A: We encourage you to apply! The Step 1 score of 225 is not a firm cutoff. Here at Duke, we take a look at the entire application, not just step scores alone.

A: The goal of the trip to Ghana was to create a project that could show an incremental measurable gain in the delivery of health care. We arrived in Accra, Ghana at a very interesting time.

A: In March, we spent a week in Jacmel, Haiti, providing anesthesia care and helping to improve the education of Haitian doctors and nurses caring for patients in the perioperative period.

A: Dr. Brad Taicher takes us on his journey abroad to provide a snapshot of how our department and residency program make a real difference in the lives of others.

A: For the leadership development program for the residents, we use the Duke Healthcare Leadership Model as our guide. Each of the five core competencies (integrity, emotional intelligence, teamwork, selfless service, and critical thinking) and the core principle of patient-centeredness are integral to leadership in anesthesiology.

A: I’ll never forget the feeling as I stepped into the elevator after finishing my oral exam.

A: You spend three years of medical school trying to figure out what you want to be when you grow up, and then you spend a lot of your own (or your parents’) money and frequent flyer miles trying to figure out where you want to train for the job you want to have.

A: During childhood, I would not admit it, but now I am proud to say I learned a lot from my older brother.

A: I consider myself fortunate to have found my academic, educational, and clinical interests in anesthesiology. But fortune is only part of the story.

A: See one, do one, teach one. This is an age-old phrase in medical education. I can write about the pros and cons of this teaching approach, but here I wanted to primarily write about the importance of seeing one.