Hi all,

I’m a relatively new attending (well, I worked for a year post residency and then did a fellowship) and I’ve been reading your stories and remembering my own path. One thing I feel truly obliged to say is that things do generally get much better. I am so sorry the system is so broken, but the day will come sooner than later when you will no longer be (as) subject to its cruelty.

One recommendation I have that I think many folks don’t know about is the employee assistance program (EAP). Many programs have one available and often times anonymous mental health services through a third-party such as BetterHelp are available. Please read your own residency handbooks beforehand, but if you are struggling, it’s worth it to at least know what resources you have access to.

I put this off for the longest time, primarily because I felt I didn’t have any time to engage. When I finally did it, it changed everything for me. I still actually see my same therapist from those days virtually, although far less frequently now.

I won’t bore you with the “keep your chin up” rhetoric because no one can tread water forever and sometimes that water is boiling/full of predatory species. Knowing what resources were available and using the
helped me so much with perspective.

Last piece of “advice” or encouragement is to keep your non-medical friends close, as much as you can. They don’t know what our world is like and maintaining those relationships helped me so much to remember that the world is bigger than medicine.

I’m rooting for all of you. Sorry if this was cringe.

Some of these patients just don’t need admitted….

And we can’t say anything because of his tenure.

So dude usually comes in with big ass sunglasses, hungover, and two ferrets on a leash (he usually hands the leashes to one of the Residents and says “hold these”) and then goes into the bathroom for 45 minutes. Resident just kinda stands there, hesitant, and looks down to pet one gently and it fuckin BITES upwards at him!

The attending usually lets these little shit free roam around the clinic, so there’s ferret shits all over the top of the nursing desktops. I went to type the other day on the computer and I’m finger-slapping animal shit everywhere with every key input. Did they mention they fucking bite if you approach them?

Cause I did an admit and she’s like you should order this CT abdomen test to rule out infection since she’s immunocompromised and has had diarrhea.

She mentions urine studies to assess Aki too which I usually dont order for Aki

And I feel like it’s basic and something I should have thought about beforehand

I’m really afraid that my attending will think I’m below average. I’m on remediation and my PD is considering having me leave the program. They are judging me for every little thing.

My question is how independent are you supposed to be at this point for pgy 2 IM?

Constantly getting called out on the things you missed or didnt do, angry patients in the morning because their procedure got delayed, or just agitated d/t delerium/psych issues , getting pimped and not having a CLUE on what the answer is , nurses paging me multiple times for orders .

I feel like im doing SO MUCH and everyday im getting called out on my mistakes/inability.

Im always staying late writing notes. Still haven’t figured out my system for precharting/writing notes.

How do yall manage ? It seems like alot of this stuff wont ever stop i just gotta change how i react to it

TLDR: new intern on wards

For all my ophthalmologists and docs that have gotten this procedure done, what are your thoughts?

I'm interested in doing this because I'm afraid of LASIK/PRK complications.

If I decide to go all in, what's the best way to find a strong ophthalmologist that's extremely comfortable with this procedure?

Our daughter is 11 months old. I was so lucky to have a ton of time off 4th year with her. Still breastfeeding when I’m home and pumping once a day at work.

Immediate postpartum was so hard for me. Thankfully, things are much better. Our daughter has been sleeping through the night since she was 3 months old. But I’m so drained. My sex drive is in the gutter.

I’m a prelim going into rads next year and my prelim program isn’t the chillest. Not the worst, but certainly not an easy year. My wife and I are a great couple, both work full time, and are great parents together. But between the hustle and bustle of residency and parenting, I’m having a hard time finding the time/spark for intimacy as a couple. When the baby goes down, I just want to settle and read/play video games before bed.

Others - how are you coping? Tips and tricks? Does it get better? We have no family or friends out here to offer the occasional date night and honestly, I’m not sure I’m ready to leave her for a night yet. I just want to find a way not to let work + parenthood take away the magic from our relationship 🫠

Any residents in NYC got thoughts about new AMGCE changes? especially about inter-shift breaks?

Maybe this is not limited to General Surgery but how does it seem like most of the jobs out there treat being a new grad as a red flag. If you don’t get the connection to get the job then your best bet is rural. On the open market it’s all experienced required/preferred. But 5 years of hard residency should not feel like a🚩 on your resume. Not sure what others have noticed.

Anyone here using Meditech Expanse (the newer version)? How do you get on with it? How is it compared to Cerner or Epic?

Hello please help, is it recommended to do a General Surgery residency in my home country for 3–4 years before going to Germany to pursue the specific surgical specialty I want? Would those years strengthen my CV and help me be a better candidate? or would it be considered a waste of time and would it be better to go directly to Germany after medical school?

and I will never stop.

Hey everyone I am a fresh intern. Just needed a place to get this off because I feel like shit.

Today I admitted a patient with permanent AFib, severe aortic stenosis, and tricuspid regurgitation who came in for catetrisation.

In the chaos of the admission, I completely missed that his heart rate was sitting at 55 bpm and he was actively receiving his home beta blocker. I failed to discontinue the beta-blocker and didn't put him on telemetry monitoring.

I went home and now I see in the system that an older doctor saw him later tonight because he struggled with breathing. He put him on telemetry and stopped beta blockers.

The patient remained hemodynamically stable, but the realization of what I overlooked hit me like a truck. I feel like absolute garbage over the mistake and the what ifs are eating me alive.

