Medical school and residency are daunting enough without dealing with a chronic illness on top of it, but that has been the reality for our guest today, Dr. Kyle Dymanus. In this candid interview with Raise the Line host Hillary Acer, Dymanus shares a wealth of wisdom about balancing studies, work and wellbeing gained during her years as a med student at Medical College of Georgia and her current residency in urology at Rush University Medical Center. A key for her was having a network of supporters outside of her professional circle to help her manage ulcerative colitis, a condition she was hesitant to disclose to colleagues and supervisors. “My friends and family were literally the ones on the ground calling my doctors to schedule appointments and following up when they didn't send medications to my pharmacy. I honestly could not have done it without them,” she shares. On a promising note, Dymanus believes more support is being made available within residency programs as recognition grows about the mental and physical health impacts that can result from the demanding, high stakes work involved. “The traditional thinking with residents and doctors is you need to be strong, you need to kind of suffer through this, but I think a lot of programs are now being more proactive, and they’re providing supportive resources for residents ahead of time.” Hillary and Dr. Dymanus also touch on her interests in medical device development, outcomes research, quality improvement, and global health inequities. You won’t want to miss this inspiring episode in our Next Gen Journeys series featuring fresh perspectives on education, medicine, and the future of healthcare.

Mentioned in this episode:

Rush University Medical Center