special event at Bay 7 in Durham, where the evening was filled with warm expressions of gratitude to faculty mentors, resident colleagues and patients.

View the Graduation Post and Photos

A few weeks later, we welcomed a new group of newly-minted doctors into our intern class and CA-1s into the operating room to begin their long-awaited life’s work of caring for patients before, during and after surgery. We also hosted our second Intern Book Club, reading Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air. Others did more “practical” activities, taking (and all passing) the BASIC exam.

Drs. Jared Roberts, Doug Wackerle, and Bryan Chow

This time of year also brings mountains of paperwork in ACGME annual updates, institutional process improvement plans, and general program maintenance. In the vein of program maintenance, I am excited to announce our 2019-2020 Social Chair Committee! Your class representatives are Jared Roberts, Doug Wackerle and Bryan Chow. We are looking forward to their collaboration!

Jared Roberts, MD

Congratulations to Jared Roberts, a CA-3 resident, who was selected through a highly competitive process to be a Feagin Scholar. The Feagin Leadership Program engages the medical community at Duke to develop leaders through coaching, leadership education, expert perspectives, self-reflection, and group project participation. It is an honor to have one of our very own residents participating in this prestigious program.

On August 24^th, the annual departmental event at the Durham Bulls Athletic Park was held. It was the highest attendance we have ever had at the event, with faculty, residents, fellows and their friends enjoying the cookout, the ice cream, the game, and the FIREWORKS! They were spectacular this year. Based on the feedback and attendance, we are likely to continue this tradition, so be on the lookout for the 2020 date.

On the national scene, Doximity ratings are out for the 2019-2020 year. We are officially ranked 5^th in the nation! I believe our program and residents (current and alumni) are ranked higher than that by clinical skill and overall passion and commitment to patients and the profession, but it is still an honor to be acknowledged as one of the best. Congratulations to all programs committed to excellence for future generations of anesthesiologists!

And lastly, it is time to say farewell to Jessica Burkhart, who will be joining the Duke GME office next week. She will miss the esprit de corps of our group and working with our residents, but it will be a positive thing to have her in her new GME role to support and advocate for continuous improvement and efficiency in residency and fellowship management here at Duke. For those of you who may not remember, she was instrumental in redesigning not one, but two, resident lounges, and she helped to keep resident administrative tasks to a minimum. Her enthusiasm for innovation has helped in so many areas. She is a great person and a loyal friend to both our department and me. Best of luck, Jessica!

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