Dear trainee,

I was once in your shoes. There was a time where I wore a beat up white coat, pockets overflowing with cards and knew every nook and cranny of the hospital. I was the doctor that woke up the patients in the am, gently asking them to roll over so I could listen to their lungs sounds. That was me.

If you’re anything like me, then you are counting the days until you make it to the next level. You might be anticipating being a big time fellow, or contemplating what it will be like to have a “real job,” with a salary to match. If you’re like me, you can’t wait. You think: If I can just get there, life will be great.

From someone on the other side, please listen. Don’t miss out on what you have now by waiting for tomorrow.

As a trainee, you see and know the patients more than your supervisors. You are their life raft that they cling to. You are the one that shares their joy, their fears, and their uncertainties. You are the closest doctor to them.

As a trainee, what is work-life balance? Your work is your life! The friends you have are your co-interns and co-residents, so life is work! This is what makes such rigorous graduate medical training also full of laughter and tears and all the other emotions that make life what it is. It is the base for all the stories you will tell that will begin with, “When I was in training …”

You may think that the meager salary you earn is a hindrance to your happiness. Prestige, money and reputation will not ultimately lead to your happiness. There is always more money to make, and earning more only creates pressure to make more than that. Spending time with your co-residents, the only people who understand what you do, talking about the things that only you do, is what creates happiness. Enjoy those times.

I am now an attending physician at a fantastic institution. I love every minute of teaching, caring for patients and discussing the future of medical education. The main difference I have found is that there is no end. There is no end of a rotation, and the beginning of another. There is no training to finish. I have goals and aspirations that I work towards every day — and I finish tasks that create a fresh list of tasks.  I worry about how I practice medicine, how I am teaching others to practice medicine, and if my guidance is enough. I love it, but I also think back to the golden days of my training, and I remember it fondly.

I tell you this, my friend, not to scare you about your future. I tell you this because the journey is part of the joy of medicine. Your training is the fabric of the physician you will become. It is an irreplaceable and unique experience, and it’s all yours. I didn’t appreciate it while I was in the moment. I was too focused on what I would be doing tomorrow.

So please enjoy your journey, my friend. It’s worth the price of everything you have sacrificed to get here.

Sincerely,

Melanie Sulistio

Melanie Sulistio is a cardiologist.