The Pod System

There's no greater feeling than finding camaraderie, clinical support, and validation through your podmates. The pod system is by far my favorite highlight of training here at Columbia and reinforces the fact that medical education is best achieved through peer learning.

Jacob Lui, PGY-3

The Pod System is a unique and beloved part of our program. When residents arrive as new interns, they are grouped into “pods” of 4, and as pod-mates they rotate through the entirety of each year together. Members of a pod share the experiences of residency training, and form a bond that can only be forged through intense common experiences. The wider community at Columbia is tight knit, and the pod system brings that feeling of belonging to a personal level. It fosters a unique level of support, camaraderie, and friendship that is so vital in training.

Pods also form a core part of the residency’s social network, with pod-mates regularly arranging post-work get-togethers, and residency-wide happy hours.

Perhaps most importantly, pod-mates always have your back, and the experience of going through such a formative time of your professional life together forges life-long bonds.

Pods take the shared experience of residency to the next level and give you friends to lean on and ask silly questions of from day one.

Nickolas Dreher, PGY-2