2019-2020 Chief Resident Spotlight: Caitlin Anderson

How did Emory’s residency program prepare you for your future career?
As a future primary care physician, I credit the patients, staff, and faculty from Grady’s International Medical Center and Purple Pod with teaching me so much about the power of longitudinal patient-physician relationships and the importance of team-based care. My time spent caring for patients across our four hospital sites granted me with invaluable experience in diversity; we care for patients across all spectrums of income, race, ethnicity, nationality, literacy, and illness severity.

What’s the biggest takeaway from your year as a chief resident?
Never underestimate the resiliency of individuals and the ability of institutions to adapt. With the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020 has been an extremely challenging year, but our residents and our program have faced this unprecedented uncertainty and adjusted to rapid change with incredible strength, perseverance, and dedication to patient care. We have all learned that we are capable of so much more than we thought.

What is one piece of advice you would like to give to incoming Emory residents?
Trust the process. The learning curve of intern year is steep. When you are feeling overwhelmed, remember how many souls have paved the way and survived this year before you. Your PGY2 and PGY3 colleagues (who look so cool and collected now) were in your shoes just months ago! And they are here to support you through this step in your learning process.

What will you miss the most about Emory’s residency program?
I will miss the shared devotion to learning of the Emory internal medicine residency program, from students, to residents, to faculty. We are constantly learning from our patients, and sharing and discussing recent developments in the medical literature. This culture of lifelong learning and self-improvement is such an important part of being a physician and Emory cultivates that culture from day one.

What do you enjoy most about living in Atlanta?
As a native Atlanta, I am most proud of our diversity – of ethnicity, race, nationality, language, you name it. I am proud that so many choose to move to Atlanta and have started to call it home.

What are your career plans for after residency?
I will be joining former Emory internal medicine residents John Elliot and Emi Poppens to practice primary care at Internal Medicine Specialists of Atlanta.