I think I suck at my job

[rule out normal]

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I ask the upper level way more questions about plans, etc. than the other intern on my team. Anyone else going through this?

 

[Perrotfish]

I ask the upper level way more questions about plans, etc. than the other intern on my team. Anyone else going through this?

One of the many thousands of ways that residency abuses you is that they deliberately avoid giving you any context that might reassure you about your job security. You already know that you're not getting any of the crystal clear feedback of school: there are no grades, scores, and no class ranks. However because this is basically pass/fail there is also none of the feedback that you get a normal job: There are no bonuses, no raises, no promotions, and because there are none of those things the feedback you get is never helpful. I mean, it might be helpful in terms of helping you figure out which weak areas you need to focus on, but its deliberately not helpful in terms of figuring out how well you're doing relative to everyone else. Unlike a real employee who can get a 'glowing' review, for the purposes of retention/promotion, feedback in residency comes in just two flavors: 'work on these problems' and, very rarely 'your problems necessitate institutional action'.

So, basically, I don't know if you're worse than the other Interns on your team. You might be the best Intern, the only person with enough knowledge and motivation to ask pertinent questions. You might be an average Intern and just a little more comfortable in your own skin than everyone else, so you ask the questions everyone else thinks. And you might be the F- up. The point is you don't know. And you never will unless and until someone pulls you aside and starts you down the formal path to terminating your residency.

So until then, ask for frequent feedback (weekly, in person), and try to improve on whatever they tell you is wrong. Work your hardest and read on your patients at night. And don't get caught up trying to figure out if you're better or worse than the other Interns because you're not getting an answer.

 

[Siggy]

I ask the upper level way more questions about plans, etc. than the other intern on my team. Anyone else going through this?

Yep, and I'd rather titrate up what I'm willing to do on my own and ask tons of questions (Even if it's a quick, "The patient has ___, can I give ____.") than end up a part of an M&M. We're just over a week into July, no reason to be a cowboy at this point.

 

[deleted116380]

I remember asking a lot of questions my first couple weeks to my senior to double-check. It diminished with time and I basically didn't have many questions by the end of intern year and was more independent.

 

[HooliganSnail]

I had a similar experience on my anesthesia rotation (this is while I was still a medical student). Since I am EM, Anesthesia was an important rotation for me because we deal with airways so often in the ED. If realized two things during this roto.

1. If you really want to learn the in's and out's of something you need to ask questions, but the moment you start asking questions you will reveal just how ignorant you are about a subject
2. Most people will avoid asking questions because of the above reason.

The catch is that when you ask a ton of questions, you start to learn stuff very quickly. If you don't, then you walk off with the impression that you learned something when really you never did.

I think that it is really good that you are asking tons of questions. It shows your engaged, teachable, and that you understand that you do not know everything. We just started residency, they expect us not to know anything and to ask lots of questions. The problem will be if you still don't know basic stuff at the end of intern year........

 

[Weinberg Angle]

...

 

[Top Gun]

You should've asked questions during MS 3/4. Now it is too late. Use uptodate. I mean, what the hell types of questions are you asking anyways. It is all on google and uptodate and pocket medicine.

Um, seriously??? Hope you're using satire here. No it is not too late to ask questions this early in intern year. At this point, its better to ask first than to do something on your own and end up killing the patient. And what you learn in med school is a drop in the bucket compared to what you'll learn in residency. If you're the intern who thinks s/he knows everything this early in July and never asks questions, then you're probably the most dangerous intern in the hospital right now.

 

[DermViser]

You should've asked questions during MS 3/4. Now it is too late. Use uptodate. I mean, what the hell types of questions are you asking anyways. It is all on google and uptodate and pocket medicine.

You're on Probation and are on thin ice. Tread carefully.

 

[nlax30]

I don't have a problem with somebody asking a lot of questions, assuming they have at least put some thought into the answer before asking. I would have a problem though with somebody asking questions because they're too lazy to at least attempt to find it themselves.