By Sam Marie Engle
Camaraderie, the deep bonds residents develop with one another, is the Swiss army knife of residency. Classmates are the gauges monitoring pressure. Chief residents are the files that smooth ridges of conflict. Second year residents provide compasses for navigating frustratingly foreign systems and corridors. Senior residents snip away confusion in the reading room. That’s how residency works, unless you’re in the Class of 2024.
Christina Sumner, DO, loved how close her internship class was in Spokane, WA. “We did everything together. In contrast, I finally met the last person in my residency class June 29. It was difficult moving to a new city, a new part of the country, and not having a group to get together with.”
Radiology as a specialty can seem isolating with long hours in the reading room, she says. “Contact with others is a lot less than with other specialties. With COVID, though, we weren’t even in that setting; we were doing a lot of our work remotely at first and that was hard.”
Camaraderie, the deep bonds residents develop with one another, is the Swiss army knife of residency. Classmates are the gauges monitoring pressure. Chief residents are the files that smooth ridges of conflict. Second year residents provide compasses for navigating frustratingly foreign systems and corridors. Senior residents snip away confusion in the reading room. That’s how residency works, unless you’re in the Class of 2024.
Christina Sumner, DO, loved how close her internship class was in Spokane, WA. “We did everything together. In contrast, I finally met the last person in my residency class June 29. It was difficult moving to a new city, a new part of the country, and not having a group to get together with.”
Radiology as a specialty can seem isolating with long hours in the reading room, she says. “Contact with others is a lot less than with other specialties. With COVID, though, we weren’t even in that setting; we were doing a lot of our work remotely at first and that was hard.”

Carlos Sanchez, MD, agrees. “What drew me to Emory was the size of the program and the camaraderie I saw among the residents and the faculty. It was a real challenge not having that at first. Usually, you have attendings and advanced residents there with you in the reading room but we didn’t have that. I missed the mentorship from the classes ahead of us.”
Faculty leaders understood that putting residents’ health and safety first would compromise the family-like feeling of the residency program in the short-term but believed that would change once vaccines became available.
“We created as many opportunities as possible for the residents to bond remotely and to learn in a collaborative setting online because we absolutely could not expose our residents to unnecessary risks,” says Christopher Ho, director of the Diagnostic Radiology Residency program.
Faculty leaders understood that putting residents’ health and safety first would compromise the family-like feeling of the residency program in the short-term but believed that would change once vaccines became available.
“We created as many opportunities as possible for the residents to bond remotely and to learn in a collaborative setting online because we absolutely could not expose our residents to unnecessary risks,” says Christopher Ho, director of the Diagnostic Radiology Residency program.

Sumner appreciates the safety precautions. “During my internship year in Spokane, I worked at a hospital that treated some of the first cruise ship patients who got sick with COVID. Both my former program and Emory have gone above and beyond protecting trainees.”
Once they were vaccinated, residents returned to rotating regularly, enjoyed small group gatherings, and finally got to meet the people they previously knew only by voice.
“When I had my first call, the attending said, “I had no idea what you looked like!” and I realized how much COVID impacted the simple things of daily work life,” says Dr. Sumner. “We did so much reading remotely at the hospital, which was great, but getting to connect and interact with someone near you really is impactful.”
For Dr. Sanchez, who is Latinx, returning to onsite training has brought new challenges given the high level of racial violence both locally and nationally. "I try to walk with others for protection when I leave the hospital, but it's exhausting mentally and emotionally. The department has responded well, though. We feel cared about.
Despite their unusual first year, both residents are glad to be at Emory.
"Overall, I could not be happier. Emory's been so great. I look forward to the rest of my years here and maybe even for a fellowship," Dr. Sumner says.
Dr. Sanchez agrees. "I've been happy with my choice coming to this program. The way the department has responded assures me I made the right choice. I'm thankful for the department making sure our education has not been sacrificed and our safety is a priority," He even appreciates being part of the COVID Class. "Our class is unique because we went through this together. We bonded remotely and now that we're vaccinated, we're finally meeting each other. We'll never forget how this felt and the lessons we've learned will make us better radiologists."
Once they were vaccinated, residents returned to rotating regularly, enjoyed small group gatherings, and finally got to meet the people they previously knew only by voice.
“When I had my first call, the attending said, “I had no idea what you looked like!” and I realized how much COVID impacted the simple things of daily work life,” says Dr. Sumner. “We did so much reading remotely at the hospital, which was great, but getting to connect and interact with someone near you really is impactful.”
For Dr. Sanchez, who is Latinx, returning to onsite training has brought new challenges given the high level of racial violence both locally and nationally. "I try to walk with others for protection when I leave the hospital, but it's exhausting mentally and emotionally. The department has responded well, though. We feel cared about.
Despite their unusual first year, both residents are glad to be at Emory.
"Overall, I could not be happier. Emory's been so great. I look forward to the rest of my years here and maybe even for a fellowship," Dr. Sumner says.
Dr. Sanchez agrees. "I've been happy with my choice coming to this program. The way the department has responded assures me I made the right choice. I'm thankful for the department making sure our education has not been sacrificed and our safety is a priority," He even appreciates being part of the COVID Class. "Our class is unique because we went through this together. We bonded remotely and now that we're vaccinated, we're finally meeting each other. We'll never forget how this felt and the lessons we've learned will make us better radiologists."