This thread is for those starting residency and intern year. As I reflect back on my journey and these tips, I didn’t follow many of them myself and wish I had. Below I provide my perspective of residency and survival tips. 🧵
1/The reality of residency – it is a wild 🎢 ride. It’s not just about medical knowledge and patient care—it’s about resilience, adaptability, and maintaining work-life balance. But, it’s more fun than med school!
2/Patients will teach you more than any textbook. Take notes from unique real-world learning cases. Consider publishing rare case reports.📝
3/The first time you handle a critical situation on your own is terrifying and exhilarating. That’s where true learning happens. To this day, I recall running a code without an attending during my intern year
4/You’ll make mistakes, and that’s okay. Every error is an opportunity to improve and provide better care.
5/Socialize and get to know your co-residents. They will be part of your family and support system. You lean on each other during tough shifts and celebrate victories together. Volunteer to cover their shifts when they are sick or unable to make their shift.
6/Balancing personal life and residency is challenging. It’s important to find time for self-care and to connect with loved ones. Prioritize mental+physical health. Exercise, eat well, and make time for activities to help you relax and recharge.
7/Stay organized. Use planners, apps, or whatever works best for you to keep track of your tasks. I developed a daily habit/To-do list: (1) logged cases into ACGME log, (2) read a textbook chapter, (3) did 10-20 qbank questions
8/Don’t be afraid to ask for help. Don’t pretend to know something that you don’t know. It is OK. This is the purpose of residency – to learn things that you don’t know.
9/Find a mentor (clinical, research, or work/life balance coach, etc) who can guide you through residency. Their experience and advice can be incredibly valuable.
10/Develop good documentation habits and find ways to optimize this (e.g., using smartphrases). Clear and concise charting can save you time and prevent errors. Expect your attendings (and your patients) to read your clinic notes.
11/Always make time to stay updated with the medical literature. Get an app that provides a summary/abstract of up-to-date articles.
12/Treat everyone the way you would want to be treated. This includes your nurses and support staff. Remember that you are part of a team. They will have your back when you need it most! Trust me!
13/Many academic programs will have free educational resources (e.g., with access to many free textbooks, UpToDate, etc). Make sure to ask the librarian or residency secretary for these resources.
14/Network early with professionals in your field such as during conferences. Building connections can open doors to opportunities (e.g., research collaborations, job openings, etc).
15/If you are planning to apply to a future competitive subspecialty/fellowship, consider starting early to boost your application (e.g., seeking research opportunities, networking with subspecialists, etc)
16/All residency programs have an in-training exam (with a percentile score). For those applying to competitive subspecialties, these scores can be important so I recommend to start studying early
17/Just try your best and don’t compare yourself with your other co-residents. Everyone has their own strengths/weaknesses and different training backgrounds
18/Question every medical decision. Why this treatment, and not that one? Why this diagnostic test, and not the other? Oftentimes this will lead to engaging discussions with your attending (sometimes they may not know the answer either)
Congrats to those completing med school and starting intern year soon. Always remember why you chose this path. Reflect on your goals and the impact you want to make. Keep pushing forward—you’ve got this! Hope this 🧵 was helpful.
deemagclinic
deemag and chest clinic 