I.M. a Resident/Fellow: Evan Barnes, MD, MCR

Evan Barnes, MD, MCR
Internal Medicine Residency
Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA

In which residency or fellowship program are you currently in?

I am currently a third-year resident in the Internal Medicine Residency Program at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA.

Why did you choose internal medicine? If you’re in fellowship, why did you choose that subspecialty?

I chose internal medicine because it was the best fit for me and my interests. During my clinical rotations, I fell in love with the breadth of pathologies and diseases internal medicine physicians manage. Human physiology is a delicately balanced network, and, as internal medicine physicians, we have the exciting opportunity to dive into the intricate mechanisms and interactions of these different organ systems. I loved the complex problem solving in internal medicine, and I enjoyed leveraging our exams, laboratory data, and history to find diagnoses and treatments. Most importantly, I enjoyed spending time with patients and hearing their stories. Being in internal medicine has allowed me to focus on being an advocate for my patients as their primary physician, and I am very thankful that I chose to specialize in this field.

What lesson(s) did you learn in residency or fellowship that will help you for the rest of your career?

One of the most valuable lessons I learned in internal medicine was understanding how much a patient’s environment impacts their health. In medical school, we spend so much time learning ideal diagnostics and treatments, but the reality of medicine is so complex. Every patient I work with teaches me something about how socioeconomic factors, familial experiences, and social structures impact a patient’s ability to receive care. I have been very thankful for health team members, from case managers to social workers, who have helped me navigate these challenges. Much of the practice of medicine is learning to advocate for my patients and to provide the best possible care for patients in nonideal situations, and that is a framework that I believe will serve me well for the rest of my career.

What are your plans for after residency or fellowship? What factors or advice from mentors contributed to your decision?

I am excited to move back to the West Coast in June to start rheumatology fellowship at the University of California San Francisco! My mentors were essential in my decision to pursue rheumatology. I first started to explore rheumatology in the beginning of my second year, and my mentors helped me gain invaluable clinical and research time in the field. These experiences helped bolster my interest in the specialty, and they made me excited to pursue a fellowship in rheumatology.

How has being a member of ACP helped you in your professional life? What resources have been most helpful to you?

Being an ACP member has been incredibly helpful to me as a medical student and resident. ACP provided me invaluable opportunities to share my research and to learn from colleagues at conferences across the country. There are a lot of fantastic resources available to ACP members, and I especially love the access to DynaMedex, which has made finding clinical guidelines or identifying evidence to support our practices incredibly easy. This has been very helpful for my learning and teaching on the wards. Finally, the opportunities to meet colleagues from across the world through ACP events has significantly enriched my professional network, which will pay dividends far into the future. These experiences have made being an ACP member an important part of my career path.