Paging Jet: Advice for New CA-1's

On the heels of your new intern thread, how about a new CA-1 thread, and some timely advice for us?

Thanks in advance..

Jet will write much more than me and in a much more entertaining fashion - but if I had to give one piece of advice it would be to fly under the radar screen as much as you can. Keep your head down, work hard, get along with everyone, even the ones you can't stand working with. Attendings love to talk about residents and you don't want to be the one they are talking about (unless you are a rockstar of course). If you make a bad impression early (say for instance by arguing a lot or not taking resposibility for your mistakes) it can haunt you throughout residency.

Arch Guillotti said:

Jet will write much more than me and in a much more entertaining fashion - but if I had to give one piece of advice it would be to fly under the radar screen as much as you can. Keep your head down, work hard, get along with everyone, even the ones you can't stand working with. Attendings love to talk about residents and you don't want to be the one they are talking about (unless you are a rockstar of course). If you make a bad impression early (say for instance by arguing a lot or not taking resposibility for your mistakes) it can haunt you throughout residency.

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Forget just CA-1 year.... This should be your motto during your entire residency. The squeaky wheel does NOT get the grease when you are a resident. You just get the smack-down.

-copro

Man, I used to get so irritated when I heard of or even caught Attendings talking about us (Residents) behind our backs ... well now that I am a CA-2, I find that we talk about the newbies all the time.

My advice, show up early, do not have any flaws in your room setup, call the Attendings about your cases the day before if possible, know your basic drug dosages and definitely the MAC of all the gases we use! Also, if you're not sure about something, say so. I've heard of people asking for reversal with "neo" only to catch the newbie drawing up 5 ml of concentrated phenylephrine, or asking for an ABG and seeing the CA-1 trying to disconnect the A-line setup and draw from the catheter.

Good luck, we all had our ups and downs as a CA-1, in no time you're be a seasoned vet.

so i've been lurking on this forum for some time now - and having just started my ca-1 year i was hoping some of you more seasoned ones out there could offer some words of encouragement to the newbies

am i the only one that feels like a complete ***** even after two weeks of being in the or - or maybe i'm expecting too much of myself after having spent a whole year being the perfect medical intern...i guess what i want to know is when i'll get into my groove...

DrAconian said:

so i've been lurking on this forum for some time now - and having just started my ca-1 year i was hoping some of you more seasoned ones out there could offer some words of encouragement to the newbies

am i the only one that feels like a complete ***** even after two weeks of being in the or - or maybe i'm expecting too much of myself after having spent a whole year being the perfect medical intern...i guess what i want to know is when i'll get into my groove...

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it varies for people, but can take a few months to really feel like you have hit your stride... and then you'll do some peds or hearts and feel like you are fumbling again.

Coastie said:

On the heels of your new intern thread, how about a new CA-1 thread, and some timely advice for us?

Thanks in advance..

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Alotta good advice has been given already, Coast.

Congrats on making it to the CA-1 year!

Heres some stuff that coincides well with what my colleagues have already said:

1) NOW IS NOT YOUR TIME TO SHINE. Yeah, that kinda sucks, huh? You finally make it to the anesthesia years....as part of your learning process you will make mistakes....but you're also gonna make some great decisions, you'll accomplish a procedure after someone else failed, you'll save some lives....and you're probably not gonna get alotta credit for those bottom-of-da-ninth-bases-loaded grand slams blow me WARREN MORRIS for ousting Da Canes many years back...
Thats the dichotomy. You're gonna make your attending shine and he'll probably get the credit. Best to just remember your time is coming, but your time ain't now, instead of getting pissed.

