It begins...any advice on how to deal/cope/get thicker skin

rachmoninov3 · Mar 31, 2009

Well so it begins...losing control of my schedule, being told that my "never give up attitude" won't work well, the meaningless and endless hospital orientation...
On the outside, I'm showing up to everything and smiling, while inside I'm quasi-homicidal.

I had a patient over the break (a brief return to my past life as a nurse), who was a medicine woman. I sat and talked with her for a while. Basically she told me that crystals and stones are just rocks, but they (with her help) might get you to realize what you need to see/do. "It's not magic, but more like psychotherapy" she said. Anyway, she got me thinking, that one way to proctect myself from the intense learning of 3rd year was to have a medicine bag. Not litterally to protect me like a piecce of armor, but little reminders of why I went into medicine.

Anyone else have any ideas they use to keep sane (besides the basic exercise, eat, sleep, pray)?

ubcredfox · Mar 31, 2009

Quit.

asmallchild · Mar 31, 2009

Move on to MS4. They don't respect you any more that year but at the least, you'll stop caring. 😛

funshi baba · Mar 31, 2009

convinced myself everyone else is crazy but me.

JenHeart · Mar 31, 2009

Just realize it's a means to an end and not what you'll be doing forever. Just more hoops to jump through. I cared a lot during my first 2 rotations and then realized - why do I care? 🙂 Can't wait til 4th year!

Kedan · Mar 31, 2009

funshi baba said:
convinced myself everyone else is crazy but me.

x2. It's always them, not you.

Buckeye(OH) · Mar 31, 2009

asmallchild said:
Move on to MS4. They don't respect you any more that year but at the least, you'll stop caring. 😛

This.

Then, once you match, tell them to suck your big fat ****ing cock.

abecedarian · Mar 31, 2009

Three rules got me through the worse parts of third year:

1. They can't hurt you unless you let them.
2. They can't stop the clock.
3. The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you've got it made.

Just do your job, keep a smile on your face, be available and act interested and study for the exam at the end. Ignore the drama, politics and never ever take anyone's side in anything that doesn't concern you.

They can read your notes, they may even read your expression, but they can't read your mind. So don't hold anything back, just make sure it doesn't come out of your mouth.

And if it really gets bad, just think to yourself, "Yes, Dr. Attending, you may be better than me, but in a few weeks, I'll be done with this terrible rotation, but you'll be an Ob-gyn/vascular surgeon/whatever forever!".

Just be sure to come up with a plausible reason why you have a giant, ****-eating grin on your face. 😀

PenguinHead · Mar 31, 2009

abecedarian said:
3. The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you've got it made.

👍👍👍

zephyrhills123 · Apr 1, 2009

abecedarian said:
3. The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you've got it made.

I enjoy the oxymoron in that statement, haha. 🙂

QofQuimica · Apr 2, 2009

rachmoninov3 said:
Anyone else have any ideas they use to keep sane (besides the basic exercise, eat, sleep, pray)?

For the worst rotations that feel like they might never end, I'm a huge fan of hanging a calendar up on the wall and crossing off the days until the end of the rotation, one by one. It's tremendously therapeutic to cross another day of certain rotations right out of existence each night. The person being snippety might think I care, but really, I'm thinking about how I'm going to cross yet another day of them out of my life that very evening. Try it. I promise you it will make you feel considerably better.

JustPlainBill · Apr 5, 2009

QofQuimica said:
For the worst rotations that feel like they might never end, I'm a huge fan of hanging a calendar up on the wall and crossing off the days until the end of the rotation, one by one. It's tremendously therapeutic to cross another day of certain rotations right out of existence each night. The person being snippety might think I care, but really, I'm thinking about how I'm going to cross yet another day of them out of my life that very evening. Try it. I promise you it will make you feel considerably better.

I agree. It's even more therapeutic when you can cross off a day on the calendar THEY provided for you....while having a medicinal frosty adult beverage and a good cigar at the same time.....true therapy....

I'm on OB/GYN right now and the egos are so large that they can barely fit in the same room. Yes, there is even a 'Chief's Chair' in the L&D call room with a sign that states the chair is for the team Chief only and certainly not for students. I thought it was a joke until the 2nd year resident pointed out that NO student should EVER sit in that chair....it's fun to watch the kiddos playing in the sandbox.....I'm learning to sleep with my eyes open so I can make it through their earth-shattering lectures on domestic violence that basically tell me partner abuse is a bad thing and we need to watch for it. REALLY, YA THINK?!!! But they took two hours to communicate that in 15 slides with a whole lot of statistics and percentages....I guess they feel special.....

smq123 · Apr 5, 2009

QofQuimica said:
For the worst rotations that feel like they might never end, I'm a huge fan of hanging a calendar up on the wall and crossing off the days until the end of the rotation, one by one. It's tremendously therapeutic to cross another day of certain rotations right out of existence each night. The person being snippety might think I care, but really, I'm thinking about how I'm going to cross yet another day of them out of my life that very evening. Try it. I promise you it will make you feel considerably better.

