I’m overwhelmed on my rotation, and I don’t know how to cope

[mairahorwwww]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hi everyone,

I’m currently a 4th year student. I’m only in my first week of this rotation and I’m already completely overwhelmed. I really need advice on how to handle this professionally while also protecting my mental health.

Two days a week, I’m required to attend plastic surgery cases, mostly breast reductions and other cases unrelated to podiatry. Next week there are multiple plastics cases, and there won’t be a single podiatry resident with me. Plastics has their own residents and honestly, they don’t care whether I’m there or not. I feel like an extra body who doesn’t belong, and it’s adding a ton of stress on top of boards coming up soon.

I asked the chief resident if I could focus more on podiatry cases or at least have more time to study. She said no, and explained that second-years also did plastics during boards season, but they’re paid residents. I’m an unpaid student. The expectation feels completely different for us.

Don’t get me wrong — the attendings are nice, and I genuinely like two of the residents. Unfortunately, they’re not the ones in charge of me.

The OR situation is especially confusing. Everything is double-scrubbed, even 15-minute soft tissue removals, so there’s barely any role for me. On day one I was told not to touch anything unless directly instructed. When I tried to help by handing back instruments to make the bed less crowded, I was told “don’t do anything” — and then seconds later the attending had to hand the tools back himself. If I tried to move dirty sponges out of the way, I’d get corrected again. But then I’d be criticized for not stepping in for something else. It feels impossible to know what’s acceptable.
It made me freeze, because I genuinely had no idea what I was allowed to touch.

Clinic hasn’t been better. There’s no guidance, but there’s constant criticism, often in a professional-but-sarcastic tone. It feels like no matter what I do, it’s wrong. I’ve never experienced this level of micromanagement on any other rotation.

Right now, I don’t feel like I’m learning, I’m not getting board studying done, and I’m overwhelmed to the point of panic attacks. I don’t think this program will rank me highly anyway, and honestly the environment is making me question whether I’d want to be here at all.

Thank you to anyone who reads this — I really need guidance right now.

 

[med2345]

welcome to what residency will be like.

When you’re starting your first year you’ll be basically doing everything wrong as you truly know nothing.
You’ll rotate on services you don’t care about, while studying for actually difficult exams like ABFAS. APMLE in hindsight is a joke.
I assisted in so many weird cases as a resident.
You’ll be a resident when students want to scrub in. You’ll be with another resident and probably an annoying student.
You’ll be told what to do and what not to do.
You’ll be controlled which probably won’t let up until you’re a senior, at most programs.


You described the everyday life as a resident essentially. Especially as an intern.
If you don’t like this it’s going to be a LONG 3 years for you.
Only 100x more tired and exhausted.

 

[mairahorwwww]

welcome to what residency will be like.

When you’re starting your first year you’ll be basically doing everything wrong as you truly know nothing.
You’ll rotate on services you don’t care about, while studying for actually difficult exams like ABFAS. APMLE in hindsight is a joke.
I assisted in so many weird cases as a resident.
You’ll be a resident when students want to scrub in. You’ll be with another resident and probably an annoying student.
You’ll be told what to do and what not to do.
You’ll be controlled which probably won’t let up until you’re a senior, at most programs.


You described the everyday life as a resident essentially. Especially as an intern.
If you don’t like this it’s going to be a LONG 3 years for you.
Only 100x more tired and exhausted.

Thank you for sharing your perspective — I genuinely appreciate it, and I really do understand what you mean. I know residency is exhausting. I know interns are constantly corrected, pushed hard, rotated on services they don’t care about, and juggling responsibilities they barely have time to breathe through. And when I’m a resident, I’m prepared to do all of that. I know that’s part of the job.


But right now… I’m still just a fourth-year student. I’m not paid, I’m not part of the call schedule, and I’m not responsible for coverage. I’m here to learn podiatry and prepare for boards — because if I don’t pass them, I won’t match anywhere. That’s the reality I’m facing.


