Shar Husain, MD, (PGY-5, General Surgery) will soon complete her fifth year of residency and join the faculty at the MedStar Health (Baltimore) Residency Program in General Surgery. While many of her peers will go on to fellowship training, Dr. Husain is eager to pursue a different calling—”to help fill the country’s need for community general surgeons.”

Dr. Husain recalls, at a young age, being exposed to the issues associated with a lack of accessible healthcare. Since then, she’s always wanted to be able to do something to counteract that.

Dr. Husain also loves that her specialty offers her the ability to help people through some of the most dire points in their lives, especially since, she says, “Surgery often has a direct and immediate impact on someone’s lifestyle and well-being.”

The MedStar Health (Baltimore) Residency Program in General Surgery is a small and close-knit program where everything is truly a team effort, according to Dr. Husain.

To highlight this camaraderie and tell others about the program, Dr. Husain manages its X account, @MedStarBaltSurg (which is definitely worth a follow!).

“We have a lot of fun and love working with each other. It’s an excellent place to train and we do some pretty amazing things, and I want to share that with the world,” Dr. Husain explains.

While Dr. Husain writes and posts the content, she says @MedStarBaltSurg is also a team effort as other residents and faculty regularly contribute photos—and are often the subject of posts! Last year’s Halloween pumpkin carving contest, a trip to Boston for the American College of Surgeons meeting, recent grand round presentations, and a welcome to the new general surgery interns are just some of the topics that have been featured.

Through @MedStarBaltSurg, Dr. Husain hopes to reach not only MedStar Health GME learners and faculty, as well as hospital staff, but also incoming potential MedStar Health GME residency candidates.

While colleagues may know Dr. Husain as their team’s social media chief, ready to capture all of the fun and interesting moments of their MedStar Health GME residencies, they may not know she’s also musically inclined and plays both the clarinet and the saxophone.

Eric Wisotzky, MD, (Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation) says that a passion for helping people get through difficult life experiences is what led him to pursue a career in medicine, and in particular, his specialty. The philosophy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (PM&R), he explains, is based on helping patients participate in the things that are most meaningful to them—for example, family roles and recreational activities—despite debilitating medical challenges.

Dr. Wisotzky credits his mentors at MedStar Health with his own ability to pursue what he most values. “From day one, my mentors have supported me in pursuing the parts of my career that are most meaningful to me: caring for the patients I’m so passionate about, pursuing the academic areas I’m interested in, and working with and leading training for medical students, residents, and fellows,” he says.

Now a mentor himself, Dr. Wisotzky reminds his residents and fellows to really observe their attendings and to try and put themselves in their attendings’ shoes. “They are not so distant from you,” Dr. Wisotzky says. “Try to imagine yourself doing what they do each day. This will help you maximize your training to prepare you for what your attendings do.”

Though he always planned to attend medical school, Dr. Wisotzky majored in theater as an undergraduate. One of his theater professors once offered a piece of unexpected advice to help him prepare for his future and, in his professor’s words, to make him a better doctor. The advice was to take an improvisation class, and only later would Dr. Wisotzky fully appreciate its impact. “As a physician, we have to think so quickly on our feet and respond to a variety of unexpected situations. I truly believe that this improv class helped prepare me for the adventures each day would present,” he says.

Dr. Wisotzky serves as the residency program director for PM&R and an associate designated institutional official on MedStar Health GME’s Executive Team. He is also a subgroup leader on the MedStar Health Academic Affairs Working Group for Racial Justice, where he’s had the opportunity to listen and to learn about what residents and fellows from under-represented backgrounds need to feel supported and thrive in MedStar Health’s learning environments. In partnership with Georgetown University Medical Center, the Working Group for Racial Justice focuses on developing and implementing sustainable positive change in MedStar Health’s clinical learning environments.