Medical Training
Stories from residency, fellowship, and the grueling path to becoming a physician
The path to becoming a physician is one of the longest and most demanding professional training programs in the world, and the stories that emerge from it are among the most formative experiences a physician will ever have. Medical training — from the cadaver lab of first-year anatomy to the sleepless nights of residency to the high-stakes intensity of fellowship — is designed to transform bright, empathetic young people into competent clinicians. In "Physicians' Untold Stories," Dr. Kolbaba captures the full spectrum of that transformation: the terror of making a first independent clinical decision, the dark humor that becomes a survival mechanism, the mentors who changed everything with a single sentence, and the moments when a trainee realizes they have become, irrevocably, a physician.
The modern structure of medical training traces back to Sir William Osler's reforms at Johns Hopkins in the 1890s, but the residency system as it exists today was largely shaped by Dr. William Halsted, who — it was later revealed — sustained his legendary work ethic through cocaine and morphine addiction. This uncomfortable origin story casts a long shadow over a training culture that has historically equated suffering with excellence and sleep deprivation with dedication. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education implemented duty hour restrictions in 2003, limiting resident work weeks to 80 hours, but studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine have shown that these limits are inconsistently enforced and frequently exceeded, particularly in surgical programs.
What makes the training stories in "Physicians' Untold Stories" distinctive is their emotional honesty. These are not the polished anecdotes of commencement speeches; they are raw accounts of physicians remembering the most vulnerable period of their professional lives. The intern who called a wrong code and had to face the attending. The resident who performed her first emergency procedure on a patient who reminded her of her father. The fellow who realized, in the middle of a sixteen-hour day, that he loved medicine more than he had ever loved anything. These stories matter because they remind experienced physicians of who they were before the system hardened them, and they reassure trainees that the struggle they are enduring is shared.
Inside the Book
Dr. Kolbaba's book includes stories from physicians reflecting on the defining moments of their medical training — the first time they were solely responsible for a crashing patient, the mentors whose words reshaped their careers, and the grueling nights of residency that forged their clinical identity. These narratives capture the terror, dark humor, and eventual competence that emerge from years of sleep deprivation and high-stakes learning. The training stories in the collection remind experienced physicians who they were before the system hardened them, while reassuring current trainees that the struggle is both universal and survivable.
Read the Stories →Key Facts About Medical Training
The modern medical residency system was created by Dr. William Halsted at Johns Hopkins in the 1890s, who expected residents to literally reside in the hospital — a practice he sustained partly through his documented addiction to cocaine and morphine.
The average medical student in the United States graduates with $200,000 in educational debt, according to the Association of American Medical Colleges 2023 report, and will spend 11-16 years in post-secondary education and training before practicing independently.
The ACGME duty hour reforms of 2003 limited resident work weeks to 80 hours, yet a 2019 study in JAMA found that 43% of surgical residents regularly exceeded these limits, with some reporting work weeks exceeding 100 hours.
The Libby Zion case of 1984 — in which an 18-year-old patient died at New York Hospital under the care of overworked, unsupervised residents — led to the first state-mandated limits on resident working hours in New York and ultimately influenced national reform.
A 2021 study in Academic Medicine found that 27% of medical students screen positive for depression during training, and that the prevalence of suicidal ideation among medical students is approximately 11% — nearly three times the rate in the age-matched general population.
Research Spotlight
Dr. Liselotte Dyrbye's longitudinal research at the Mayo Clinic, published across multiple studies in Academic Medicine and JAMA, has demonstrated that the psychological distress experienced during medical training is not merely transient stress but has lasting effects on physician wellness, career satisfaction, and empathy scores that persist well beyond the training period.
Types of Phenomena in the Book
Distribution across 26 physician accounts
Near-Death Experience Features
Percentage reporting each feature (van Lommel et al., 2001)
Why Medical Training Matters
Medical training is a crucible that forges professional identity under extreme conditions, and the stories that emerge from it shape how physicians understand themselves for the rest of their careers. "Physicians' Untold Stories" captures these formative narratives — the triumphs and failures, the mentors and tormentors, the moments of terror and transcendence — and preserves them as a shared inheritance. For physicians, reading about colleagues' training experiences creates connection across specialties and generations. For trainees currently in the trenches, these stories offer something essential: proof that the struggle is survivable, that competence follows uncertainty, and that the people who trained them once felt exactly the same way.
Questions Readers Ask
Has the culture of medical training fundamentally changed since duty hour reforms, or does the old mentality persist?
What is the most formative experience physicians recall from their training years?
How does sleep deprivation during residency affect clinical decision-making and patient safety?
Why do many physicians describe residency as the most difficult and most meaningful period of their careers?
Read the Stories That Changed Everything
Over 200 physicians interviewed. 26 stories that will challenge what you believe about life, death, and everything in between.
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