Dr. Eun Beattie is a single mother with two daughters, focused on helping others but also struggling to afford rent and child care.
Dr. Frank Massaro is a U.S. Navy veteran, husband and father of two children who stresses about paying his bills and wonders if Buffalo is the right long-term home for his family.
And Dr. Ryan Hess, who grew up here with dreams of helping to build a top academic medical campus in Buffalo, now doubts whether that’s the right path for him.
All three are resident doctors at the University at Buffalo and some of the leading voices behind the union that formed in early 2023 to represent more than 800 physicians-in-training. Residents, who work grueling schedules of up to 80 hours a week, provide direct care to patients under the supervision of more experienced physicians. They work at hospitals across Western New York.