Residents, attendings, and the physicians who remember training writing on KevinMD about residency: intern year, duty hours, supervision and autonomy, pay and unions, having a family during training, mistreatment, the Match for international medical graduates, and what physicians say should change about how residents are trained. Many contributors write anonymously, and many write while still in training. For a maintained record of what residents and attendings have said about residency itself on KevinMD since 2004, from intern year through the end of training, attributed by author and date and organized by question, see Residency: what residents and attendings say, in their own words. For what international medical graduates have said about the Match, visas, and being foreign in American medicine, see Immigration and medicine: what physicians say about immigrant doctors and immigrant patients, in their own words. Medical school itself is a separate record.
As a graduating senior resident I’m scared to practice outpatient medicine. In a community of patients and physicians crying out for primary care doctors, what are we doing at a training level to foster and promote confidence and independence at doing this?
Many bright eyed freshly graduated medical school students enter residency understanding the need and embodying the hope of pursing outpatient …
We had our first child during the fourth year of my husband’s ophthalmology residency, and our second son joined us during the first year of a surgical retina fellowship. Juggling long hours, multiple medical commitments and the needs of two small children can be exhausting but every day is complete with fulfillment and laughter — and who can ask for anything …
I recently began a rotation at the hospital as one of the night float interns. As part of this responsibility, I manage the care for approximately fifty patients each night. Day after day, I perform the same routine in preparation for the night ahead: Grab my stethoscope and pager, claim one of the code pagers, pick up a time sheet to fill in the nightly team to-do’s and mentally prepare …
Training doctors is no easy task. After medical school, newly minted doctors enroll in residency programs at various hospitals throughout the country for a length of 3 to 8 years, depending on their specialty. Some specialties, like family medicine, are even considering adding another year to the process. Resident physicians spend this time working long, arduous hours under their attending physicians, learning the clinical intricacies of their specialties that could not …
I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was 10 years old, dressed in kid pajamas with sleep still in my eyes. I walked upstairs with a sense of purpose. “I can’t take it anymore,” I told my parents. At that point it had been a year since we found the surgeon who was finally able to offer the chance …
I have spent many blog hours bemoaning the inadequate communication going on in hospitals today. Thanks to authors of a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, I have more objective data for my ranting. A prospective intervention study conducted at 9 academic children’s hospitals (and involving 10,740 patients over 18 months) revealed that requiring resident physicians to adopt a formal handoff process at shift change resulted in a 30 percent …
A few months ago I was paged by a medical student in the emergency room at ten o’clock. I had just changed my clothes, and before my pager went off my attention had been squarely fixed on the newest Jack Reacher novel.
You can usually tell when someone is going to ask you to come into the hospital from home, because there …
In September, Doximity, a closed online community of over 300,000 physicians, released its ratings of residency programs in nearly every specialty. Many, including me, took issue with the methodology. Emergency medicine societies met with Doximity’s co-founder over the issue and echoed some of the comments I had made about the lack of objectivity and emphasis on reputation.
I wonder if it is even possible to develop a set of valid …
One of the hardest parts about medical school for me has been the constant pursuit of approval. Having a pass/fail system during pre-clinical years helped ease things some, but there remains a personal desire to prove myself. In front of attendings, all I can focus on is performing my physical exam just right, presenting in the perfect manner, and nailing the assessment and plan. Unfortunately, my strong desire to look …
I don’t talk about it much, and that’s on purpose. Here’s why: My life is wonderful. I really love it. Is it perfect? No. Is anyone’s life perfect? Definitely not. I would never wish to portray my life in a negative fashion and certainly not to wish for sympathy. I would talk about it in an informative way, but even …
The other day, I got into an argument with my parents about choosing wedding décor — and I blame it on my surgical training. My parents had borne the brunt of the work for the previous eleven months. allowing me to focus on my elective surgery rotation, flying to fellowship interviews, publishing my first article, and putting out the types of …
Recently, reports surfaced that two Silicon-valley giants, Apple and Facebook, are covering elective ooycte cryopreservation, a.k.a. egg freezing, for its female employees. Silicon Valley, like medicine, has a shortage of women at the top and it is presumed that this move will attract more women to enter — and stay — in the field of technology.
These are a few of the many traits that have been commonly bestowed upon those born around the last two decades of the 20th century. Commonly known as Generation Y, this demographical cohort of 20- to 30-somethings has certainly sparked mixed reviews from its Gen X and Baby Boomer elders.
But what defines the particular subgroup of young …
What happens when your faith, commitment and professional integrity collide with great personal risk? This is what I imagine is happening across the country to physicians, nurses and other health care workers as we all face the Ebola tragedy.
Sure, people dying in far away Africa bring an ache to our hearts. Admiration for those working with aide groups brings the passing thought so easily conjured from the safety of our …
I don’t remember all of the details. It was the summer of 1990, sometime in the first 3 months of internship. I spent those months on the 11th floor of the VA Lakeside Medical Center (now the vacant lot just east of the hospital). The VA was familiar territory for me. I spent 3 months there as a third year student, also on the 11th Floor. 11 East, to be …
I recently attended my 10-year medical school reunion class party, and I have to admit, I had a great time. From the beginning, my class was special. We had 104 amazing people who were truly inspired to make a difference.
However, regardless of how talented and hard working you are, medical school is one of the most challenging things you will ever …
Recently, I have been reflecting more about my musical journey as an organist over the past 15 years. It has been great to learn how to continue my medical training to the best of my ability while still trying to keep my musical interests alive. Despite the busyness of medical training, I have thankfully had opportunities to perform publicly, as well as meet other musicians. I began …
As the birth of our first child loomed on the horizon, I couldn’t help but worry. As a first time mother and a pediatrician, I found the uncertainly coupled with too much knowledge of all manner of possible problems particularly unsettling.
In addition to worrying about my baby’s health, I grew increasingly concerned about how I would handle the balancing act that all working mothers must perform. Having put motherhood off in order to complete …
“I’ve been with my doctor for years and years,” an elderly man, voice hoarse but lilting with fondness for his caregiver, told a nurse in the primary care clinic where I was waiting to see a doctor. “He’s fantastic.”
I was coming to the clinic for a follow-up appointment about an injury for which I’d been seen a few months prior, but neither the initial appointment nor this follow-up were with …
Where there is love there is life.
– Mahatma Gandhi
In this first month there is a lot I saw, learned and experienced. Love tops the list. I became an expert in arterial punctures as I did 4 to 5 of them each day in the floors. Each time I headed for an arterial puncture, many things automatically came to my mind: collect all of the required supplies, talk to and comfort …
The other day, I got into an argument with my parents about choosing wedding décor — and I blame it on my surgical training. My parents had borne the brunt of the work for the previous eleven months. allowing me to focus on my elective surgery rotation, flying to fellowship interviews, publishing my first article, and putting out the types of …
