a new start?

[rkaz]

---

Members don't see this ad.

.

 

[Perrotfish]

How much of a new start is residency? If a student was in the bottom quartile of his medical school class, and still somehow matched into an awesome residency program that is known to value resident education strongly.... is there hope for a new start? Do academic programs with great reputations expect far more from their residents than smaller community programs? How much baseline medical knowledge do residency programs expect from their new interns? If you are a pleasant person and a good team player who needs to improve your medical knowledge... should you expect to be slaughtered in a prestigious residency program?

Well its definitely a new start: you're starting fresh and no one knows you. That's not what you're asking, though: it sounds like your real concern is not that you need a fresh start, but that you're worried you running too difficult a race. Even then, though: yes, you will have the opportunity to improve. The gross incompetence demonstrated by all new Interns, just because they don't understand the system they're working in, will obscure your medical knowledge base for at least a couple of months. Also remember that unlike medical school, where you were just a faceless tuition check, in residency you are a both a faceless Medicare check AND an equally faceless warm body: they have a lot of strong incentives to work with you, because they really can't afford to lose you. If they took you it means they want you, and they are going to do everything they can to get you to where you need to be.

 

[cheruka]

Unless you are in a malignant residency which weeds out ppl.

 

[mcl]

Top programs do have high expectations, but if they did not believe you could meet those expectations based on your application they would not have invited you to interview. They will expect you (and all of the residents at every level of training) to self evaluate and address deficits in your knowledge base. There are lots of tools out there from text books to journal articles to podcasts and more--my PD has always recommended 15-20 minutes of study daily on something interesting you saw that day. Be a pleasant person and a good team player who is making a concerted effort to expand your knowledge and skills, and you could be among the top residents at your top program.

 

[shopsteward]

It is surprising how quickly your past disappears at work. You might get a passing enquiry in your first weeks of residency as to where you went to med school, but on the whole no-one cares, and this will become more and more true as time goes on. What people care about at work is that you turn up on time and don't leave early, that you do your best to do what is expected of you and a bit more, and that you are an easy person to get on with.

It is a good idea to ask your "stupid" questions early on - by which I mean, if there is anything about how your organisation works, or who people are, or where you get logged in/supplies/admin help/call a code/use the records system and so on, you have a free pass to ask them early on. Don't be the person who is too embarrassed to ask and then is slightly at sea for ever more.

If it's about medical knowledge, be prepared to admit ignorance rather than bluffing. If you get the reaction "you should have known that", try reading around the subject and then going back to the person who had that reaction, showing that you have since read up about it, and perhaps asking them an intelligent follow-up question. This will demonstrate that you have remedied your lack of knowledge, that you have studied in your own time to do so, that you have put your new knowledge in context and that you have moved on to the next level.

Good luck.

 

[rkaz]

Thank you all so much for the wonderful replies. I am super excited about my program, and really would like to do all I can to make a positive impression and to grow my knowledge and skills as a resident.

My program is not malignant. They are known to have happy residents, and they are known to have a strong education focus. That being said, I did hear from one of the chief residents on my interview day that there were a couple of residents expelled from the program in the last several years. One was removed for medical incompetence, as the program director made attempts to work with this person but still the problem couldn't be fixed. Definitely don't want to end up like that person....

I really appreciate all of the tips given. I will surely work hard, try to always be on time, and be a team player. I also will try to get the 'dumb' questions out in the beginning. Thanks! If anyone has any more suggestions, please keep them coming! (or PM me) 🙂