Interview with Anne Doering, MD

In June 2020, Anne Doering, MD, graduated from her residency program at North Memorial. In October she will begin her faculty position there. In the following interview with Dr. Doering, she shares a few lessons from residency.

What are some of the most valuable things you learned as a resident?

North Memorial has been a really unique, wonderful place to be able to learn over the past three years. I've learned a lot about myself, and I've learned so much from my patients and my co-residents. I've gained confidence and awareness of my own strengths and areas for continued growth. I've learned about the ways in which I can use my passion and my leadership skills to make a difference for patients and our community.

My patients gave me opportunities not only to learn medicine but to understand the complexities of applying that knowledge in the context of real life and real communities. This has become especially clear as we work to understand the impact of racism in medicine and pursue equity. 

What were some highlights of residency for you?

I’m so grateful for the opportunity to build relationships with my patients. It’s incredible to be let into people’s lives through big events like pregnancies and hospitalizations, and through small things like routine office visits. 

Learning from and with my faculty and co-residents was also a highlight. They’re all so awesome and inspiring. Our program has an incredibly positive, community-focused culture, and has been a wonderful place to learn. In addition to our core faculty, so many other folks go out of their way to help residents learn, including our specialists at North Memorial, clinicians elsewhere in the metro area, and in rural communities where I got to do away rotations.

It's been awesome to be able to engage with the University and Medical School's many opportunities and resources. For advocacy, research, and clinical learning it's been great to connect with colleagues at the departmental level and at the university interdepartmental level.

Collaborating with the Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians (MAFP) is also a highlight of being a family medicine resident in Minnesota. I appreciate that the MAFP supports resident engagement in research and welcomes residents to step into advocacy work.

What lessons did you learn from residency that may guide you as a physician?

I realized that it is important to take advantage of opportunities as they come your way and to look at every shift, every patient as a learning opportunity. I found that every patient and situation has something to teach, even when I'm tired, when it's frustrating, or when I make a mistake. I try to focus on learning and know that I'm growing in every moment. As we say at North Memorial, "learning is winning." And I found that I love teaching and encouraging others to teach. We all have something to teach, regardless of where we're at in our training — and teaching is such a powerful motivator for continuing to learn.

What are your plans for the next year and beyond?

I'm really grateful and super excited to be joining the faculty at the North Memorial Family Medicine Residency Program. I'm excited to contribute my recent-resident perspective to our program, to continue to develop my clinical and teaching skills, and to continue the curriculum development and advocacy work that I've been doing.