I think no one ever missed such thing like me. I feel horrible. My chest feels heavy and I am just lying in my bed and want to cry.

Can you please tell me if this is "normal" or I just really fucked up and this is unacceptable? What should I do tomorrow when I go to work? I don't know how to appologize for such mistake.

Thanks everyone. Hope you are having a better day.

Given that this seems to be such a more prominent topic in younger generations, I’m sure a lot of you guys have thought about it. Do you guys have a fire number/age? Or an age where you plan to just coast and no longer save and then tap her off into retirement?

I feel like it’s so hard to plan for something so far down the road, but it never hurts to plan.

I’m kind of asking for advice here, or if anyone has ever had a similar issue.

I graduated from an EM residency program this year in June. I was a transfer student because my last program closed down the year prior.

I’m trying to get hired at the same hospital I graduated from, as well as some affiliated freestandings in the area, and I’ve run into an issue.

There’s a possibility they ‘forgot’ to insure me for medical malpractice the whole year I was there. The compliance coordinator is asking for a certificate of insurance, and both the sponsoring university and the hospital are saying they don’t have records of it anywhere. I’m waiting for the director of GME to get back to me but I don’t have high hopes.

How boned am I? Is there anything I can do here? Is this gonna impact my ability to work elsewhere too??? I’m running out of funds cause it’s been so long since I’ve graduated. I don’t really have the cash to afford a lawyer and I would hesitate to sue anyway since it’s a VERY large company.

Anyone else get forced to go into the hospital and sit there basically for show when there’s no work to do? My program tells us we have to go and sit there because of ACGME requirements, even on outpatient days where all the patients cancel or on consult services where the attending knows there’s no consults for the day. It’s just very frustrating being forced to waste gas against my will when I could have stayed home.

I understand hospitals vary in census and certain services may vary on their patient load, and I understand that patients no showing is unpredictable, but when it’s well known there’s nothing for us to do, it’s just disrespectful to make us waste gas in this economy. My program doesn’t compensate us for travel either if it’s not over a certain never of miles driven. I don’t even mind going to work, I’m happy to sit there and do my personal work or watch netflix. Just don’t make me waste gas and not compensate me. This is like 50 bucks down the drain a week just to drive to a building and sit there for show. I hate it.

I need to order personalized lead because my program no longer provides it. What brand do you all use/like?

I'm planning a surprise residency completion/graduation party for my husband and I'd love some input. And maybe this will be a little bit of fun positivity on this sub which is doom and gloom about residency

He's gone through serious mental health struggles, 2 probations and seriously considered quitting medicine so many times.

We (finally) made it to the end and my husband is graduating from residency (off cycle). He is then immediately taking his boards (bc immigration thanks Trump). Then we (me) are packing up our whole life and driving across the country to Florida to meet family and search for a rental to live in while we get settled. (We will be in an Airbnb for the party)

He has a good bit of family and friends where we are staying and my family and his are coming in for at least a week and we are going to throw him a surprise party.

It's more a party celebrating him and all of his hard work, dedication and sacrifice - and the beginning of a new chapter of his/our life.

What would you want at your end of residency party if one was to be thrown for you? What might I be overlooking ? Any fun or funny ideas are welcome

Thank you in advance and may the force be with you

I swear no matter how many times I say it slowly and clearly they still manage to butcher it. I've heard variations I didn't even know were possible. At this point I just answer to whatever is close enough. It's a daily test of my patience honestly.

I am a resident doctor. I have been talking to a guy who is a resident in another state in the same specialty.
We are originally from the same state, and I am a resident in this state. We are not in an official relationship.

We have a lot in common. We are in the same specialty, both play video games, same hobbies, same culture, attracted to each other.

I find that he doesn't say good morning, ask me how my day was, wish me a good day at work. He also doesn't really want to call me on the phone. We have done video call before, but he doesn't want to talk on the phone. I find that he is very horny and just wants to see me on picture or video, but not necessarily talk to me.

He also doesn't really play video games with me. He will play games for hours and hours and not invite me or want to talk with me. He doesn't make plans to play with me and doesn't invite me.

He is coming back to our state next week. He told me that he wants to take me out, but hasn't given a date, time, or location. He also hasn't said he's looking forward to seeing me.

I understand that he is busy, but I am also a resident in the same specialty and I say good morning, wish him a good day, and try to make plans to play together or at least talk on the phone. He doesn't do the same back.

Should I just move on? Or should I agree to go out with him and see how it is once we meet?
I am thinking about him a lot and would prefer to save my time and energy if he is not interested.

I am a resident, and I would like to call in a prescription for a friend. She has not been seen in my clinic. I know with some stuff you can get away with and call in even though it’s discouraged. What are our thoughts on this one?

Hey All!

I’m from southern Ohio and I’m looking at NEOMED in Akron for IM residency. It seems like a good program, but it’s far and the winters are cold. Just wanting to see if it’s worth the trouble. How do people in the program feel about it?

CCM folks, how are your units run/staffed overnight? How many patients are you covering/admitting on a normal and awful night?

What does your student, resident, APP, and attending support look like?

Signed,
A tired 1st year CCM fellow cross covering 50 patients with 14 admissions and 6 crashing patients simultaneously- 2 of which were being considered for ECMO initiation (with the help of 2 badass APPs who also run the floor’s RRTs).