Help! I cried in front of my resident

[keek121]

de;ete

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[HelpPleaseMD]

there is unlikely anything you can do to change their perception of you. Unfortunately its the luck of the draw when it comes to evals.

That said it seems like he ...
- did not set expectations at the start of the rotation.
-failed at providing any feedback until the end
- failed at providing constructive feedback

 

[ActinicKeratosis]

Welcome to third year where getting good evaluations has to do with how much the team likes you. Sometimes you just get a crappy team and there isn't much you can do about it. Generally extroverts are the students that get better grades since attendings/residents remember them when filling out the eval. For most rotations (with the exception of surgery maybe) it is always better to be outgoing and very enthusiastic about everything you do. At the beginning of my rotation, I often sit down with my resident and instead of asking, "What are your expectations of me," I ask, "How can I go above and beyond your expectations as this particular rotation is extremely important to me." That way they know from the beginning that I really care about doing well. Keep in mind that this won't work with all teams. You need to adapt your style based on different personality types you may come across.

 

[DrBowtie]

Are you upset at the feedback or that you think you're going to get a bad grade?

 

[keek121]

Are you upset at the feedback or that you think you're going to get a bad grade?

Both! I want to make sure I'm performing where I should be

 

[Haybrant]

wouldnt really worry about it. Just move on, youll look back on it in the future and laugh at how insignificant an issue it is. Some residents just suck and are terrible people, not your fault if you got stuck with one.

 

[keek121]

Welcome to third year where getting good evaluations has to do with how much the team likes you. Sometimes you just get a crappy team and there isn't much you can do about it. Generally extroverts are the students that get better grades since attendings/residents remember them when filling out the eval. For most rotations (with the exception of surgery maybe) it is always better to be outgoing and very enthusiastic about everything you do. At the beginning of my rotation, I often sit down with my resident and instead of asking, "What are your expectations of me," I ask, "How can I go above and beyond your expectations as this particular rotation is extremely important to me." That way they know from the beginning that I really care about doing well. Keep in mind that this won't work with all teams. You need to adapt your style based on different personality types you may come across.

Yup, I think he didn't really like me. For whatever reason, our personalities did not mesh well together. He was brusque, dismissive, and condescending. I'm shy, introverted, and a little insecure. He just didn't know how to interact with me. He made stupid sex jokes and got along better with my male counterpart.

 

[sliceofbread136]

Some residents can be a lot like teenagers, think they know everything and are very clique-y when in reality they are just annoying.

Just try and objectively think about what you actually need to improve on and do that next time. Sometimes there isn't much and said person is full of crap, but it's important to be honest with yourself

 

[HelpPleaseMD]

Yup, I think he didn't really like me. For whatever reason, our personalities did not mesh well together. He was brusque, dismissive, and condescending. I'm shy, introverted, and a little insecure. He just didn't know how to interact with me. He made stupid sex jokes and got along better with my male counterpart.

getting good evals is harder as an introvert but there are things within your control and do not need much medical knowledge that will impact evals.

-helping residents with dispo. i.e. tracking down social worker. tracking down consultants for your patients, especially if you know a fellow med student on the other team. getting home med list of the patient if the residents do not already have it. from patient or from patient pharamcy. obviously this does not apply to every rotation, but hope you get the idea.
3rd year is just poorly constructed. good luck

 

[keek121]

getting good evals is harder as an introvert but there are things within your control and do not need much medical knowledge that will impact evals.

-helping residents with dispo. i.e. tracking down social worker. tracking down consultants for your patients, especially if you know a fellow med student on the other team. getting home med list of the patient if the residents do not already have it. from patient or from patient pharamcy. obviously this does not apply to every rotation, but hope you get the idea.
3rd year is just poorly constructed. good luck

Thanks, those were all things I did. I helped several of my intern's patients w/o ins get ins and a PCP doctor. I got med list, called family members, etc. That's why I'm so hurt my intern completely ignored me on the last day. She was always thanking me for doing stuff for her, but the last day she must've heard how I responded to the resident and she completely ignored me. I texted her to update her on her patient's consult and then asked her if she wouldn't mind giving me some feedback.... she never replied. never said goodbye.

