CHICAGO, IL - In a bombshell ruling, ERAS now must provide the survival rate for each residency program as well as the cause of death for each resident who perished. The ACGME hopes this is a major step towards providing transparency for fourth year medical students applying to residency. As the rates of resident suicide increase nationally, this move can help medical students avoid residency programs that have had multiple trainees complete suicide and have decided to make zero adjustments. 

Lincoln Medical Center, a prominent residency training program in the Bronx, has seen several suicides in the last few years. 

“Medicine is a challenging field. Covid was a challenging time. There’s traffic sometimes.” said Dr. Dwight Shrute, assistant to the program director, when asked why resident suicide rates have been so high. “This isn’t a daycare, it’s a residency program. The herd cannot sustain the weak.”

Residents have long been asking for change, including less call burden, more supervision, and more focus on education. The program has been minimally responsive. Similar challenges have been faced by residents at University of College State Hospital.

“I don’t think they care about us,” said UCSH family medicine resident Dr. Ahmad Ali. “I don’t think they even see us. My PD has been calling me Omar for the last year.”

UCSH has faced numerous tragedies in the last year, including a resident suicide, a faculty suicide, then another resident suicide because that student was so distraught by the faculty suicide. There have been several allegations against department chairs and administration for creating a toxic environment. 

““When I was a kid, I used to dream about being a doctor. Taking care of patients, saving lives. All I’ve done in the last two hours is write discharge summaries and adjust feeding orders.” said UCSH internal medicine resident Dr. Omar Khan. “And I’m pretty sure they can’t tell me and Ahmad apart.”

Dr. Sheila Cohen, Program Director of UCSH Internal Medicine Residency Program, offered her support. 

“Most importantly, I validated what my residents are feeling. After that, I didn’t do anything else.”

When asked about this ruling, she simply sighed deeply.

“Yes, there are problems here and they run deeper than just program faculty. But residents are happy here too. One number doesn’t paint a full picture. Just ask one of our finest residents, Ahmad.”