"My name is Dr Aaron Glassman" the older man announced from the head if the table. "I will be your main point of contact for the duration of your residency."
The six new surgical residents sat around the conference table with their welcome packs in front of them. They looked at him intently as he directed then to open their booklets to the first page.
"As well as being resident supervisor, I am also the neurosurgery attending here" he continued. "I trained here at St Bonaventure and have been lucky enough to stay on to progress in my career."
"St Bonaventure is an emerging centre of excellence for both medical and surgical programs and you have all been chosen as we believe you are the best of the best." The new residents smiled and seemed to relax a little at that.
"First things first" Dr Glassman announced. "Introductions. Let's start to my left and work our way around."
A young man spoke first. He was dressed in a smart suit with a matching tie and pocket square. "Hello there, I'm Dr Kevin Miller. I went to Columbia and I'd like to specialise in plastic surgery. I'm not married, have no children that I know of and am focused on getting the most out of this residency" he said with no change in his expression.
"I'm Joanne Walker" said the next resident in line who was a young lady, dressed impeccably. "I went to Perelman. I'm not sure if my speciality yet and am looking forward to trying out a few options" she said smiling at the room.
"I'm Audrey Lim. I went to Stanford" said a young lady in a cotton shirt and a pair of jeans.
"Anything else you'd like to Dr Lim?" Dr Glassman prompted.
"Not right now" Dr Lim replied. Glassman nodded.
"Next!"
"I'm Delun Chen" started a young man dressed in slacks and a collared t-shirt. "I attended Columbia also. I think I'd like to specialize in cardiothoracic surgery."
"I'm Neil Melendez and I attended UCSF. I'm leaning towards either emergency medicine or cardiothoracic" he said with an air of confidence. He was wearing the trousers and shirt that would one day become his uniform outside of his scrubs.
Lastly was another young man dressed in creased trousers and an untucked shirt. "My name is Dr Alex Perry. I'm looking forward to getting started and using my skills to help people" he said with a smile.
"Great, now that is out of the way, it's time to get down to business" Dr Glassman continued. "The are six of you now, but by the end of your first year, the will only be four places to move forward. You will be assessed the whole time on your skills across a wide range from technical to patient contact"
"Feel free to get acquainted, make friends even, but remember, you are competing with each other and some of you will lose" he finished and dismissed them for a coffee break.
X
After taking a bathroom break, the residents gathered around the coffee urns set up in a small foyer outside the conference room.
Neil took a sip and discreetly spat it back into the cup grimacing.
"This stuff is nasty. I'm going to head to the lobby, anyone else want anything?"
'No thanks' was the most common reply apart from Audrey.
"Yeah, sure. I'll come with" she said gesturing towards the elevator.
Neil pressed the call button and stood back, and as the doors opened he gestured 'after you' and Audrey took the lead.
As they descend, he tried to start up conversation with the seemingly quiet Dr Lim.
"So, you didn't share much in there. What are you hoping to specialise in? Or are you keeping your options open?"
"I didn't share then, I'm not sharing now" she replied with a small smile. "I'm not here to make friends" she stated in a matter of fact.
He raised his eyebrows. "Sorry, I'll try to remember that in future" he replied.
They exited into the lobby and headed towards the coffee counter.
"Am I allowed to offer to buy you a coffee? As a colleague of course, not as potential friend" he teased.
She looked and shook her head with a small smile. "I don't see why not" she replied.
Their order arrived quickly and with their cups of decent coffee in hand, they exited the elevator back onto the floor outside the conference room. All the other residents were already sat around the table and their heads swivelled as Neil and Audrey entered.
"There you are" Dr Glassman stated. "I see you've figured out the key to surviving at St Bonaventure already" he said gesturing towards the coffee cups.
"Sorry..." Neil started but Audrey interrupted.
"That coffee was awful" she said nodding towards the foyer. "Wouldn't have survived the afternoon on that."
"Understood" Dr Glassman said and gave a small smile. "Next time though, make sure you look after your attending please."
X
After running through the welcome pack, discussing safety and evacuation protocols and getting through the last pieces of admin, they were released for a lunch break.
"Take advantage" Dr Glassman advised them. "This is probably the least scheduled lunch you will ever have. Enjoy it" he says with a laugh.
They sat together at a table in the cafeteria making small talk. They learned a few more snippets of information quickly each other mostly regarding their supposed prowess.
Audrey stayed quiet and observed, making her own judgements. She looked at Kevin as he regaled them with yet another story about how he had met someone famous and how they promised to come to him for work once he was qualified. Granted, his suit was expensive but it covered a shallow, self important man.
Joanne was genuinely keen to learn. She appeared to be very intelligent but didn't necessarily have the skills to specialise on one particular field. Audrey thought she might be more suited to general practise.
She looked over at Delun as he told a story about something unimportant that started out well, but went horribly wrong. He doesn't have the discipline for a cardio speciality, she thought. He's not focused enough.
She silently critiqued Alex next. He seemed like he actually wanted to help people. No ulterior motives, no self gain. Just wanted to help. She found herself hoping he had the skills to back it up.
Lastly came Neil. She didn't quite know what to make of him. He was very handsome and had an air of arrogance but also seemed genuinely nice. His interests were at polar opposites of each other. Trauma surgery was fast paced and often messy, whereas cardiothoracic was meticulous and precise. He would be an interesting one.
Neil cleared his throat and Audrey snapped too. She hadn't noticed the rest of the residents clear their trays and leave. It was just the two of them and he had caught her staring.
"You ok?" he asked.
"Yeah" she replied. "Just sizing you all up" she said with a smile as she picked up her tray and headed back towards the elevators.
Neil sat a moment longer. He didn't know what to make of Audrey Lim so far. The rest of them were pretty easy to read but she was something else. She was going to be his biggest competition he thought. Should be fun, he smiled to himself.