Coming to the end ...

[Doctor Bagel]

Just wanted to dedicate this thread (ha!) to all of us who are coming to end of the year and hopefully moving on to better things. With me, I'm finishing up my time in the primary call pool, doing my last Saturday call for hopefully a long damn time and certainly ending my time of spending about every other weekend working. I know others of you are graduating from residency/fellowships/medical school, finishing up internship, finishing up 3rd year of MS, etc.

While this year has been long and at times miserable, I've grown, learned and had valuable experiences. But I feel so relieved to be putting it behind me. How about you?

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[F0nzie]

Ditto! Today is my last Saturday call as well and last call for the rest of residency. So far it's a slow day, hopefully nobody will need a psych eval at 3am and I can sleep through the night. Also have a possible job lined up for 2013 that has no call. The future is definitely bright.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Ditto! Today is my last Saturday call as well and last call for the rest of residency. So far it's a slow day, hopefully nobody will need a psych eval at 3am and I can sleep through the night. Also have a possible job lined up for 2013 that has no call. The future is definitely bright.

Congratulations! I think one of the many great things about psychiatry is that it gets better. We hear in all these other specialties about attendings working more than residents, but that doesn't seem to happen here.

 

[vistaril]

Just wanted to dedicate this thread (ha!) to all of us who are coming to end of the year and hopefully moving on to better things. With me, I'm finishing up my time in the primary call pool, doing my last Saturday call for hopefully a long damn time and certainly ending my time of spending about every other weekend working.QUOTE]

so are you finishing up your second year or third? pgy-3 year, for me, wasnt as enjoyable as pgy-2 year. Yeah, there wasnt any call, but it's not the call as a pgy2 was crazy bad. the thing about pgy-3 year is that it seemed I was busy a lot during the day....whether it be med mgt, therapy pts, supervision, class, etc.....some days I always felt like I was constantly running behind. Glad it's over.

pgy-4, otoh, rocks at this program. you work in areas you enjoy, for basically as little or as much as you want.....there are no real clinical responsibilities, so if one feels they want to convert their pgy4 year to basically a moonlighting year, they can. Im planning on working in areas I really enjoy and want to gain more experience in, and then the rest of the time moonlight.....

 

[whopper]

My recommendations:

Don't pick your first attending job as if it's going to be permanent, and I've seen several clinical officers exploit new doctors. While I do believe that newer doctors can go through some (arguably) justifiable hazing and work harder like any new person does in a new organization, I've seen it gone to the level where I found it unacceptable.

Several people join a place not knowing that there's better out there. Many doctors work at a place and that place is all they know. Keep a good social circle of local doctors and keep your eyes out for better opportunities during the first few years.

While you progress in your job, you may feel the need to do something different. I know someone who did private practice for about ten years, got sick of it, and entered research. Don't think you're always going to be grounded.

Any job you pick, if you are not happy with it, give it some time. Things may come around, but after 6 months to a year, I wouldn't tolerate a job I didn't like especially since given our job market there will most definitely be something better out there. Just know what's out there before you decide to pull out. So you'll have a new job within a few days to weeks instead of months to years.

If you don't like your job and decide to leave, still continue to do good work. It's better for the patients and your good reputation will not be tarnished.

Residency is a time where you are ever-learning. Don't lose that. I've seen several doctors shut their minds off after residency. While we can learn at a more relaxed pace, at the very least read at least a journal article a week and keep track of things you can do better in your treatment. Always think if there was something you could've done better even in cases where there was no bad outcome you were aware of.

 

[beezley]

Tomorrow is my first official day of Chiefdom. I hope to enjoy my PGY-4 year, have fun with my colleagues and friends, learn more from the great faculty we have, be a good role model for my charges and get ready to move 500 miles away back to my hometown in a year. Have taken a job at a hospital owned OP clinic and am a little worried about not having all the professional guidance I have now.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Tomorrow is my first official day of Chiefdom. I hope to enjoy my PGY-4 year, have fun with my colleagues and friends, learn more from the great faculty we have, be a good role model for my charges and get ready to move 500 miles away back to my hometown in a year. Have taken a job at a hospital owned OP clinic and am a little worried about not having all the professional guidance I have now.

Wow--seems like just yesterday you were matching!

OPD's got a little job transition coming up soon, too. But that will be another thread, perhaps.

 

[Chrismander]

so happy to be coming to the end. graduation is tonight but i still have another week of work left. LAME.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

so happy to be coming to the end. graduation is tonight but i still have another week of work left. LAME.

Yeah, we had our graduation last Friday, so our grads were stuck with 2 weeks of work afterwards. Congrats!

 

[billypilgrim37]

Fellowship doesn't really start hurting until you're watching your buddies plan how they are going to spend their 150k paychecks while you're still making 50k.

 

[OldPsychDoc]

Yeah, we had our graduation last Friday, so our grads were stuck with 2 weeks of work afterwards. Congrats!

Training program failure: should be coaching PGY4s to save their vacation for June.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Fellowship doesn't really start hurting until you're watching your buddies plan how they are going to spend their 150k paychecks while you're still making 50k.

Only $150k! I'm being both serious and not here.

And OPD, vacation in June of 4th year -- I'll have to remember that. Goodness, I can't wait to be done with residency.

 

[billypilgrim37]

Only $150k! I'm being both serious and not here.

And OPD, vacation in June of 4th year -- I'll have to remember that. Goodness, I can't wait to be done with residency.

