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Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast

Journal Review in Surgical Education: Gossip in Residency

Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast

Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast

Science, Health & Fitness, Medicine, Education

4.81.4K Ratings

🗓️ 11 September 2025

⏱️ 36 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Psst… wanna hear some tea? Join Drs. Maya Hunt, John Woodward, and Cait Silvestri as they discuss gossip - what it is, what it means, and how it can impact the surgical training environment. Joined by authors of a recent paper deconstructing gossip in surgical residency, Dr. Bobbi Ann Adair White and former CoSEF leader Dr. Joseph L’Huillier, the team examines the ways gossip can be positive and negative, how we can mitigate the harms that come with it, and reflect on some of our own experiences with gossip as trainees.

Episode Hosts:
- Dr. Maya Hunt, Indiana University, [email protected]
- Dr. John Woodward, University at Buffalo, @JohnWoodward76, [email protected]
-  Dr. Cait Silvestri, Columbia University, @CaitSilvestri, [email protected] 
-  CoSEF: @surgedfellows, cosef.org  

Guests:
-
  Dr. Joseph L’Huillier, University of Buffalo, @JoeLHuillier101, [email protected]
-  Dr. Bobbi Ann Adair White, MGH Institute of Health Professions, @_BAAW_, [email protected] 

Learning Objectives:
-  Define gossip in the context of surgical education, distinguishing between its academic definition and common perceptions
-  Identify how forms of gossip can be constructive, as well as destructive
- Explore the process model of gossip in surgical residency programs, including what choices recipients have when receiving gossip
-  Recognize environmental factors that contribute to gossip in surgical settings
- Apply practical strategies to mitigate harmful gossip in training environments

References:
-
L'Huillier JC, Silvestri C, Brian R, et al. The Anatomy of Gossip: Dissecting Dynamics and Impacts in Surgical Residency. Surgery. 2025;180:109126. doi:10.1016/j.surg.2024.109126 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39862712/
- L'Huillier JC, Woodward JM, Lund S, et al. Is it gossip or feedback? Surgical attendings' perceptions of gossip within residency. J Surg Educ. 2024;81(10):1362-1373. doi:10.1016/j.jsurg.2024.07.004 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39173427/

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Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Behind the Night, the Surgery Podcast, relevant and engaging content the vascular surgery service next week.

0:26.2

Can you tell me a little bit about that rotation?

0:28.9

Hey, Joe, absolutely.

0:30.6

It's a really busy but awesome rotation.

0:33.4

Dana's the junior fellow and she's really supportive.

0:35.9

I found that she was able to get me into the OR a ton.

0:39.2

Zach is the senior fellow on service and he's, um, how do I say this?

0:45.0

A little harder to work with, I think.

0:47.4

He can be a little condescending or short, especially when he's super stressed.

0:51.6

So just try not to take it personally.

0:53.7

Think this extremely common interaction is just feedback? especially when he's super stressed. So just try not to take it personally.

1:01.0

Think this extremely common interaction is just feedback? Well, it's actually gossip and has potentially harmful ramifications. Throughout this podcast, we will explore gossip and its

1:06.5

impacts within surgical residency. Hello, everyone. Welcome to another exciting behind-the-knife episode brought to you by the collaboration of surgical residency. Hello, everyone, and welcome to another exciting Behind the Knife

1:12.1

episode brought to you by the collaboration of Surgical Education Fellows, also known as Kosef.

1:17.7

I'm Maya Hunt. I'm a general surgery resident and surgical education research fellow at Indiana

1:22.5

University and currently obtaining my master's of health professions education through the University of Illinois, Chicago.

1:28.8

I'm taking over as co-sef's behind the Knife Lead for the next year from the inimitable Josh Rochelle.

1:34.2

For today's episode, we have a few other co-hosts joining us. John, want to go first?

1:39.3

Absolutely. My name is John Woodward, and I am a general surgery resident at the University at Buffalo in upstate New York.

1:46.9

Currently, I'm in my second year of professional development time, obtaining my master's of health professions education through MGHIH and working with the pediatric surgery research group in Buffalo.

1:58.2

I'm also the research and innovations chair of Kosef.

2:01.8

Hello, my name's Kate Silvestri, and I'm a general surgery resident at Columbia,

...

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