Other Side Med Newsletter

Hey everyone! We’re Chris, Hannah, and Emmett Herring. If you’re new to our newsletter, welcome. Once a month, you’ll either catch Hannah giving a quick highlight/encouragement from life inside the hospital or Chris sharing thoughts about life outside the hospital. Ideally, you’ll find both relevant and worth the read.

By no means have we mastered what it takes to get through med school or residency…we’ve had plenty of hiccups of our own…but we’ve learned a few things we hope can give you a new perspective, support, community, friendship, and better relationships in your journey.

Thanks for being a part and we’ll see you again in January.

On Deck

• Infuent’s Holiday Giveaway

• Ending with Excellence - Dr. Hannah Thompson

• Community Spotlight - Amanda Baron

• Promising Young Surgeon Podcast

• Get involved

Shout out to Influent for keeping this newsletter free. Influent is a healthcare media agency building a supportive network that helps the next generation of medical professionals thrive personally and professionally.

Their community contains over 50,000 experts — from med students to seasoned pros, and their podcasts and resources are sparking vital conversations that redefine work in medicine.

Shows that have charted on Apple Podcasts:

• White Coat Warriors: #1: U.S.: Medicine, #8: U.S.: Health & Fitness, #106: U.S.: All Podcasts

• Promising Young Surgeon: #4: U.S.: Science

• Meet the Toberts: #7: U.S.: Education

Ending with Excellence - Dr. Hannah Thompson, DO

It still doesn’t feel real. It’s been a 13-year journey that’s coming to an end. Truthfully, we can’t wait. We long for stability, being closer to family and settling into a routine that creates a better balance than what residency has brought. I’m sure you can relate. But before we get lost in what’s to come, we’re doing our best to stay fully committed and engaged with where we are. Plus, there are a few aspects of residency I care about accomplishing before saying goodbye, and wanted to share them with you. Hopefully, you’ll find my approach/attitude towards ending well helpful as a med student, resident, fellow, and even non-medical partner supporting a loved one through this journey.

Teaching || Something I care a ton about is helping med students and residents be the best they can be. As a chief resident, I don’t want to be a colleague who can’t be found, isn’t seen on the floor, or is thought of as too proud to help others when they’re in need. I want to be as present as possible, I want to support the educational experience of those around me, and I want to add to a culture of teaching that’s often so easily neglected.

If you’re in a similar spot and wrapping up your last year of med school, residency, or fellowship, my encouragement is simple - don’t quit. As tempting as it may be…you’re presence is needed, your input is wanted, and others have more to learn from you than you realize.

Patient Care || There are a million and one reasons why physicians become jaded in medicine - but I never want the frustrations of my day-to-day to impact the way I care for patients. Patients deserve better.

Aside from providing great medical care, I’m working really hard this year to make my love easy to see. Whether that’s spending more time than necessary with a patient, sharing difficult news of loss or cancer with a patient or family, or something entirely different...we could all use a little bit more love in our lives. So I’m committed to finishing all clinical duties well as I wrap up my training.

Family || There’s obviously a lot of pressure put on every resident, regardless of who has a family and who doesn’t during these years. But for us, I’m immensely thankful for the support system cheering me on and keeping me motivated. As I wrap up this last year, I want to make the most of my time as a family in Pennsylvania. ie… Taking advantage of Golden Weekends, enjoying downtown Philly (Phillies, Eagles, Sixers, farmers markets, etc...), volunteering with our local church, and cherishing the reasons we’re here.

If I don’t find a purposeful way to make the most of the time off I have (even if it’s just a little), someone/something will. So I think being more strategic with our time will help the year go by with greater purpose and keep us motivated as a family instead of wishing it by. But we DON’T want to do these things alone. Join us...or...prioritize these things where you are in your own medical journey. Time is limited...we get it...but when you can, it is 100% possible to enjoy your life in residency.

Community Spotlight - Amanda Baron

If you missed Amanda’s story, you can read it here.

We started getting to know Amanda Baron via Instagram earlier in the year and when she shared her story with us, we knew it had to be shared. Amanda’s a real estate agent in Nashville, TN, and the wife to a Pediatric IR Doctor at Vanderbilt.

Her story resonates with our own family…and I’m sure it will with many of you. Whether it encompasses long distance during training, the financial crunch many of us feel during med school and residency and fellowship, raising kids, interviewing for jobs post-training, etc… she covers it all. It’s a read you don’t want to miss.

Recent Podcast Recordings:

If you enjoy listening to medical podcasts, we’ve got a few new recommendations.

Promising Young Surgeon: Chris and I recently recorded an episode with Dr. Frances Mei Hardin, MD, that’s now live. We’ve really enjoyed listening to her latest season, which has been all about rethinking residency and discussing practical ways to improve residency training, culture, and education.

The Mug Up: Chris and I got to spend time with an MS1 a few weeks ago who started The Mug Up podcast as a way to enhance her medical school experience. It was a great reminder to “remember your roots.” As a resident, fellow, or attending, take a few minutes to remember what it was like, what you wished was different, how things could’ve been better, what helped you get through, and think about ways you can actively apply those things in your current setting. The Mug Up was a great reminder to give back and encourage these future physicians. We’ll share the link to our episode once it’s live.

Muted In Medicine: We’ll also share the link to this episode once it’s live but Chris will be joining Dr. Saba Fatima, MD, this week to talk about his journey as a non-medical partner in residency - and the origins of Other Side Med. This is a great podcast to subscribe to if you’re interested in listening to doctors discuss topics like mental health, grief, malpractice, and experiencing shame in medicine. Really interesting topics that you may enjoy learning about.

Get Involved

As physicians, partners, family members, and friends to those in medicine, our final encouragement is this - GET INVOLVED.

This is purposefully broad and up for interpretation….but here are a few ideas for you to think about.

1. Your Marriage: Your marriage needs your involvement, commitment, and whole self. Your partner needs you. And of course, this goes both ways. But your marriage can’t be half-assed and expected to work. Get involved.

2. You Kids: Medicine keeps you away from your kids more than you’d like…and when you’re home, I know it’s difficult to give what you don’t have…but they need you. Get involved.

3. Find a hobby: For the sake of your own mental health/well-being, find one thing outside of medicine and outside of your family that you can give 1 hour to that would bring you joy. Get involved.

4. Parents and Friends: If you’ve called or texted a loved one in medicine and feel like they’re unresponsive or neglecting you…keep pursuing them. They need you in their life. You give them a sense of normalcy and grounding…even if they don’t respond. Texts of encouragement mean more than you’ll ever know. Random $5 Starbucks gift cards with messages like “I’m thinking about you today. You got this. Love you.” matter more than you’ll ever know. Get involved.

5. Non-Medical Partners: Give a d**n about medicine. You’ll never know the intricacies of medicine like your partner but show that you care enough about your partner to know about their day-to-day. Get involved.

6. Find ways to serve: For us, this looks like serving with a local church. For others, it can look like food pantries, boys and girls clubs, YMCA, city projects… there are so many options for how you can get involved in your local community. Yes, time is limited…but getting involved is the QUICKEST way for you and everyone with you to feel a sense of belonging where you live. Get involved.

Lastly, get involved and follow us on Instagram. Be a part of our community, elevate the conversation, and help others feel like they have a place to belong in their medical journey.

Thanks for reading. As always, we’d love to hear from you. Whether you want to say hey, share your story and have it highlighted in our community spotlight section, meet us personally for a zoom call, collaborate with Other Side Med, or anything else you can think of…shoot us a message.

See you in January,

Hannah, Chris, Emmett and Ollie (baby #2 due in June)