👍 Some of the best advice yet.

Jonathan13180 · Apr 5, 2009

smq123 said:
👍 Some of the best advice yet.

Indeed. I did that for my peds rotation around the second week and those last two weeks flew by.

I wouldnt quit at this point, were too far in debt.

VMSmith · Apr 5, 2009

abecedarian said:
3. The secret of success is sincerity. Once you can fake that, you've got it made.

Also, the ability to fake confidence. If you act like you're confident about what you're talking about, you'd be surprised at how many people (from patients to attendings) will believe what you say without question. If you don't speak confidently, it doesn't matter if you literally looked something up 5 minutes ago, you'll get questioned about it as if you just made it up.

Faking confidence is not the same as lying. If you lie, you're screwed.

illumina · Apr 6, 2009

I just stopped giving a **** eventually.

RxnMan · Apr 8, 2009

illumina said:
I just stopped giving a **** eventually.

Exactly. I still screw up just as much as before, but now I don't care when I get yelled at.

Momentum70 · Apr 9, 2009

asmallchild said:
Move on to MS4. They don't respect you any more that year but at the least, you'll stop caring. 😛

I loved this response, made me laugh :laugh:

SO TRUE

Doctor Bagel · Apr 9, 2009

illumina said:
I just stopped giving a **** eventually.

There's some real truth to this. That's why the end of 3rd year is better than the start.

JacobSilge · Apr 9, 2009

Doctor Bagel said:
There's some real truth to this. That's why the end of 3rd year is better than the start.

And I started getting better evaluations when I stopped caring!

deeplyinitnow · Apr 10, 2009

VMSmith said:
Also, the ability to fake confidence. If you act like you're confident about what you're talking about, you'd be surprised at how many people (from patients to attendings) will believe what you say without question. If you don't speak confidently, it doesn't matter if you literally looked something up 5 minutes ago, you'll get questioned about it as if you just made it up.

I think this is very true. Only 20% of the time am I able to fake confidence, I usually leave it to others who are better at it.

LabMonster · Apr 10, 2009

asmallchild said:
Move on to MS4. They don't respect you any more that year but at the least, you'll stop caring. 😛

Agreed. I think the best advice to an upcoming 3rd year is to ALWAYS care about your patients, and to never give a damn about others opinions. It's about patients, not about fluffing some burn-out attendings ego.

DrJosephKim · Apr 10, 2009

Rotations are finite, so make the most out of them and use a calendar to reinforce the fact that there is an end in sight.

DwyaneWade · Apr 10, 2009

1) Never take anything personally

2) Learn to separate valuable criticism from BS

3) Smile and be pleasant no matter what, because regardless of how miserable you feel you are alive and well

4) Everything will fall into place after that

funshi baba · Apr 10, 2009

The quicker you accept the fact that u ******ed when it comes to managing patients, the easier it will be to learn how to manage a patient.

vtucci · Apr 12, 2009

There is nothing wrong with having a can-do/never give up attitude. Most physicians will appreciate this and for those that don't, they won't appreciate anything.

But no matter what someone says....Don't let it get to you. This too shall pass.

Set your own goals for what you want to learn. Remember this is your education.

Find the silver lining in every rotation (it is possible).

remember that you are your patient's advocate. Don't go against your gut. Learning to tell sick from about to crash is key. As a medical student, we spend a lot more time with patients than many of the residents can. If you patient looks worse, tell someone.

LabMonster · Apr 16, 2009

vtucci said:
There is nothing wrong with having a can-do/never give up attitude. Most physicians will appreciate this and for those that don't, they won't appreciate anything.

This attitude is great, and I couldn't have worded it better - but I would add a modifier: never kiss ass for a grade.

vtucci said:
But no matter what someone says....Don't let it get to you. This too shall pass.

Absolutely.

vtucci said:
Set your own goals for what you want to learn. Remember this is your education.

One of the odd things about 3rd year is that YOU dictate the curriculum. Of course there's a shelf - and there are review books about those, just remember your patients are yours, theirs ailments should be second nature to you - simply because you're interested in them getting better.

vtucci said:
Find the silver lining in every rotation (it is possible).