 

[Mr Roboto]

Yup, I think he didn't really like me. For whatever reason, our personalities did not mesh well together. He was brusque, dismissive, and condescending. I'm shy, introverted, and a little insecure. He just didn't know how to interact with me. He made stupid sex jokes and got along better with my male counterpart.

Good to see you taking responsibility.

 

[girlofgrace7]

Since you deleted the original post, I can't respond to your specific situation. Unfortunately, third year kind of becomes an exercise in growing thick skin. Obviously, do what you can to be agreeable and work hard, helping the residents with whatever you can (though I disagree with the above poster... if a student asks me what they can do to excel at the rotation in peds, I kinda peg them as a gunner... sometimes students can be a little too gung ho), but try not to take the criticisms to heart as much as possible.

I had a particularly awful resident during 3rd year of my peds rotation that made me seriously reconsider going into the field. I was bending over backwards picking up the complicated patients, I knew my patients well, I would spend some time after my work was done playing with some of my patients without families, etc. This resident routinely yelled at me and told us we were not allowed to ask any questions about our patients "unless they were actively in the process of crumping." She wrote on my eval "may one day gain the skills necessary to be an intern." I spent the two weeks of the rotation thinking it was just me that she clashed with since she adored the 3 guys in my group who couldn't care less about the rotation. Found out a couple weeks later that she butted heads with nearly every girl in my class who was notoriously sweet and intelligent but also on the introverted side (she even snapped in a few of their faces). Luckily, one classmate complained and was kind enough to mention that there were several people who wanted to go into peds who didn't want to come forward to complain, and he got our evals from her thrown out. I also worked with the resident a year later on the last day of my AI, and she told me that I was such an awesome AI because she was hard on me the year before (not even a little true).

Moral of the story: third year (and medicine in general) can suck. Sometimes, you just have to swallow your pride, suck it up, and realize that sometimes people suck and that they won't all love you (or vice versa). Also, it's particularly satisfying if you can prove them wrong. Third year can be a little bit harder for introverts, but be true to your style. Know your patients well, look for opportunities to help the residents in little ways, show genuine interest in things (heck, read the book Quiet for ideas.... it really is a wonderful read for introverts). Rotations like surgery can be a little tougher since it's a pimping culture, but even if you don't think quickly on your feet, take a few chances with the questions or offer to look it up. Show that you're interested in learning and be available (and offer to go to clinic if you hate the OR... most surgeons want as little to do with clinic as possible). Even if you don't have the making of a surgeon, by being conscientious and not complaining, you'll find that your evals may be better than expected.

 

[SurfingDoctor]

This resident routinely yelled at me and told us we were not allowed to ask any questions about our patients "unless they were actively in the process of crumping." She wrote on my eval "may one day gain the skills necessary to be an intern." I spent the two weeks of the rotation thinking it was just me that she clashed with since she adored the 3 guys in my group who couldn't care less about the rotation. Found out a couple weeks later that she butted heads with nearly every girl in my class who was notoriously sweet and intelligent but also on the introverted side (she even snapped in a few of their faces). Luckily, one classmate complained and was kind enough to mention that there were several people who wanted to go into peds who didn't want to come forward to complain, and he got our evals from her thrown out.

Maybe this is specialty specific, but this is totally unacceptable behavior. It is completely unprofessional on so many levels. If I saw a resident yelling at a medical student, I would pull that resident aside and give feedback to both them and their PD. Furthermore, a resident telling a medical student they don't have what it takes to be a doctor is ironic, since a resident is still in training. Now maybe a medical student does have deficiencies that should be addressed, but I would suspect someone who has completed training and been in practice for several (or many) years would be able to better to determine that then someone who is still undergoing training. Its like a high school student telling a middle school student they won't be a good college student.

Anyway, the point is that one shouldn't be dissuaded by trainees yelling at them, because chances are, they have just as many issues themselves (that maybe they are unaware of because no one gave them proper feedback). The way I take feedback that is non-constructive is to look for something that maybe useful and learn from it, but if there is nothing, then move on and ignore it. The people who want to help you will always provide constructive feedback, the people who don't aren't worth listening to.