Two months of residency finished. Several truths have been revealed.
1) In residency, there is often work to be done after you official work period is over. I'm in family medicine, so for me this means finishing notes after clinic is done, or when I'm in inpatient medicine, going home and reading about patients that were admitted. Preparing for presentations is another thing that takes time, but at least in that aspect I'm actively reading and learning.
2) In residency, there is always paperwork and phone work to be done. My program is good in that there is no dictation, and also good in that there are electronic medical records that make handling of actual papers for note completion unnecessary. The problem is there's this thing called an "In Basket" on this one EMR program called "Epic", where random tasks are assigned to you every single day, and you're supposed to check the in-basket twice a day, a task which is impossible on night float, my current rotation. In-basket messages can involve simple things like "Authorize this refill" or it can involve complicated tasks like "Fill out this form" or "this person wants their electricity turned back on. Assess whether or not they have a medical need for it and then act accordingly." This often involves calling patients back and telling them "no" and then dealing with the belligerence of broke people who would rather abuse the system than contribute to society.
3) Residencies see even the worst patients. When I say "the worst patients", I don't mean just patients who have complicated medical problems. I mean patients who behave like scum. Patients who don't care that there's a nice doctor willing to help them, and that the doctor is trying the best they can, etc etc etc. I've interacted with two racist patients in the past month alone (I was born in India) and I only hope that I can one day obtain what my chief has : "alligator skin".
4) Everyone in residency has been through what I've been through. If I stay my course and push myself enough but not so much that I feel depressed and overworked, I'll do well. I landed a residency full of good seniors. Possibly some bad seniors, but mostly good ones. I plan to make the most of it, and if I'm not the best then so be it. Doing my best for myself and doing right by myself is all I can ask. So far, though, I'm the chief resident's dark horse to make intern of the year. If I don't get it, I don't get it. But it's certainly motivating to hear things like that every now and then.
