Fourth-year medical students await residency training in ‘exciting, scary time’

Patrick Steadman has spent much of his
free time on the water and fishing.

In less than three months, fourth-year medical student Ben Gibson of Huntsville, Ala., will start his training in emergency medicine at LSU Health in Baton Rouge – in a state that has seen more than 10,000 cases of COVID-19 and 370 deaths from the disease.

Whether the pandemic will still be on the rise in the U.S. by that time is unclear. “It’s an exciting and yet scary time to be starting residency, especially in emergency medicine,” said Gibson, who matched at his top choice. “I think that I will come in contact with a large number of patients with the disease, and at some point, will likely be a patient myself.”

For now, though, Gibson and his fellow M4s at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine must watch from the sidelines as they transition from medical students to physicians in what has been an unprecedented semester. To contain the spread of the novel coronavirus, the class’s Match Day celebration was called off. Coursework moved online. Graduation in early May was canceled.

“We did not realize at the time that our last day of class was the last day,” said Patrick Steadman of Mobile, who will be moving to Nashville to start his training in internal medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. “There was a grieving process associated with the end of school just sort of fizzling out.”

Sippy Sridhar incorporates yoga or pilates
into her daily exercise routine.

Steadman and other members of the class say they are using their free time before starting their residencies – and whatever that holds – to connect with family and catch up on pastimes they’ve put on the back burner during medical school.

“My wife and I have been spending time on the water relaxing and fishing, using this time between medical school and residency as almost a time of sabbatical between the two distinct rigors of medical education and residency training,” Steadman said.

Free time isn’t something that most medical students are accustomed to having.

“Just like everybody else, I’m doing the best I can,” said Sippy Sridhar of Birmingham, who matched in internal medicine at LSU Health in New Orleans. “I’ve gotten to spend time with family, which has made social distancing easier. I also exercise daily. I now have the time to design full-body workouts and end each day with yoga or Pilates.”

Sridhar has also stayed virtually involved with JagPantry, a campus food pantry she created as a first-year medical student. “I have had several phone and Zoom meetings to ensure that we can safely provide food and toiletries to Jaguars in need,” she said.

Ben Gibson has used the transition time to go
turkey hunting. 

So far, Sridhar hasn’t received the call to start residency early in hard-hit New Orleans, as have some graduating students in other parts of the country.

Gibson, the future emergency medicine resident, said he has been spending as much time as possible with his 14-year-old brother. They have spent time fishing on Mobile Bay and in the Mississippi Sound, and turkey hunting. Gibson also took fellow medical student Hunter Childers on a weekend hunt. “I was able to watch him take his first bird and then get a great Alabama longbeard for myself.”

Classmate Kelsea Wright said it has been difficult to cope with the fact that she may not be able to see her classmates again before she leaves for Texas to train in anesthesiology. “We didn’t really say goodbye,” she said. “I’m trying not to focus on the uncertainties or all of the things that my class and I are missing out on.”

Kelsea Wright has enjoyed reading in her
downtime.

Wright has spent the past couple of weeks with her parents in Lucedale, Miss., before she starts her residency at Baylor Scott & White Health in Temple, Texas. “I’ve been spending most of my time reading and binge-watching shows on Netflix and Hulu,” she said. “I’ve also worked on a few puzzles, and my youngest brother has recently become obsessed with cornhole, so we play that several times a week.”

Some of the students said they are incorporating workouts, yoga and other physical activities into their routines to stay healthy and as stress-free as possible.

“I know that after these three months of uncertainty, I will be ready to join my co-interns in the hospital to take on whatever challenges that may be thrown our way,” Steadman said.