Brown Surgery Podcast

General surgery residency can be a stressful time, especially during intern year. Four our our general surgery residents sit down to discuss their experience and offer up tips on surviving and thriving during your intern year. Shout out to Drs Beltre, Case, Mitchell, and Saymuah for grabbing the mic and continuing our local podcast for students, residents and anyone else interested in surgery. Please look forward to many more episodes to come. If anyone has ideas for topics to be covered, please email me at [email protected]

Hi everyone, welcome back to the Brown Surgery Podcast. Today we welcome Drs Daryl Appleton, Katie MacCallum and Charles Baldi for a panel discussion on healthy surgical compartmentalization of care that we all experience in our discipline. 

This was part of a grand rounds session we had in our department the week of January 15th, 2024. It is one of the more important discussions we have had as a department and I think you all will appreciate it. 

Today we have a special episode that touches on a topic that is receiving a lot of attention in the literature but is not often talked about in general surgery or training programs. 

Imposter syndrome, or phenomenon as it was originally defined, is a feature that involves fear of being discovered and exposed as an imposter, or more simply one who feels they do not belong in the role they occupy, and does not deserve the success they achieve. 

To explore this concept in greater detail, we are fortunate enough to have a diverse panel of surgeons from Brown Surgery joining us today. With the help of Dr. Daryl Appleton, we will have an open conversation with Drs Christine Emmick, Dean Roye, Andrew Luhrs and Elizabeth Tindal to explore this concept in greater detail. 

For Bio’s on our facilitator and panelists:

Dr Daryl Appleton, M.ED, CAGS, LMHC, Ed.D.

Dr Christine Emmick, MD

Dr Dean Roye, MD

Dr Andrew Luhrs, MD

Dr Elizabeth Tindal, MD

Article of interest on Imposter Syndrome in General Surgery training programs:

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1072751521012308

Thanks again to all of our panelist and for making this discussion on Imposter Syndrome incredibly engaging. 

If there a specific topics and/or specialties you would like me to dive into in future episodes of this podcast my email is below so just send me a quick note. Have a great week and I’m looking forward to having you back with us in the next episode of the Brown Surgery Podcast.

[email protected]

Today I am excited to welcome back our Brown surgical critical care fellow, Dr Jennifer Hubbard, MD to the podcast to discuss a topic we don’t talk about enough in the general surgical world; caustic ingestion. Dr Hubbard presented this topic at a recent combined conference and I thought it would work really well as a podcast episode. I’m also going to try this out as a video podcast so let me know if you like this format. Without further ado, let’s dive into caustic ingestion.

Todays episode is geared towards medical students and junior residents as we discuss indications for chest tube placement, types of chest tubes, as well as a quick review of the 3 chamber chest tube collection system that can be daunting for new clinicians.

Joining me to discuss this topic is our current Brown surgical critical care fellow Dr Jennifer Hubbard, MD. Dr. Hubbard did her undergraduate work at Umass Amherst and then went on to medical school at Ross University before doing a general surgery residency at St Mary’s Hospital in Waterbury Connecticut. She is halfway through her surgical critical care fellowship here at Brown and we are excited to have her on the podcast today.

Podcast Chapters:

(1:29) Chest tube indications?

(2:42) Where to needle decompress?

(5:27) Difference between a standard chest tube and a pigtail catheter? 

(9:08) Technique for standard chest tube placement

(14:00) Technique for pigtail catheter placement

(15:30) Suction versus waterseal?

(20:50) Considerations when deciding on removing a chest tube

Links to Content Discussed on this episode:

Article on chest tube size and hemothorax: https://journals.lww.com/jtrauma/Fulltext/2021/11000/The_small__14_Fr__percutaneous_catheter__P_CAT_.6.aspx?casa_token=mwStOr036p0AAAAA:0_RiqETsgtR70oPpOAsXUO6D1TJGTlDyLQyR-j5NFWpmR-ScFah8Z0kelctpJrRNWTW0bRP1TQPJHb0MPUD31A

Behind the knife video on chest tube placement: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5HuiD51Su0

One Pager on Chest tubes (and other important ICU concepts): https://onepagericu.com/chest-tubes

My email: [email protected] Please feel free to send me topics you would like me to discuss on this podcast

Today are going to dive into hepatoboliliary surgery. We are going to take a look at what a day in the life looks like, some of the factors that go into choosing a HPB fellowship, address some of the misconceptions of becoming a HPB surgeon and, of course, touch on the often discussed work-life balance.

Joining me to discuss this topic is our own HPB surgeon and assistant program director Dr Racheal Beard.

Dr Beard completed her undergraduate studies at Boston University. She then went on to Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA for medical school. She did her General Surgery Residency at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts and then went on to HPB fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center,  Pittsburgh, PA. 

Podcast Chapters:

(1:32) Why a Career in Surgery?

(3:24) Why clinical research years?

(5:33) Are clinical research years mandatory for HPB  

(6:45) What does a normal week look like for you?

(7:55) What does a typical HPB practice look like at other centers?

