Sept. 9, 2026 — A sunrise alarm clock greets Katharine “Kat” Tracy, M.D., with a gentle glow and the sounds of chirping birds right around 4:30 a.m. A much louder backup alarm is right around the corner if that’s not enough to get her out of bed.

The second-year general surgery resident checks her phone to gauge the number of overnight admissions at the University of Florida Health Shands Burn Center — and whether she’ll be able to squeeze in another 10 minutes of snoozing before getting ready for work.

Then it’s the morning routine: coffee, scrubs and a few precious minutes to play with her dog, Taz. If she has time to make breakfast, she’ll prepare chia pudding with fresh raspberries; otherwise, it’s a granola bar in the car.

Tracy is completing her 7-week rotation in the burn unit as part of her general surgery residency training in the UF Department of Surgery, a time full of challenges and growth.

“Our burn rotation is the first time you’re the most senior resident in a service,” Tracy said. “Running a team and being senior resident has meant a lot of opportunities for leadership growth and personal development.”

Tracy makes it to the floor just after 5:30 a.m. and touches base with the outgoing night shift. By 6 a.m., she’s learned everything she needs to know to get her day started: Has anything remarkable happened overnight? What new patients have been admitted?

The UF Health Shands Burn Center at UF Health Shands Hospital is one of the busiest of its kind in the United States, with more than 600 patients admitted annually and many more treated in the clinic via outpatient appointments.

As senior resident, Tracy is responsible not only for patients in intensive care but also for the other burn patients being overseen by the unit’s first-year intern. Together they discuss patient charts and plan out the day.

It’s Wednesday, so Tracy heads to journal club at 7 a.m. to discuss recently published literature, followed by interdisciplinary rounds at 7:30 a.m.

Wednesday morning rounds start with a large-group discussion involving advanced practice providers, therapists, nutritionists and attending physicians from burn and critical care medicine.

“We get everybody in one room and talk about all the patients,” Tracy said. “Then we make our rounds as a group.”

After rounds, it’s time to prepare for surgery. Most of the surgeries are burn excisions: removing destroyed tissue that won’t be able to heal. But there are also more complex procedures, from tracheostomies to amputations.

“In between cases in the operating room, I’ll run back out and check on the intern, put in postoperative orders and make sure all the other patients are doing well,” Tracy said.

She said the burn unit is a unique part of residency because there’s a strong focus on medical training in addition to surgical training.

“Burns can affect the entire body, so we have to consider every human system when we’re treating our patients,” she said. “We don’t just get to focus on a single part of the body in treatment. The rotation really forces you to pay attention to a lot of medical issues that patients can have, and I think it makes you a better doctor for your other rotations as well.”

The burn rotation is busy, but Tracy usually finds time to head to the hospital’s cafeteria for lunch. Her meal of choice is a sushi roll. She also makes a point of scheduling at least one break each afternoon to bring her team to the residents’ lounge for a coffee or soda.

“It’s easy to get so busy that you lose your entire day,” she said. “I tell them that unless they’re literally saving somebody’s life in that moment, they can take 10 minutes to take a break, take a breath and just get to know each other a little better.”

Wednesdays also include clinic hours from 1 to 4 p.m., with the burn clinic being adjacent to the burn unit. In between seeing patients in the clinic, Tracy maintains a presence on the unit to perform operations, keep an eye on the floor and lead afternoon rounds. She also assesses patients admitted to the hospital with burn trauma to determine whether they should be admitted and to which unit.

By 5 p.m., she’s entering notes on her patients and preparing to hand over her cases to the night resident when they come in at 6 p.m.

Tracy’s day is packed from beginning to end, but she has plenty of time to think about her academic and personal life outside of the burn unit.

“Our residency program cares a lot about protecting our academic time,” she said. “We have protected educational time every Friday until 11 a.m., and our program director is committed to making sure our patients are covered so we can attend grand rounds, resident meetings and our didactics curriculum.”

After work, Tracy finds refuge in listening to music — either on the couch or while on long walks with Taz.

“Sometimes at work we see really hard things,” she said. “It can be stressful and overwhelming. For me, music is very soothing and helps me decompress.”

For dinner tonight, Tracy looks forward to social time with her colleagues, courtesy of the “Wellness Wednesday” initiative run by some of the department’s residents. She places high value on being able to socialize with her fellow residents outside of the hospital and so does her department, which commits funds for resident-focused social activities throughout the year.

“I’m very social and I like to see people outside of work,” she said. “Considering how busy I am as a resident, it’s important to have this time and these opportunities to socialize and focus on my well-being.”

Tracy’s day has been packed full of challenge and responsibility from the first chirps of her alarm clock, but she’s made a point—as she does every day—of creating moments of joy and camaraderie where she can. By 9:00 pm she’s in bed, having wrapped up a bit of studying for her annual in-training examination.

As the light on her alarm clock slowly dims and casts her bedroom into darkness, Tracy clears her mind and readies herself for tomorrow’s challenges and victories.

Her advice to medical students thinking about residency interviews is simple: Enjoy yourself when you can.

“Enjoy your last year of medical school,” she said. “Enjoy your time with friends and family. Right now, the intention of my life is to be a surgeon. I feel it’s important to be very serious about that, but I also find it important to build time to be with the people I care about. Those times are just as important, and they keep me grounded.”