2) DON'T LOOK FOR WAYS TO GET OUTTA WORK CUZ PEOPLE WILL FIGURE YOU OUT. Did my residency with a chick that spent more time trying to switch to (easier) rooms, scurrying out at the end of the day when theres still 8 more preops....know what I did on our last day? I asked if I could speak with her a moment, and in a calm voice I said "Aida, YOU'RE THE LAZIEST PERSON I'VE EVER WORKED WITH. FOR THE LAST THREE YEARS I'VE PUT UP WITH YOUR QUESTIONABLE WORK ETHIC, AS HAVE OUR RESIDENT COLLEAGUES, AND I CAN'T EMPHASIZE TO YOU HOW GLAD I AM IT IS OVER WITH YOU! IF I HAD TO PRACTICE WITH YOU AFTER RESIDENCY I THINK I'D CONSIDER KILLING MYSELF."😆
She cried like a little baby as I informed her as to why her fellow residents didnt associate with her. Yeah, that was kinda cruel, but it was the truth. Sometimes the truth hurts, ladies and gentlemen.
Don't become an Aida.

3)LET MOST STUFF SLIDE OFF YOUR BACK. You've selected a great specialty, but its stressful sometimes. Alotta people in this biz arent very good at handling stressful situations, and things may be said that sound personal. Your reaction to stress and your reaction when people are stressing TOWARDS you will be remembered. Hell, its a great life-lesson, anyway.....learning to cope with stress. Start early because acting cool when being fired upon takes work...practice....

4)AND PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT TIP I CAN GIVE YOU IS:

Residency is finite. It sucks. Someone tells you when to be at work, what you're gonna do at work, and when you can leave.

But its FINITE. Its necessary. You gotta go through it.

Every time an attending mocks you, criticizes you, every time a surgeon yells, every time a resident colleague dumps on you...just keep telling yourself

RESIDENCY IS FINITE. I HAVE MY WHOLE PROFESSIONAL LIFE AHEADDA ME DOING A FUN JOB GETTING PAID THE NFL LEAGUE MINIMUM, SO I'M NOT GONNA RUIN THAT NOW. I'M GONNA COME TO WORK EVERY DAY, LEARN MY TRADE, AND DO WHAT I'M TOLD, AND MOSTA THE TIME I'M GONNA KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT AND AVOID CONFLICT.

WHEN TIMES ARE ROUGH I'M GONNA THINK OF WHAT I'M GRATEFUL FOR, I'M GONNA KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT, AND I'M GONNA TAKE THIS S HITTY RESIDENCY ONE DAY AT A TIME.


I made it through.

That means you can too.👍

jetproppilot said:

Residency is finite. It sucks. Someone tells you when to be at work, what you're gonna do at work, and when you can leave.

But its FINITE. Its necessary. You gotta go through it.

Every time an attending mocks you, criticizes you, every time a surgeon yells, every time a resident colleague dumps on you...just keep telling yourself

RESIDENCY IS FINITE. I HAVE MY WHOLE PROFESSIONAL LIFE AHEADDA ME DOING A FUN JOB GETTING PAID THE NFL LEAGUE MINIMUM, SO I'M NOT GONNA RUIN THAT NOW. I'M GONNA COME TO WORK EVERY DAY, LEARN MY TRADE, AND DO WHAT I'M TOLD, AND MOSTA THE TIME I'M GONNA KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT AND AVOID CONFLICT.

WHEN TIMES ARE ROUGH I'M GONNA THINK OF WHAT I'M GRATEFUL FOR, I'M GONNA KEEP MY MOUTH SHUT, AND I'M GONNA TAKE THIS S HITTY RESIDENCY ONE DAY AT A TIME.


I made it through.

That means you can too.👍

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Great advice....2 more years for me of this bullshi!t.

Jet,
Remember you live in lsu country. Talking bad about Warren Morris might not go over too well.
I have been getting your colleagues at EJ to school me on spinals and epidurals. Now, I just need to figure out how to manage to get on their side of the BBB during a couple general GYN cases.

bonesmd said:

Jet,
Remember you live in lsu country. Talking bad about Warren Morris might not go over too well.
I have been getting your colleagues at EJ to school me on spinals and epidurals. Now, I just need to figure out how to manage to get on their side of the BBB during a couple general GYN cases.

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Met Warren several years ago.

Really nice guy......except for that grand slam....

I hear you about living in LSU country....not uncommon to get heckled because of DA U emblem on my labcoat.

What's the NFL league minimum? $350k???