The class of 2012 is set to start residency in a little over two weeks and some are starting orientation soon.
My question for the current residents are what can we do to prepare ourselves for the lifestyle change? and specifically in retrospect is there something you would have done differently?
My question for the attendings are what is it about a new resident that drives you crazy?or what do you find commonly that new residents are lacking?
Good Luck to the Class of 2012.
1) One thing that upsets me with residents is that they often are there to do the surgery but nothing more. Our group performs the most amount of foot/ankle surgery at a local hospital, and the residents scrub on cases but NEVER take the time to come to our office (or any of the other attendings) to see post op results. We are not asking the residents to come to the office to do scut work. When residents have come in the past, they simply observe. They aren't asked to remove/change dressings, remove sutures, casts, etc. We just believe it's important to see what "normal" post op actually looks like. Their observation ends when they break scrub.
We invite them to look at pre and post op xrays on their own. They can access the computer and look at the digital images. But this rarely occurs, and I believe they are missing out on a major part of their education. BTW, this is a VERY well known, high power residency program.
2) Residents who simply do things out of habit, rather than understanding why something should be done a certain way also upsets me. Many times I will observe a resident doing "something" during a case and they can't always explain WHY they are doing it, just that "it's the way I've seen it done".
3) No interaction with the patient. Yes, it's my patient and not a clinic patient, but it would be nice to have some interaction with the patient and not just be a cold bystander. I don't expect the resident to answer questions or do anything uncomfortable. But it would be nice to have some personality while dealing with a patient.
Things I really dislike;
4) Residents who do it "one way" and arent' willing to learn new techniques.
5) Residents who bring up another doctor's name while in "my" O.R. I would not expect the resident to bring up my name in another O.R., so I don't want another doctor being discussed in my O.R.
6) Residents who treat ancillary staff, nurses, techs, etc., as though they are higher up on the ladder. It's a team and I don't like attitude.
7) Residents who don't laugh at my jokes.
8) Residents who count my money.
9) Residents who walk around with a stethocope around their neck.
10) Residents who think I actually know the name of every classification, for every disorder ever described.
11) Residents who don't know who to spell properly.
12) Residents who think I can actually remember the entire Kreb's cycle.
13) Residents who don't say "thank you" when appropriate.
14) Residents who are early in training and bad mouth other attendings.
15) Residents who don't have an index card for me after the case with a patient sticker on the card and a description of the procedure AND the patient's phone number (I call all my patients that night to check how the patient is doing).
16) Residents who are blatant ass kissers.
17) Residents who tell me what a radiology report said, but never actually looked at the films.
Well, that's a start........
