Anyone else struggling?

[Sheldor]

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How's everyones intern year going so far?

I've actually been struggling with the whole thing. Its really difficult to spend 4 years ramping up to away rotations, interviews and a successful match day and then BAM: You're admitting a 78 yo F s/p CABGx34 with BMI 38, DM type II for a pleural effusion and getting pimped on Lights criteria.

I found myself sitting there in the ER thinking, what happened? I'm doing better now, but there were a couple days where I really struggled with it. On the plus side, its helped me realize how much I truly love Rad Onc, and inspired me to start a count down calendar.

Anyone else?

 

[ramsesthenice]

Hang in there. It will get better. Intern year is hard. Hopefully your in a place that's at least a little fun. Our chiefs really protected their own categoricals so my "magical" consult months got converted to an extra ICU and an extra ward month of inpatient heme-onc. Nothing better than getting screwed at work then getting chewed out at home for having to work more than promised.

For me the ER was the worst. It's everything wrong with American healthcare delivery wrapped up in one annoying package. They used us med residents as night and weekend coverage on the subacute side. I was never more tempted to quit as I was on my ER month.

You should have good rotations though. Have as much fun as you can. Prank page your fellow interns from time to time. I have a great prank number list if your interested.

But then something magic happens in the end of June. It will be worth it. Hang in there.

 

[Reaganite]

edited

 

[ramsesthenice]

Honestly when I was an intern I approached my senior resident at the start of every rotation and told them straight up I had no interest in learning their specialty, but I would do my best to make their lives easier.

I would be really careful with this. Where I was most of the senior residents would have reacted exactly the same but a few who clearly wanted to do something else, were super type A, or just burnt out, would have made your pimping even worse. Remember you are on their turf. That being said, most of the time when people asked I was honest that this was a requirement and I was not that interested in specific aspects of things and I never got s@#t for it. Though I did see it go horribly wrong for a couple radiology pre-lims, for what its worth.

 

[RadOncDoc21]

I hated intern year, but towards the end you learn all the tricks to keep you a float and you're glowing with joy because you will be leaving soon... Just keep your head down and get through it!

 

[Neuronix]

For the medical students, try to find a cushy TY. Not all internships are bad. I had a good time.

 

[Haybrant]

.

 

[Cancerdancer]

If this is how you feel, do us all a favor and don't share it with people. You went through medical school to be a doctor, not a radiation oncologist. It is rants like this that lead other specialists to view us as technicians, not physicians. Certainly don't start with the attitude of "I'm not going to bother to learn from you" when discussing other specialties. There are aspects of all fields you need to learn in order to be an effective radiation oncologist, but perhaps most importantly you need to respect other disciplines and acknowledge other physicians are invested in their career choices and in helping patients. If you start disregarding internists, surgeons, etc 1 week into your internship it does not bode well for your future as part of a multidisciplinary team.
I've been a bit discouraged by the responses above. I'm not some crusty old guy saying "you should do and enjoy an intense surgery/medicine prelim year" but come on...

 

[medgator]

If this is how you feel, do us all a favor and don't share it with people. You went through medical school to be a doctor, not a radiation oncologist. It is rants like this that lead other specialists to view us as technicians, not physicians. Certainly don't start with the attitude of "I'm not going to bother to learn from you" when discussing other specialties. There are aspects of all fields you need to learn in order to be an effective radiation oncologist, but perhaps most importantly you need to respect other disciplines and acknowledge other physicians are invested in their career choices and in helping patients. If you start disregarding internists, surgeons, etc 1 week into your internship it does not bode well for your future as part of a multidisciplinary team.
I've been a bit discouraged by the responses above. I'm not some crusty old guy saying "you should do and enjoy an intense surgery/medicine prelim year" but come on...

Completely agree. As the old saying goes, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all" There really is no need to verbalize that you aren't interested in your CCU or ID consult month. Your senior residents already probably presume that by virtue of you being a prelim. And yes, I still sometimes check urine cx, write abx, and order Doppler U/S sometimes.

 

[Tanner]

If this is how you feel, do us all a favor and don't share it with people. You went through medical school to be a doctor, not a radiation oncologist. It is rants like this that lead other specialists to view us as technicians, not physicians. Certainly don't start with the attitude of "I'm not going to bother to learn from you" when discussing other specialties. There are aspects of all fields you need to learn in order to be an effective radiation oncologist, but perhaps most importantly you need to respect other disciplines and acknowledge other physicians are invested in their career choices and in helping patients. If you start disregarding internists, surgeons, etc 1 week into your internship it does not bode well for your future as part of a multidisciplinary team.
I've been a bit discouraged by the responses above. I'm not some crusty old guy saying "you should do and enjoy an intense surgery/medicine prelim year" but come on...

I agree and disagree with you. While we should be sensitive to what we say, complete honesty in a forum setting is refreshing, as long as this same rant is not directed in front of staff and attendings.