Many of us stay academic and local, and we work in a system that has no problems suppressing wages. If I stayed in research, it would be much less than even this. I tend to think the environment I work in is more indicative of the future than the private practice wonderland many of the rest of you live in. For our wages' sake, I hope I'm wrong.

My wife and I came from the lower middle class, and 150k sounds like a lot more to us than it does to most of you. She's a law student and plans to do public interest. We'll likely never clear 200k. We're perfectly happy with these decisions.

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Many of us stay academic and local, and we work in a system that has no problems suppressing wages. If I stayed in research, it would be much less than even this. I tend to think the environment I work in is more indicative of the future than the private practice wonderland many of the rest of you live in. For our wages' sake, I hope I'm wrong.

My wife and I came from the lower middle class, and 150k sounds like a lot more to us than it does to most of you. She's a law student and plans to do public interest. We'll likely never clear 200k. We're perfectly happy with these decisions.

Private practice wonderland -- hmm, I might view it that way. People apparently don't like working where we residents work because our faculty are all leaving in droves. And they're going to private practice work, and all reportedly all pretty darn happy (and maybe making more money), although money doesn't seem to the primary thing they're happier about. For me, private practice seems appealing because I'd get to do therapy (although as discussed in the therapy thread, you can maybe negotiate that in systems), and I'd have more control over my life, which residency is teaching me is something I value.

I'd also like to make $200k or so within a few years of graduating because I'd like to buy a $400k house (not really unreasonable in my market), go on some trips and go out to eat regularly (probably my main splurge currently) and maybe have a kid and pay for childcare and college. My parents made a combined salary of about $150k by the time I was in high school in a much cheaper real estate market, and I couldn't go to the college I wanted to because they couldn't afford it (and of course made too much money for me to get much in the way of financial assistance). So maybe I want a little more money some day. We certainly had a secure life, though, although by no means extravagant. 4 kids who all went to state school or private school with lots of scholarships, public high schools and whatnot, braces, yearly trips to places like California to visit family, and a new honda every few years. Not bad, but not wealthy either. With their income and lifestyle, they still probably wouldn't have enough saved for retirement if my dad didn't have a pension. Speaking of my income needs, I'd like to kind of maybe be able to fund save something at some point as well.

 

[F0nzie]

I'd like to buy a $400k house (not really unreasonable in my market), go on some trips and go out to eat regularly (probably my main splurge currently) and maybe have a kid and pay for childcare and college.

Sounds like the American dream to me. Soon to be reality.

 

[billypilgrim37]

None of your goals sound unreasonable. My family might have made 150k between my birth and my sixth or seventh birthday, so we come from different backgrounds. I had a full tuition scholarship to Duke, but my parents wouldn't let me take out loans for room and board (the amount scared them to death--it was maybe 7 or 8k?), and since I had a full ride plus cookies, rainbows, and unicorns to the flagship state school, I went there. There are probably folks on the board that had it a lot better than you and a lot worse than me (not that I would say I had it bad by any stretch--I had a great loving family and never went without anything). It looks like most of us turned out okay .

Now, back to the celebration of the changing of the guard...

 

[MDchouette]

Now, back to the celebration of the changing of the guard...

I'm happy to say goodbye to PGY2. I've learned a ton this year and really started to develop an identity as a psychiatrist, but wow, I am sick of inpatient psych. And, I can't wait to be half-time outpatient, as a pleasant surprise this year is how much I love doing psychotherapy. Moving from Q7 to Q15 will be nice, too!

Congrats to DoctorBagel, Fonzie, and all other residents on moving on to an easier and more rewarding year... and getting that much closer to being done with residency!

 

[Doctor Bagel]

I'm happy to say goodbye to PGY2. I've learned a ton this year and really started to develop an identity as a psychiatrist, but wow, I am sick of inpatient psych. And, I can't wait to be half-time outpatient, as a pleasant surprise this year is how much I love doing psychotherapy. Moving from Q7 to Q15 will be nice, too!

Congrats to DoctorBagel, Fonzie, and all other residents on moving on to an easier and more rewarding year... and getting that much closer to being done with residency!

One week left! And for me one Friday night call tomorrow. So far, I've got 2 Fridays and one 12 hour shift on a Saturday for the next 3 months, which is pretty awesome. That also includes covering for a resident absence, so it could even be better. I pretty much knew I didn't want to do inpatient psychiatry from about my 2nd month of inpatient (f course it was at the VA, which didn't help), so I'm not so surprised but also relieved to like psychotherapy so far. If I didn't, I think I might be pretty darn lost.

I'm also seeing the end of residency as a whole, which doesn't look too bad to me right now. Only 2 more years.

 

[beezley]

Good luck tomorrow night Dr. Bagel. Survived day 1 of chiefdom. Looking forward to when things calm a bit after the transition but we seem to have a good group, so that is nice. Why is my avatar so big?

 

[beezley]

Yes, it goes fast. Have enjoyed it. Looking forward to chief/4th year and moving back home.

 

[PistolPete]

Congrats to you all! Have to say I'm a bit nervous about starting residency next week... any wisdom for others in the same boat as me?!

 

[Doctor Bagel]

Congrats to you all! Have to say I'm a bit nervous about starting residency next week... any wisdom for others in the same boat as me?!

Show up, and be reasonably on time. Don't get in arguments with people who know more than you (which is most people right now). It's about as easy as that.