2018-2019 Departing Chief Resident Spotlight

As we celebrate another successful training year and say goodbye to our beloved departing chief residents – Marc Allard-Ratick, Dave Gupta, Bailey Hunkler, John Marshall, Emily Poppens, and Dustin Staloch – we invite all of them to share reflections, advice, career goals, and what life outside of work looks like.

Marc Allard-Ratick, MD

What makes Emory’s internal medicine residency program stand out among others?
In my opinion, there are very few programs in the country that can match our clinical training while also providing extensive resources for research and innovative medical education. Beyond this, there is only one Grady Memorial Hospital in the country. No other training experience is like it.

How did Emory’s residency program prepare you for your future career?
I think first and foremost I completed residency feeling confident I could handle pretty much any internal medicine patient that came through the door. I felt I had seen such a wide range of clinical presentations and spectrum of illness during my three years of training that it made transitioning to an attending role much smoother. I think having this foundation of clinical skill going into a fellowship that has its share of critically ill patients will be paramount to future success. I have also had incredible mentors during my time at Emory who have informed my perspective on an academic career and what it takes to be successful outside of being an outstanding clinician.

What’s your ultimate career goal?
Academic Cardiology – unclear if that focus will be as a clinician-educator or clinician-researcher, still trying to figure that out.

What’s the biggest takeaway from your year as a chief resident?
1) The amount of talent and dedication among our residents is both inspiring and humbling. I learn something new from someone in our program daily. 2) Creating educational material that truly promotes learning is extremely time consuming and labor intensive, but it is without a doubt worth the effort.

What is one piece of advice you would like to give to incoming Emory residents?
Frequently take a step back from whatever you are doing and remind yourself that you are here because of your desire to care for and perhaps heal those who are at their most vulnerable. Residency is a job, but it is also a responsibility to be there for all of the patients we touch.

What is one piece of advice you would like to give to incoming chief residents?
Creating effective change takes months of planning and execution and the dedication of your entire group. Prioritize the aspects of the year you are most passionate about and make sure to block off time for these.

What will you miss the most about Emory’s residency program?
This is cliché but also far and away my true answer: the people. From faculty, residents, students, ancillary staff there is no shortage of amazing people who I will miss dearly.

How do you balance your work and personal lives?
You make time, no matter what, for the non-medical activities that recharge you. Capitalize on your days off, which takes planning before the day actually begins (I didn’t do this nearly enough, but wish I did).

What do you enjoy most about living in Atlanta?
That it has everything you could ever want in a big city, but also is green, spacious, affordable, and warm!

Dave Gupta, MD

What makes Emory’s internal medicine residency program stand out among others?
In short, its culture. The Emory Internal Medicine residency program strikes an exquisite balance – it provides rigorous clinical training that prepares its residents for supremely complex, high acuity patient scenarios but does so in a warm, rich learning environment that makes one feel appreciated and supported. To me, that was invaluable.

How did Emory’s residency program prepare you for your future career?
I had tremendous exposure to wonderful teachers, with opportunities to learn from them by example and directed mentorship. In addition, special arrangements were made in the curriculum for me to pursue meaningful teaching opportunities throughout residency, starting from intern year, eventually teaching to all levels of learners and cultivating the skills I hope to use in my own teaching career.

What’s your ultimate career goal?
I seek to build a career practicing Medical Oncology, as a clinician-educator with specific interests in solid tumor oncology and evidence-based medicine. Next year I am thankful to begin fellowship in hematology and medical oncology here at Emory!

What’s the biggest takeaway from your year as a chief resident?
There are a lot of people who feel invisible behind the scenes providing unrecognized help to trainees. It’s been important to me to become better about recognizing them and thanking them.

What is one piece of advice you would like to give to incoming Emory residents?
Before asking a nurse to do something for you, ask what they need from you. It will completely change the tone of your interaction, and you get to address their needs face-to-face instead of hearing your pager beep and interrupt you later.

What is one piece of advice you would like to give to incoming chief residents?
Whenever you feel too deep in administrative work, pause, get up, and walk over to check on some of the residents. It’s rejuvenating! Plus, it makes sure that you’re keeping a pulse on what’s happening on the ground.

What will you miss the most about Emory’s residency program?
I’m sticking around, so I don’t have to miss its wonderful people.

How do you balance your work and personal lives?
I think it’s important to set boundaries on how to spend free time and to be intentional about being present in what you’re doing, whether that’s at work or away from it.

What do you enjoy most about living in Atlanta?
A huge perk of being in the city with the world’s busiest airport is the numerous restaurants with amazing food from all over the world. There’s always a new place to try!

