Dr. Nirav Shah wears many hats: course director, fellowship program director, pulmonologist, intensivist, and researcher, not to mention husband, father, and an active member of his community of friends and family. His path to medicine started off with a major setback, and his positive attitude and work ethic have propelled him forward ever since. In this episode, we'll get to know Dr. Shah and learn about his career decisions, important mentors who've helped him, and how he finds meaning and joy in his life.  

Health care policy has been all over the news in 2017. Throughout the spring, summer, and fall of this year, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act has been a major focus for President Trump and some members of the U.S. House and Senate. In this episode, Dr. Norman Retener explains current events in health care policy (think AHCA, BCRA, skinny repeal, and Graham-Cassidy) in a way that's clear, understandable, and applicable to all of us as we care for patients. As usual, this conversation between Dr. Retener and Dr. Frayha reflects only their views and does not represent the School of Medicine or the University of Maryland at large. 

“There are opportunities for failure around every corner.” That’s a quote from John Allen, one of our contributors and storytellers for this episode on disappointments, mistakes, and that awful feeling of failure. In this episode, we continue our conversation about setbacks in medical school and beyond, and how to move forward when you’ve failed at something. We'll hear from residents and faculty members about the moments that haunt them and the coping strategies that helped them.