This is a great idea! I usually had to try and spray paint my silver linings on - eh...

vtucci said:
remember that you are your patient's advocate. Don't go against your gut. Learning to tell sick from about to crash is key. As a medical student, we spend a lot more time with patients than many of the residents can. If you patient looks worse, tell someone.

Advocate. This may mean disagreement, uncomfortable moments and challenging authority - but you can make a significant difference in your patient's care if you remember the key to 3rd year: It's not about you. It's about the patient. The rest will follow.

Also, the scut that many gunners try to pick up to earn "points" is relative BS. Doing discharge paperwork DOES help you learn how to be an intern, but it does NOT educate you on being a better physician.

If the management plan changes, ask yourself why it changed. Did the team look at a set of number and an overnight progress note? Then go to the patient and ask for more history, get a better physical, and do whatever you can to validate that plan. You're not second guessing, you're learning how to do things right.

Last hypomanic point: if you ever, for ever a brief moment, think you missed something or think the team missed something OR if the team/attending REALLY screwed up a human issue (i.e. gave bad news in a horrible way) then make it right. You can reverse or prevent wronging a patient without damaging yourself - even though it may not seem that way at the time.

If you advocate for your patients, you will do well, if only morally. Remember, there is a component of 3rd year that is not gunning, it's not kissing ass, it's selling yourself as a good future doctor (without being a jackass.)

Doctor J · Apr 16, 2009

They can always hurt you more, but they can't stop the clock.

jiy76 · Apr 17, 2009

deeplyinitnow said:
I think this is very true. Only 20% of the time am I able to fake confidence, I usually leave it to others who are better at it.

Extremely true. I know people who shined on rotations due to their confidence. When i analyzed what they actually were saying during their responses to questions it was pretty much complete BS. They just said it with so much confidence it was like they quoted it from Harrison's. One kid would cite obscure references to vague articles he knew no one could possibly look up. He also had a knack of answering every question with BS but somehow still looked good in the process.As for me if i don't know the answer I can't fake intelligence.

getunconcsious · Apr 24, 2009

READ, READ, READ!

A LOT.

This will help you more than anything else. Way way more than scut or acting interested. If you can answer any pimp question, you'll be an unassailable savant. And, at most schools, in most rotations, the shelf counts an awful lot. Better to court an objective test than subjective and uncontrollable evaluation. The key to MS3 is to all but neglect the patient care aspects (Oh, don't feel bad, the intern will do it anyways!) and the scut work (TOTALLY useless) in favor of reading. The attending couldn't care less how many discharge summaries you wrote. True that the attendings talk to the residents about your eval sometimes, but if YOU could answer a question that the overworked resident could NOT answer, this will discredit the resident's input in the eyes of most attendings.

Neglect whatever you have to to read. Just treat it as an extension of MS2! As long as you see all your patients every AM, the rest of the scut stuff will not help your grade that much.

goremachine · Apr 24, 2009

getunconcsious said:
READ, READ, READ!

A LOT.

This will help you more than anything else. Way way more than scut or acting interested. If you can answer any pimp question, you'll be an unassailable savant. And, at most schools, in most rotations, the shelf counts an awful lot. Better to court an objective test than subjective and uncontrollable evaluation. The key to MS3 is to all but neglect the patient care aspects (Oh, don't feel bad, the intern will do it anyways!) and the scut work (TOTALLY useless) in favor of reading. The attending couldn't care less how many discharge summaries you wrote. True that the attendings talk to the residents about your eval sometimes, but if YOU could answer a question that the overworked resident could NOT answer, this will discredit the resident's input in the eyes of most attendings.

Neglect whatever you have to to read. Just treat it as an extension of MS2! As long as you see all your patients every AM, the rest of the scut stuff will not help your grade that much.

Quoted for truth. This goes double for the rotations that you don't actually learn anything on, like surgery. Do just enough scut to stay on the good side of your chief, and spend the rest of your time reading.

It begins...any advice on how to deal/cope/get thicker skin

Senior Member

Member

Full Member

Full Member

Full Member

Full Member

5K+ Member

New Member

Full Member

Full Member

Seriously, dude, I think you're overreacting....

Attending

John William Waterhouse

Senior Member

Full Member

MS III

Who, me? A doctor?

Full Member

so cheap and juicy

Full Member

New Member

Clinically relevant.

Advisor

Reiging *** Cynic

Full Member

Attending in Emergency Medicine

Clinically relevant.

Libelous.

Where's The Booze?

Very tired PGY1

Full Member

Similar threads