Bailey Hunkler, MD

What makes Emory’s internal medicine residency program stand out among others?
The excellent clinical training at Emory is by far what makes our program stand out the most!

How did Emory’s residency program prepare you for your future career?
Rheumatology is a subspecialty that has many diagnostic dilemmas and requires a detailed physical exam. The fantastic and hands on clinical experience I had during training here helped prepare me to be a future rheumatologist.

What’s your ultimate career goal?
To be a rheumatologist. I am really excited to stay at Emory and complete my rheumatology fellowship!

What’s the biggest takeaway from your year as a chief resident?
It has been an incredible year and opportunity to see things behind the scenes. I have been blown away by how hard the residency leadership works for our residents and how amazing our residents are.

What is one piece of advice you would like to give to incoming Emory residents?
Enjoy it! Residency will fly by. It is a privilege to train and take care of patients at Grady. You will learn so much more than just medicine from your patients. Make sure to enjoy the time training and get as much out of it as you possibly can!

What is one piece of advice you would like to give to incoming chief residents?
Be a good listener – you can learn a lot and be very helpful by just taking the time to listen.

What will you miss the most about Emory’s residency program?
I will miss the people. Our program consists of some truly incredible and innovative learners and teachers. I am happy I won’t be going far so I can continue to learn and collaborate with the people in our program.

How do you balance your work and personal lives?
It is tricky, and something I am constantly working on. Yoga helps keep me centered. I have been very lucky to have a very supportive family and boyfriend. I try to make sure that I am being present when I’m spending time with my loved ones.

What do you enjoy most about living in Atlanta?
The weather and diverse community! I love being able to be outside for the majority of the year enjoying the
many parks, great restaurants, and events that Atlanta has to offer.

John Marshall, MD

What makes Emory’s internal medicine residency program stand out among others?
In my residency search, I was looking for a program that could balance the urgency of learning with the freedom to learn in a way that was sustainable and fitting for me. This came down to the appropriate escalation of autonomy over time, role models who are practicing in evidence-based ways, an encouraging and inspiring atmosphere, and opportunities to grow in clinical and non-clinical ways. I was grateful to have found this at Emory.

How did Emory’s residency program prepare you for your future career?
There’s something about completing intern year, going on to night float, rotating through the ICUs, leading teams, all while maintaining a clinic that leaves you empowered to deliver care in a variety of contexts. What a helpful opportunity to go through this process with residents and attendings as guides before launching out into the next phase.

What’s your ultimate career goal?
I’ll be practicing primary care next year. I didn’t always know I wanted to do this, but over time I found myself drawn to the ability of the PCP to view the health system in the way patients view it, to act as a guide, and to help provide sustainable benefit over time. I also imagine that education and system improvement will continue to be a part of who I am in some capacity.

What’s the biggest takeaway from your year as a chief resident?
I’ve realized how true it is that all of us have areas in which we can grow, and I find myself valuing the fresh honesty, humility, and energy that can come with this realization. Interns seem to come at this naturally as they launch into training, and it was helpful to follow their example as I faced my own new challenges this year.

What is one piece of advice you would like to give to incoming Emory residents?
Residency can have a way of making things feel serious all the time. I always appreciated having people around who helped me take myself a little less seriously, and who helped the days feel a little lighter.

What is one piece of advice you would like to give to incoming chief residents?
As you go along, I’m sure you’ll generate ideas for how the residency system should change. My encouragement is just to go about suggesting changes in ways that care for the individuals who may be impacted. I look forward to seeing things take shape as you approach the year!

What will you miss the most about Emory’s residency program?
Having a community around you can be so important when trying to learn medicine. This community at Emory is what I’ll miss the most – a vibrant group of learners, friends, and colleagues.

How do you balance your work and personal lives?
Feeling like I’ve been able to work in line with my values has helped me feel content at the end of the day and look forward to spending time with others outside of work. I’ve been thankful for the amazing support of my family, and also for friendships that preceded training and have been an encouragement throughout.

What do you enjoy most about living in Atlanta?
What’s funny about me is I think I enjoy Atlanta primarily because it’s in Georgia! Friends and family are around, and Georgia’s great scenery can’t help but shine through, even in a big city!

Emily Poppens, MD

What makes Emory’s internal medicine residency program stand out among others?
Grady. You really have the opportunity to make a difference in patient’s lives. I can’t imagine my training without the patients, teachers, nurses, pharmacists, clinic staff that Grady has. You truly get to work in interdisciplinary teams. You see diverse pathology and learn how to manage multiple chronic medical conditions in a resource limited setting. I feel prepared to practice medicine anywhere.

