An Unintentional Academic Rivalry

Kayla and Tom, two senior consultant surgeons who trained together fifteen years ago, meet unexpectedly at a medical conference in Boston.

An Unintentional Academic Rivalry

Listen and choose the right answer

Where did Kayla and Tom complete their pediatric residency training?

• Edinburgh
• London
• Boston

What is Kayla's current main subspecialty?

• Neonatal laparoscopy
• Robotic-assisted pediatric urology
• Healthcare administration and management

Why did Kayla reject Tom's paper on neonatal laparoscopy?

• The cohort size was statistically laughable
• She thought the surgical methodology was too aggressive for fragile tissues
• He forgot to include long-term safety data for BioGlue-9

What surprising connection do Kayla and Tom discover?

• They have been working at the same hospital without knowing it
• They have been anonymously reviewing and rejecting each other's papers
• They are both planning to move to Seattle next year

Listen again and complete the sentences

• Kayla: I'm presenting some fresh data on robotic-assisted pediatric urology, which has become my primary ____ over the last decade.
• Kayla: I'm still at King's Oak Hospital in London, where I have recently been made the ____ for our busy pediatric surgery department.
• Tom: Clinical lead! That's highly impressive, Kayla, though I imagine you have a massive ____ to manage alongside those administrative duties.
• Kayla: I do, and trying to juggle commitments like my ____ and teaching commitments is exhausting, which is why I want a portfolio career.
• Tom: A ____ ? So you're actively trying to divide your time between clinical surgery, private consulting, and academic research now?

Sources: photo by Mikhail Nilov on Pexels