Evaluations in Medical Training: a Resident’s View

The stress and intensity of the surgical unit was infamous: waking up early and leaving late to round with the team before and after operations and scrubbing into the surgeries to assist by holding the retractors for minutes to hours, suctioning excess fluids, cauterizing, and helping with closing, all the while with the expectation to correctly name all the anatomical features exhibited during the surgery while the attending physician, residents, nurses, and technicians looked on. There were medical school exams, shelf exams, step exams, and objective structured clinical examinations to gauge one’s knowledge and clinical presentations. An evaluation can be impactful and lasting for the wrong reasons, however.