Help! CA-1's please tell me next year is better than internship!!!

[MSfour]

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I am 2 months into my medicine internship and am HATING LIFE. I am set to go to an excellent gas program next year however am starting to question my entire commitment to medicine. Please tell me next year is better!!!! I need something to keep me going these next 10 hellish months.

 

[sean wilson]

Just hang in there until June and you'll be well rewarded. Internship was something I despised, too, along with nearly everyone else in anesthesiology.

 

[powermd]

I am 2 months into my medicine internship and am HATING LIFE. I am set to go to an excellent gas program next year however am starting to question my entire commitment to medicine. Please tell me next year is better!!!! I need something to keep me going these next 10 hellish months.

Please read this thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=156419

I pretty much wrote exactly what you just said about 6 months into my internship (yes, the first two months were pretty miserable too). Anesthesiology has been a million times better!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Some words of encouragement- this is what awaits you:

NO MORE SCUTWORK! NO MORE ROUNDING! NO MORE PHONE CALLS FROM STUPIDASS NURSES DEMANDING A COLACE ORDER RE-WRITE AT 3 AM! NO MORE "THE PATIENT PULLED OUT HIS IV/NGT/ETT/FOLEY DOCTOR, COME DEAL WITH IT". NO MORE 'WE HAVE AN ADMISSION FOR YOU IN THE ER'. NO MORE 6 DAY WEEKS. NO MORE SICK-AS-F*CK PATIENTS WITH TOO MANY DISEASES AND TOO FEW YEARS LEFT TO BOTHER DOING ANYTHING EXCEPT BABYSITTING THEM WITH A HOSPITAL BED, A DAILY NOTE, AND A NIGHTLY DOSE OF HALDOL, AND A POSEY ORDER! NO MORE SELLING PATIENTS ON DNR/DNI!

As an anesthesiology resident you will revisit some of these annoying scenarios again (in the ICU, on pain, etc), but not in the general ORs. Some of the major benefits of being a CA-1: I have my life back. I feel like a person again. We get up early, and often work 10-12 hour days, but having mostly free weekends, and few call days balances that out very well. Anesthetizing people is just plain fun, if terrifying at times. Successfully managing terrifying situations leads to feeling greatly rewarded. Relationships with patients are great. Surgeons can be very cool people, most of the time. I have fun and interesting colleagues that like to socialize. Your techniques may be similar from case to case, but there is a lot of variety between cases, and you never know exactly what to expect. That keeps you on your toes and motivates you to be prepared for anything.

One piece of advice- learn medicine as well as you can, that's what separates an anesthetist from an anesthesiologist. Don't worry about learning anesthesia until you get there.

 

[VolatileAgent]

One piece of advice- learn medicine as well as you can, that's what separates an anesthetist from an anesthesiologist.

amen, brother.

 

[undecided05]

I actually kind of like selling them the idea of DNR/DNI... not that I get pleasure out of it, but you get the picture.

 

[Lonestar]

Dude,
just bite a bullet and finish your intern year. I am a CA 1 now and after the intial scare, I am loving life now. Every day, I keep getting better and better at what I am doing. Oh and the life is not too bad. 4-5 calls per month, two weekends completely free, and averaging 60 hrs/wk. On top of that i get a sense of accomplishment everyday I am in the OR. The feeling that you have contributed to someone's wellbeing through one of the most anxiety filled times of a person's life is priceless. With that sense of accomplishment and time off to spend time with your friends and family is what is waiting for you next year. Just hang in there. 🙂

 

[powermd]

I actually kind of like selling them the idea of DNR/DNI... not that I get pleasure out of it, but you get the picture.

Selling them on DNR/DNI has nothing on an all-out withdrawal of care order! Hello morphine drip. Bye-bye blood draws, x-rays, antibiotics... pressors... v.i..t...a...l..... s......i......g.....n....... s..................................

I banked five of those in my internship.

 

[militarymd]

One piece of advice- learn medicine as well as you can, that's what separates an anesthetist from an anesthesiologist.

Don't ever forget this quote.... Many anesthesiologists have forgotten this.

 

[Mman]

I am 2 months into my medicine internship and am HATING LIFE. I am set to go to an excellent gas program next year however am starting to question my entire commitment to medicine. Please tell me next year is better!!!! I need something to keep me going these next 10 hellish months.

As a fellow intern I feel your pain. But it's not that bad. Only 10 more months and then 3 years of a much more enjoyable residency program with a much better lifestyle. Besides when things get crappy, I remember they are at least paying me to be there. Sure beats crappy days as a student when I was paying a ton of cash to be there.

Also, they can't stop the clock. I'm amazed 2 months are already behind me.

 

[ThinkFast007]

..... You had 365 days of vacation during your fourth-year of med school, and now it's time for 365 days of work (minus one month of vacation). .

F F F F....I guess planning on taking two ICU rotations for my fourth year (one SICU and one MICU) wasnt the greatest idea. Lol...maybe copared to that intern year will be an ease for me.....somehow I highly doubt that now. 😎

 

[Carm]

Can't wait to start learning the finer points of what I will be doing for the rest of my life. Trying to make what I can out of internship for now though. It is really not that bad. The hard part is just trying to find the most useful info on each rotation to our careers later. This year is definitely making my decision to go into aneshtesia feel like the right one 100%.

I think that the key to surviving some of the more unpleasant months (IM) is to just remember that we are doctors now. Sometimes I think I take for granted that I have finally become what I always dreamed of. Any little bit that you can glean from the rotation you are on will make you a better physician for your patients in the future. I guess all of this is easy for me to say this month b/c I am in the PICU with very few pts working shifts. Maybe I should have written this a month ago on my surgery rotation. Probably would have gotten a different perspective from me.

Keep truckin to all the interns! We are almost 1/4 of the way home.