(9:31) Decision on HPB vs Surgical Oncology vs Transplant for a fellowship in this field?

(11:22) Tips and advice for those considering a career in HPB?

(12:25) What to look for in a HPB fellowship?

(13:54) Any misconceptions about HPB surgery

(15:19) Importance of institutional support

(16:57) Work-Life Balance? 

My email is [email protected]

Have a great week and I’m looking forward to having you back with us in the next episode of the Brown Surgery Podcast

Today we are continuing our chief podcast series with Dr. Molly Hunter, MD. Molly is joining us today to speak about her experience with getting involved with global surgery and performing global surgery research. She has put together an excellent framework that anyone interested in this area will find extremely helpful as the plot their course in global surgery.

Podcast Chapters:

(0:32) Dr. Hunter's educational pedigree.

(1:18) Dr. Hunter's journey into global surgery.

(3:03) How to get involved with Global Surgery (GS) as a resident?

(4:36) Tips for those exploring GS options in residency programs. 

(5:55) GS and GS research.

(8:16) 4 components essential to GS/GSR: Mentorship

(12:27) 4 components essential to GS/GSR: Partnership

(16:26) 4 components essential to GS/GSR: Themes

(20:43) 4 components essential to GS/GSR: Funding

(23:38) Final tips and advice for those interested in GS/GSR

My email is [email protected]

Have a great week and I’m looking forward to having you back with us in the next episode of the Brown Surgery Podcast

In this episode, we are going to kick off our 2022 chief resident podcast series. This is something we started last year as a way for our chief residents to leave their mark here with us at brown by discussing a topic they are passionate about.

Today We are going to take a look at the decision to go into general surgery training. We’ll get into some of the factors that one should consider if they think this is the career pathway for them as well as what it takes to be a successful surgery resident at all stages of training. This is a great episode for medical students who are considering general surgery as a career and want to find out more about the process as a whole.   

Joining me to discuss this is our own chief administrative resident Dr. Andrew Varone.

Podcast Chapters:

(0:48) Dr. Varone's educational pedigree.

(2:06) Factors that led to a decision to pursue general surgery?

(3:29) Teams versus reality? 

(4:53) What about doing away rotations?

(5:43) Lifestyle of a general surgery resident?

(8:32) How best to prepare for a life in surgery?

(10:46) Research requirements for surgery residency?

(13:31) What to look for in choosing a surgery training program?

(16:45) How best to prepare to be a general surgery intern? 

(20:31) Tips on excelling as a senior surgery resident?

(23:22) Would you do it again?

My email is [email protected]

Have a great week and I’m looking forward to having you back with us in the next episode of the Brown Surgery Podcast

I’m excited to have our departmental wellness coach, Dr Daryl Appleton, M.ED, CAGS, LMHC, Ed.D. on with me today as we dive into various topics surrounding clinician wellness. We are going to touch on defining wellness, exploring imposter syndrome, discussing the 7 types of rest we should be engaging in, some of the themes she has noticed in talking with our residents and faculty over the past few years, as well as some stress reduction techniques we can apply when time is a factor.

 Podcast Chapters:

(0:46) Dr Appleton's journey into wellness. 

(3:14) How do you define wellness?

(5:57) The 7 different types of rest.

(14:47) Themes in talking with residents and faculty.

(17:34) Imposter syndrome.

(20:46) Stress reduction techniques.

(25:26) How can we get our partners engaged 

(28:56) If you haven't bought in to the concept of wellness yet.

Dr Appleton's Email: [email protected] 

Article on Imposter Syndrome in Surgery Residents: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1072751521012308

My email is [email protected]

Have a great week and I’m looking forward to having you back with us in the next episode of the Brown Surgery Podcast

Today are going to dive into vascular surgery. We are going to take a look at what a day in the life looks like, some of the factors that go into choosing a vascular fellowship, address some of the misconceptions and, of course, touch on the often discussed work-life balance.

Joining me to discuss this topic is one of our vascular surgeons Dr Carla Moreira.

Dr Moreira graduated from Rhode Island College in 2003 with B.A. in Biology and Chemistry. In 2008, she received her M.D. from Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, RI, and completed residency in General Surgery at the University of Chicago, Chicago, IL in 2013. This was followed by 2-year fellowship training in vascular and endovascular surgery at Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA.

Podcast Chapters:

(1:12) Why a Career in Surgery?

(4:49) Why Vascular Surgery?

(10:04) What Does a Normal Week Look Like for You?  

(13:00) What Advice Would You Give for Students/Residents Considering a Career in Vascular Surgery?

(17:12) Integrated Versus Vascular Fellowships?

(21:00) Suggestions on What to Look for in a 2-Year Fellowship? 

(24:55) Misconceptions About Vascular Surgery?  

(26:56) Work-Life Balance?

Dr Moreira’s Email: [email protected]

Please visit Vascular.org to see resources available

My email is [email protected]

Have a great week and I’m looking forward to having you back with us in the next episode of the Brown Surgery Podcast