What would you say is the most important lesson you learned during your residency training that will help you be a successful and accomplished fellow?

Before your fellowship interview process, sit down and think about the important lessons you learned during your residency training that you will carry with you for the rest of your career. Giving an unconventional example of something you learned outside of clinical competency will make you stand out from other candidates.

"The most important lesson I learned was to not let my work become routine. By the time I got to my PGY-2, there were conditions that presented daily, and I could have easily written up assessments on these patients before I even saw them. One of my attending physicians warned me against being too routine with patients because the little things that could be missed could be potentially devastating for a patient. He taught me that no symptom should go uninvestigated, and I've worked every day to be thorough in my work. As a new fellow now focusing my career in this subspecialty, I know that not being routine will be extremely important."

Community answers are written by other candidates practicing this set. Reading how others frame the same question is one of the fastest ways to sharpen your own.