They have spent months working on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic, and on Friday, 13 doctors at Greenwich Hospital graduated from the Internal Medicine Residency Program.
A virtual ceremony was held Friday and a small group of residents gathered outside the hospital after.
Seven doctors completed a one-year residency, and six finished up three years. All of them are capping off an intense end to their training with the pandemic changing the nature of the program the past few months.
"It presented a challenge where we needed to take care of a lot more patients than we usually do here at Greenwich. And then on top of that, the added difficulty of making sure we weren't getting sick ourselves and our workforce wasn't getting sick," said graduate, Dr. Eleanore Black.
Residents shifted from their usual rotations to working side-by-side with critical care doctors caring for the sickest patients infected with COVID-19.
"Our ICU was overflowing and we had to create new units so it was very different from what I had started off with," said graduate, Dr. Essam K. Nagori.
Even with the stresses, they say it was an experience that has left a lasting impact on both their professional and personal lives.
"One thing that I'll take away is the value of supporting each other," said graduate, Dr. Shiuri Chen.
All 13 graduates, along with the residents still in the program, received a special pin for their contributions during the pandemic.