Advice for incoming fellows?

[TrailRun]

Would love to hear any advice from fellows about to graduate (or attendings too of course). Particularly regarding making the most of fellowship, study methods, navigating difficult patient encounters, or what to look for in a first job, etc.

Thanks!

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[willabeast]

First job - forget about money, you want to work with the best medical care system and people you can find. Fellowship - is in part a personality test. It is a dress rehearsal for a real job. DO NOT argue with anyone unless it is a life and death patient care issue and your mentor is unavailable. Curb any narcissistic traits you may have. You are only going to be there a year, everyone else has been there much longer. Difficult patients - get a witness ASAP. Worst borderline I ever helped treat was during my fellowship. Fortunately she went after someone else, but it could easily have been me. She made my hair stand on end, honest.

 

[drusso]

Would love to hear any advice from fellows about to graduate (or attendings too of course). Particularly regarding making the most of fellowship, study methods, navigating difficult patient encounters, or what to look for in a first job, etc.

Thanks!

Understand who signs your paycheck, their values, and if they align with yours. Recognize that institutions will "never love you back."

 

[Laryngospasm]

Learn the difference between people you can help and those that don’t want to be helped and will make your life miserable

 

[Baron Samedi]

Brush up on spine anatomy and practice looking at imaging.

 

[mdo1738]

Make sure you learn how to run the C-arm

 

[PinchandBurn]

First job - forget about money, you want to work with the best medical care system and people you can find. Fellowship - is in part a personality test. It is a dress rehearsal for a real job. DO NOT argue with anyone unless it is a life and death patient care issue and your mentor is unavailable. Curb any narcissistic traits you may have. You are only going to be there a year, everyone else has been there much longer. Difficult patients - get a witness ASAP. Worst borderline I ever helped treat was during my fellowship. Fortunately she went after someone else, but it could easily have been me. She made my hair stand on end, honest.

This is solid advise

Also keep your mind open and you can pick up one random pearls from each attending. Even the small stuff.

Contact every rep. Go to as many SCS fellow labs. These days it seems like the societies like ASPN and others have built in labs for fellows. But seriously ask every vendor rep and go to as many of these things. Pick the brains of the lecturers during the courses.

Also ask the rep if they can pair you up with an attending in a different state who you could follow or shadow for a day.

Fellowship in my opinion is a spring board. It's to teach you all the things that you shouldnt do and that you should avoid. Fellowship teaches you to be safe.

There's a ton you will learn at fellowship. But a lot is learned your first 1-2 years out in practice and at these "events". Then there's always SDN..

 

[Blackmateria]

Practice reading your own MRIs

 

[geauxg8rs]

Go in and ask for access to the books. If they won’t be transparent now, they for sure won’t be later.

Get Access to how many opioid scripts are written. People will say they just write for a little tramadol. Is that true?

Talk to docs who have left. If they won’t let you have access, then that is telling. I am sure employee x left to be closer to family. If that is true he will confirm that.
. I talked to one former employee at a job prospect and he was so surprised that they would let me talk to him since he had such a crappy time at the job. It was therapeutic for him to describe his job related horror.

 

[drrosenrosen]

One thing that's hard for most people at the beginning of a career (it's still hard for me!) is learning to advocate for yourself. Don't be afraid to ask these questions, ask for the changes you need on a contract, speak to the people you need to speak to in order to understand what the job is like. You are interviewing, it's true, and you want them to like you. But you're going to be working with this group/hospital/whatever and you want to go into that with open eyes