This interview is one in a series of interviews with recipients of the 2025 ACGME Awards. The awardees join an outstanding group of previous honorees whose work and contributions to graduate medical education (GME) represent the best in the field. They will be honored at the ACGME Annual Educational Conference, taking place February 20-22, 2025, in Nashville, Tennessee. As part of its Awards program, the ACGME also jointly presents the Jeremiah A. Barondess Fellowship in the Clinical Transaction each year in collaboration with the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM).
2025-2027 Barondess Fellow Shyam Sundaresh, MD is an assistant professor of medicine at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and practices primary care at Internal Medicine Associates in New York, New York.
ACGME: Why did you want to become a physician?
Dr. Sundaresh: I wanted to work with people. In medicine, we’re privileged that patients and learners let us work for them, too.
ACGME: What has been the most rewarding part of your medical education?
Sundaresh: Teaching learners is the best part. That’s the great thing about medical education, is that you are always surrounded by learners: medical students; residents; fellows; and even faculty members. The spectrum of learners, including ones more senior to you, is a reminder that there are always personal growth opportunities.
ACGME: What has been the most challenging?
Sundaresh: For me, it was the transition from post-graduate year (PGY)-1 to PGY-2. In internal medicine training, the PGY-2 necessitates a different set of skills than the ones you practiced over and over in your PGY-1. Talk about personal growth opportunity! However, that's not to say other parts of residency were a cake walk. To the residents who are reading this: it gets better.
ACGME: What, to you, is the most important or most meaningful part of the clinical transaction?
Sundaresh: It’s when your patient has a chance to ask questions. This is a moment that ensures the clinical transaction stays patient-centered, implies some trust, and may become memorable for your patient. As a primary care physician, I mostly manage chronic diseases—in these types of medical conditions, memorable and durable plans are key.
ACGME: How will you apply the Fellowship?
Sundaresh: The curriculum I will be implementing aims to improve resident communication skills for managing anxiety and depression. These are common chronic medical conditions seen in primary care. However, it can feel different talking about anxiety compared to asthma, and this difference can make it challenging. I'm hopeful my curriculum will empower internal medicine residents to manage these mental health conditions. This is important because we face a growing shortage of mental health care.
ACGME: What does it mean to you to receive the Barondess Fellowship?
Sundaresh: I'm incredibly honored to have been awarded the Barondess Fellowship by NYAM and the ACGME—thank you. This award means an opportunity for me to implement my curriculum and advance communication skills training for my internal medicine program. The award also highlights the need for mental health care. As a junior clinician-educator, I feel lucky for the chance to impact this need.
ACGME: What advice would you give to other residents/fellows looking to either replicate your work or implement an original idea in their own program or institution?
Sundaresh: The two most important groups of people you will need are: mentors and stakeholders. You will need to find them and seek their feedback often. The more of their feedback you can implement, the better.
ACGME: Is there anything else you would like to add?
Sundaresh: In addition to NYAM and the ACGME, I’d like to thank faculty members, colleagues, friends, and family who helped me get here.
Learn more about the Jeremiah A. Barondess Fellowship in the Clinical Transaction and consider applying in the future. The application period for the 2026-2028 award will open in early fall 2025.