Career reset revitalized Residency Leadership Summit speaker
Jan. 28, 2026, David Mitchell — Shantie Harkisoon, MD, FAAFP, knew early on what she was meant to do.
“My program director was my role model,” said Harkisoon, program director of the Garnet Health Family Medicine Residency in Middletown, New York. “When I was a resident, I really wanted to do what she got to do. I thought, ‘Wow, it’s so great. You get to decide what the environment looks like for residents.’ When I became a chief resident, it was even more clear to me that academic medicine was the way to go. When I started looking for jobs, that was all I wanted.”
After graduating from the New York Medical College Family Medicine Residency at Hoboken University Medical Center, Harkisoon was a faculty development fellow at the Institute for Urban Family Health in New York and then a fellow in the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors (AFMRD)’s National Institute for Program Director Development. She spent two years working as an assistant program director before taking a big leap, starting the Northwell/Phelps Family Medicine Residency Program in Sleepy Hollow, N.Y.
“Creating a new program—and being able to take all the different ideas that I had been exposed to in my residency and in my first jobs and putting that together into a dream program—was amazing,” she said. “I was fortunate to have strong partnerships with the institutions that I worked with to create a residency that continues to be a model program for the country.”
Harkisoon stayed in that role for a decade. Looking back, she said she likely took on too much. In addition to running a program and seeing patients, she had served on numerous committees at two different hospitals, and more at New York Medical College. She was volunteering in her community in nonmedical roles, caring for her elderly parents and raising teenagers.
Career reset after COVID burnout
Then COVID-19 hit.
“I have been a ‘yes’ person my whole life, and it’s given me huge successes,” she said. “I’m thankful that I was that kind of person for a long time. But I said yes to everything, so my plate was overflowing.”
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It was too much. In December 2020, Harkisoon stepped away, far away, to ponder whether she still wanted to practice and teach medicine.
“I really hit a tough spot in my life,” she said. “I never believed in burnout before the pandemic, and I was dealing with it myself. Sitting on the beach for three weeks helped me see that I couldn’t go back to what I had been doing. I had to find another way to go about it. I was going to prioritize not just my work and my patients, but also my family and myself.”
Finding joy by learning to say no
She wasn’t out of work long. In February 2021, Harkisoon became program director of the Garnet Health Family Medicine Residency.
“Ultimately, I decided that I love being a program director, and so now I’m building up a relatively new program to be an exemplary program,” she said. “I’m love having 12 residents in a smaller program.”
In her new role, Harkisoon said she has learned to set boundaries and priorities.
“I’m focusing on the things that bring me joy,” she said. “I love having my 12 residents, knowing them personally and being able to support them one-on-one rather than having to rely on other people on my team to do that. That’s what is fulfilling for me.”
Though she’s learned to say no, Harkisoon isn’t saying no to everything. As the vice chair of the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education’s Review Committee for Family Medicine, she will help present the committee’s annual update during the AAFP’s Residency Leadership Summit (RLS), March 4-6 in Dallas.
“We’ve worked hard to collaborate with the AAFP and the AFMRD to make sure that the presentation will answer some specific questions and concerns from the constituents,” said Harkisoon, who is in her final year on the review committee. “It’s been an honor to serve my specialty and my fellow program directors and programs.”
Demystifying the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program
Harkisoon also will present a session on succeeding in the Supplemental Offer and Acceptance Program (SOAP) with Shala Sundaram, MD, program director at Atrium Health Wake Forest Carolina Medical Center; and Valerie Faure, PsyD, associate program director at Saint Francis Family Medicine Residency in Wilmington, Delaware.
“We pulled together our experiences with SOAP to share with people all the things we had to learn the hard way so that it might be a little bit easier and a little less stressful for others if they have to go through it in March,” she said.
With roughly 800 family medicine programs, competition for residents has increased, and a growing number of programs are participating in the SOAP, she said.
“The message is SOAP can be a good thing if you plan for it, which can help you save time and resources,” she said. “What I’ve been doing after all these years is making it part of the interview season. Match isn’t done until you’ve completed the SOAP, if you need to, and excellent candidates are available during SOAP.”
This will be Harkisoon’s 11th trip to RLS and the first time the growing event has been held outside the Kansas City metro area.
“RLS is like coming home to your family medicine family,” she said. “It was daunting for me the first time I went, not knowing hardly anyone, but over the years I really got to know not just my fellow program directors, but also the AAFP staff. It’s a great opportunity to be with your people, to generate new ideas and just have a little fun. I’m excited that it’s in Texas this year. This will be a fun change.”