Academic work in residency

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Just trying to find out if residency had the same amount of academic work as medschool + extra work.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Just trying to find out if residency had the same amount of academic work as medschool + extra work.

Depends. But in general, one of the mistakes students make, IMHO, is underestimating the amount of academics or "reading" one has to do as a resident. 80 hrs a week is all well and good, but when you still have to read when you get home, it can quickly become overwhelming.

Some "lifestyle" specialties: ie, Derm, Path, Psych are actually fairly academic with lots of required reading, broadly based, resident presentations, etc. I think you should expect to work harder in residency than you did in medical school - both on the academic and physical fronts.

 

[sirus_virus]

Depends. But in general, one of the mistakes students make, IMHO, is underestimating the amount of academics or "reading" one has to do as a resident. 80 hrs a week is all well and good, but when you still have to read when you get home, it can quickly become overwhelming.

Some "lifestyle" specialties: ie, Derm, Path, Psych are actually fairly academic with lots of required reading, broadly based, resident presentations, etc. I think you should expect to work harder in residency than you did in medical school - both on the academic and physical fronts.

okay so if I understand you well-- it is possible that you have to read more than you did in medschool plus 80hrs of work?

 

[sirus_virus]

Any response?

 

[lowbudget]

Any response?

Yes. Because unlike med school, the answer does not fall out of the sky. You need to know your ****. If you don't, you have no business taking care of people who trust you.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Any response?

Wow...you only gave me 3 hrs before requesting a response - a little anxious eh?

I don't know if you have to read MORE in total than you did in medical school, but that you STILL have to read in addition to your 80+ hrs per week, which is difficult in many instances to do.

For example, I am currently doing my fellowship and while I work much less than 80 hrs per week, my PD still expected me to read a 1000 page Path book this month while on Path. Even if it weren't boring to me, I couldn't have read that much without severely straining my sleep patterns, lifestyle, etc.

That is what you have to look forward to in residency.

 

[swpm]

Just trying to find out if residency had the same amount of academic work as medschool + extra work.

There's less reading/studying, at least for most of us.

But be very cognizant of the fact that it is possible to be a good resident (i.e., show up for work on time, have a good attitude, play nice with others, and get good evals) ... and still fail the boards because you blew off studying.

 

[Winged Scapula]

There's less reading/studying, at least for most of us.

But be very cognizant of the fact that it is possible to be a good resident (i.e., show up for work on time, have a good attitude, play nice with others, and get good evals) ... and still fail the boards because you blew off studying.

Godo advice/point. The best resident in the world can still have little "book knowledge" and of course, we've all probably seen the reverse - the brilliant resident who aces his in training exams and boards but you wouldn't let near your worst enemy because of their lack of clinical acumen.

 

[DarksideAllstar]

my PD still expected me to read a 1000 page Path book this month while on Path. Even if it weren't boring to me....

Come on, you know you wanted to read about flat epithelial atypia and columnar cell change 😉

 

[Qtip96]

Godo advice/point. The best resident in the world can still have little "book knowledge" and of course, we've all probably seen the reverse - the brilliant resident who aces his in training exams and boards but you wouldn't let near your worst enemy because of their lack of clinical acumen.

i agree we see both. but in all honesty, for most of us, our clinical acumen gets better the more we study. in this super-specialized modern clinical era, prolific readers will have an improved knowledgebase over those who don't. unfortunately, it never stops. even after completing fellowship and clinical subspecialty training, i find myself trying hard to keep abreast of the clincal and basic literature as well as occasionally hitting the text books. it's what we owe to our patients...

for those who are still in training, the best way to study and have the information stick in long term memory is to read specifically about the patients/cases you have now. one, it's more interesting. two, it may improve the care of your current patients. three, you'll remember better. four, in time you'll cover all the bases.

 

[Babe]

This is one of my personal struggles. After working long hours, being mentally and physically exhausted.....I just do not have that much time to read. As an intern this is hard to deal with. Because as a medical student there was so much time to read. I try to read about 2 interesting patients per day. But I end up falling asleep in my books. The earlies that I get home is 9pm. And trying to fit in an occasional phone call to family and friends. ( Which never happens) Balancing everything is becoming very hard.🙁 🙁 😱

 

[Methyldopa]

I find studying in residency to be a lot more interesting and easier. After all you're reading about the field you chose as a career. It usually, for me, involves reading articles from journals and reading up on my patients (in books and journals). I can't read every single one of the diseases that all my patients have, but I start with the disease that I'm least familiar with and one that has a high prevelance in my pt population. I think once you get the horses down, you can move into esoteric zebra kingdom.

 

[fourthyearmed]

I definitly do a whole lot less reading as a peds resident than I did as a med student because you're just too tired and don't want to use the little time you have at home to read. What most of us do is read UpToDate, journal articles, or other information regarding our current patients to help us with their care. What you read is a lot more interesting because it's relevant to patient care and it sticks with you a lot better because you remember the patient you had with "X" problem.

 

[8744]

This is one of my personal struggles. After working long hours, being mentally and physically exhausted.....I just do not have that much time to read. As an intern this is hard to deal with. Because as a medical student there was so much time to read. I try to read about 2 interesting patients per day. But I end up falling asleep in my books. The earlies that I get home is 9pm. And trying to fit in an occasional phone call to family and friends. ( Which never happens) Balancing everything is becoming very hard.🙁 🙁 😱

I'm with you on that. My hours aren't that bad this year but I still have four kids, a house, and all of the usual repsonsibilities of married life.

 

[Babe]

I agreee. As an emergency medicine resident, I'm too pooped when I get home. However, during a shift I use UptoDate, emedicine, and a procedure book. When I get home (the earliest at 9:00pm) its time to eat, catch up with friends and sleep. I had way more time as a medical student to read. However, my reading is more interesting now.

Emergency Medicine Rocks 😍