How did Emory’s residency program prepare you for your future career?
The Grady Primary Care Center gave me the opportunity to build relationships with patients and work with an amazing staff. They made the impossible possible. The addition of the 1525 and Midtown clinics helped me learn how to practice medicine in a variety of settings and build my confidence in becoming a primary care physician.

What’s your ultimate career goal?
I have always wanted to be a primary care doctor like my dad and can’t wait to start with Internal Medicine Specialists of Atlanta in July.

What’s the biggest takeaway from your year as a chief resident?
There is a lot of behind the scenes work that goes on that makes a residency run. There are countless hours that go into trying to make the best possible experience for residents and making changes to continually improve our resident’s experiences. Change takes time, and I am amazed at how different the program looks from when I was an intern, and I am looking forward to seeing how it evolves in the future.

What is one piece of advice you would like to give to incoming Emory residents?
Residency goes by fast. My dad gave me advice at the beginning of my residency to not forget the people who got me to that point. Life continues to happen when you are in residency, despite how busy you are in the hospital. Make sure to find a way to make your friends and family a priority. It can be as simple as calling your mom on your way home from work.

What is one piece of advice you would like to give to incoming chief residents?
The best part of chief year is the relationships you will develop with the residents, spend time getting to know them both inside and outside of work.

What will you miss the most about Emory’s residency program?
The people who make up the program. I have met some of my closest friends in the program and continually meet new people who are amazing. I will miss those who I have worked with and the pleasure of getting to know new trainees.

How do you balance your work and personal lives?
Don’t be too proud to ask for help. I feel like we try to do it all. and it’s just not possible. I could not do it without the help of my husband and family. Be intentional about taking time for yourself and spending time with your friends and family. Treat days off like a treasure and make the most of them.

What do you enjoy most about living in Atlanta?
The parks. Atlanta has invested in developing the beltline and other parks. From my house we can walk to the Beltline connector, Bobby Jones Golf, Bitsy Grant Tennis and two other parks that my kids love. It is a really amazing resource that I encourage you all to take advantage of.

Dustin Staloch, MD

What makes Emory’s internal medicine residency program stand out among others?
For a program of our size, the residency really tries to have the spirit and feel of a smaller, more intimate training program. I also really love the diversity of exposure and opportunities we have here. Many programs excel in one domain, but I love that we offer intense clinical training paired with a myriad of chances for growth and mentorship in medical educational, leadership, global health, and everything from
basic to clinical research.

How did Emory’s residency program prepare you for your future career?
I honestly feel there aren’t any clinical settings or patient populations I wouldn’t be able to adapt to due to the broad exposure we get. Also, Dr. Law and others really seem to have a knack at helping me better understand the type of clinician and leader I want to be. Residency can make your head swim sometimes, and it’s nice to know we have people in our corner who help keep us focus and who understand us better than we understand ourselves at times.

What’s your ultimate career goal?
I came to Emory enamored with the breadth cardiology offers from non-invasive to invasive diagnostics and treatments. I plan to track toward a procedural area of cardiology. For now, that means interventional training, but we’ll see! I feel like I get a fresh chance at deciding who I want to be and see what comes my way, so I’m opening to seeing where this next road takes me. Ultimately, I’d like to stay in academics to work with trainees and shape another generation of clinicians.

What’s the biggest takeaway from your year as a chief resident?
No matter the problem, there is always a solution. Finding that solution often takes re-framing the problem, though, or shifting your outcome expectation.

What is one piece of advice you would like to give to incoming Emory residents?
Never be too proud to say “I don’t know” or too right to say “I’m sorry.” Identifying your own knowledge gaps is crucial to growth. Also, befriend the nurses and know their names! Work is more fun that way, and you’ll be much more effective.

What is one piece of advice you would like to give to incoming chief residents?
Look for every opportunity to advocate for and be accommodating to trainees’ needs and challenges while remaining fair.

What will you miss the most about Emory’s residency program?
I’d miss all the friendships I’ve made with my co-residents, trainees, and faculty!

How do you balance your work and personal lives?
I think “balance”is misleading. I try to focus on work-life integration so success in one strengthens me in the other. But protecting time with friends and family is vital. Things are rarely as urgent as they feel; those emails can wait until the morning.

What do you enjoy most about living in Atlanta?
To be honest, I came here expecting to duck back to Texas after three years. Atlanta is sucking me in though with the friendly people, varied neighborhoods, and tons of green space in the city.