The New York Times had a recent, thought-provoking article for perfectionists, overachievers, those with impostor syndrome, and any combination of the above. “Do you Keep a Failure Resume?” is a great reminder that chronicling our failures (something that isn’t encouraged in medicine) can help us determine what the operational roadblocks were to our successes so that we avoid those obstacles in the future. (Perhaps the issue was lack of preparation or speeding through a project unnecessarily.) Reviewed in retrospect, an “anti-portfolio” is also a good reminder that a failure is sometimes the first step to a success in another realm.
Dr. Finkel is a graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Medical School. On completing her residency at Harvard, she was asked to
stay on as faculty at Harvard Medical School and spent five years teaching at the world-renowned Massachusetts General Hospital.
She was appointed to the Assistant Residency Director position for the Harvard Affiliated
Emergency Medicine Residency where she reviewed countless applications, personal statements and resumes. Read more