My only word of advice to interns is you should use those rotations to understand how a radiation oncologist can cater to those internists and specialists. Ask the attendings (NOT the residents- because they would not have a clear idea) what they expect from Radiation Oncology and from Rad Oncs. What indications would they consult with radiation oncology; what pisses them off about rad onc; what certain rad oncs in the department do they like and WHY. This is truly the only time you will be immersed with your future referring doctors, and your professional success is intimately related to how to please them.

The rest of the time is to scut as much as possible (to ease the resident's work- they will love you for it), and not trouble yourself of knowing how to manage hypokalemia or Afib.

Hang in there.

 

[Lamount]

I was sitting in my living room dreading my intern call shift later tonight, and this made me feel a lot better. Good to know that I am not the only one.

 

[Sheldor]

Thank you everyone for the encouragement/advice! I think the struggle was two fold, one was how much I dislike internal medicine, and the other was just the "So close to finally doing what i'm passionate about, oh wait, one more year."

Luckily I am at a really nice TY, and it isn't TOO terrible. Unfortunately, even the best TY's require 3-6 months of internal medicine ward months.

I think it helps to know that the rest of you rad oncs (for the most part) also had to struggle through your intern year. Man, next June is going to be so glorious.

 

[Reaganite]

edited

 

[RadOncDoc21]

I would also suggest you think like a generalist until after passing step 3 because once you start rad onc it's easy to forget gyn, peds, psych... Etc. So basically although you've matched into a specialty... This year is all about being a "doctor"

 

[BraggPeak]

It's July. It's the worst month. Give it a month and you'll realize it's actually not that bad.

It's good and OK to express your frustration to people you know well and perhaps in this forum; my only advice would be to never appear to be disrespectful to anther persons specialty (when talking to them). That won't do you (or our specialty) any good in the long run.

And honestly try to learn a little IM; your med oncs and nurses will respect you for it in the future.

 

[Sheldor]

It's July. It's the worst month. Give it a month and you'll realize it's actually not that bad.

It's good and OK to express your frustration to people you know well and perhaps in this forum; my only advice would be to never appear to be disrespectful to anther persons specialty (when talking to them). That won't do you (or our specialty) any good in the long run.

And honestly try to learn a little IM; your med oncs and nurses will respect you for it in the future.

Its true. I actually heard from some friends since I posted this, and as it turns out my IM experience thus far is actually on the better end of the spectrum. Always good to know!

To be honest, I'm enjoying being a physician. The patients, the interaction with colleagues, etc, its mainly the subject matter and workflow (rounding, rounding, rounding) that is hard for me.

Also, to clarify I'm not being rude to any of our medicine colleagues, in fact I am consistently impressed by their knowledge base and ability to remember such a broad range of information. What is that saying around these boards? The best day in your career is the last day of intern year?

 

[medgator]

Also, to clarify I'm not being rude to any of our medicine colleagues, in fact I am consistently impressed by their knowledge base and ability to remember such a broad range of information. What is that saying around these boards? The best day in your career is the last day of intern year?

I've heard it as: "The worst day in rad onc is better than the best day of gen surg/ob/IM/neurosurg etc"

 

[Sheldor]

I've heard it as: "The worst day in rad onc is better than the best day of gen surg/ob/IM/neurosurg etc"

I like that one too, but isn't there one about the two best days in the life of a rad onc?

 

[napoleondynamite]

I like that one too, but isn't there one about the two best days in the life of a rad onc?

Passing orals is the best day of radonc!

 

[Totem]

Add me to the list of interns off to a bumpy start. Things have been super stressful thus far--mostly dealing with angry patients and their families. Plus reading the thread about "overpopulation" of rad oncs in the future has me worried about job prospects before I even start residency.
After matching at my dream program I've been living it up these last few months, but these last couple of weeks have been rough. I'm confident things will get better....but if not, rad onc residency is less than 12 months away🙂.

 

[medgator]

Passing orals is the best day of radonc!

Gotta agree. One of the most unnerving tests in my life. And once you pass it, you are good for awhile in terms of tests that matter

 

[Sheldor]

Add me to the list of interns off to a bumpy start. Things have been super stressful thus far--mostly dealing with angry patients and their families. Plus reading the thread about "overpopulation" of rad oncs in the future has me worried about job prospects before I even start residency.
After matching at my dream program I've been living it up these last few months, but these last couple of weeks have been rough. I'm confident things will get better....but if not, rad onc residency is less than 12 months away🙂.

Ya, I didn't mention the "overpopulation" threads, but it has definitely added to my stress too to have worked so hard toward something for so long and then read those threads making it seem like the work could have been for nought.

But like you said, less than 12 months!

 

[ramsesthenice]

Don't go there. There are issues with the job market but it's fluid. Five years from now who knows. If you dream is to live in a select place you are going to have issues no matter what your specialty is. Otherwise you will get a job, probobly a really good one. It's way too early to worry about that in any detail.