And these plastics cases, the breast reductions, and the unrelated services aren’t helping me build toward that goal. They’re pulling time away from studying and putting me in situations where I’m not learning, not being taught, and not even allowed to participate in simple tasks. Emotionally, it’s incredibly draining to stand in the OR being told “don’t do anything,” then corrected again moments later for something else.


I want to be clear about one thing: I know this is resident life. I know that as an intern, I’ll have to do things I don’t like or don’t care about, and I will do them because that’s my responsibility.
But this is NOT the experience fourth-year students are supposed to have.


I have never heard of any other student being expected to function like this — rotating on unrelated surgical services with no resident support, having zero role in the OR, and being constantly corrected without any teaching. It doesn’t feel like “preparing me for residency”; it feels more like I’m being set up to fail at the one thing that actually determines my future right now: passing boards.

And emotionally, it’s hard. I actually like the attendings here. I even really like two of the residents. But they’re not the ones directing me, and the person who is has made the environment confusing and overwhelming. Knowing this program likely won’t rank me makes it even harder to justify sacrificing hours and hours that I desperately need for studying.


It’s not that I don’t want to work hard — I absolutely do. I’m just scared. Scared of falling behind. Scared of not passing boards. Scared of wasting my time on things that don’t help me grow and don’t help me match.


I’m trying my best to stay professional, but this situation hasn’t felt anything like what a fourth-year rotation is supposed to be, and that’s why I’m struggling so much.

 

[heybrother]

When I was a student, if you did a longer clerkship/core at West Penn you had to do a plastics rotation for like 2 weeks. During that time, you were also expected to participate in any podiatry academics/events that were going on. The first fellow I was with was very chill - they seemed to recognize that I wasn't from the town, that I had no real resources of money or family or help, that I was driving from the opposite side of town, that I needed to eat, do laundry etc. They were then rapidly replaced by a new fellow who was not chill. The hours had been long before ie. often till midnight. The hours then became insanely brutal. He wanted me to stay for cases that were call/ open hand traumas going until 2-4 am and then cover a clinic at 7am the next morning. The hours only improved because the plastics attending told the fellow that he was f&*(ing useless to him because people who stay up until 4am aren't lucid and useful in an elective plastics clinic. They did allow me to help in cases and I was told I was doing a good job by the attendings - especially on helping hand cases which are obviously relevant and similar to foot cases. I had no opportunity or time at all for reading (never left the OR, some might like that) though I was never really pimped. The fellow was pimped a lot. It was interesting to me that the residents rested/took time/slipped off when they needed it, but as a student I was simply handed person to person often from 5:30 am to midnight and beyond.

There's a thread over on Reddit about how to tolerate toxic people on rotations. It might be relevant to you. I think people reading this are either going to sympathize with you or tell you to cowboy up because they went through it. My residency expected a lot of me, but it was not anywhere as physically rigorous as my brief time on plastics.

What I will simply tell you is - this too shall pass. Survive. Move on. Time will heal your wounds. I somewhat look back on my brief plastics rotation as a brutal interval of interesting cases. I in fact remember my time on plastics more fondly then I remember my time on podiatry. It will end.

This doesn't help you, but the simple truth is your story should be an incentive to students to use the whole of the year for studying and preparation because there may be a month where you never actually get to take any time for yourself.

 

[Retrograde_Nail]

I felt the same way on every off service rotation. You are just there. Forget what the other residents or attendings think about you. They are not there for you. They do not want to really teach you. You are just there because their program made an agreement with the podiatry school you came from. Try and absorb as many pieces of knowledge as you can. You can pick up a lot of tips and tricks in surgery from different specialties that you would never be exposed to if you just did podiatry rotations alone. So look at it from that perspective. Just pay attention. Even if you are not doing anything. You can still learn.

Study enough to not kill anyone and to stay afloat. But you will never be on par with the residents or even the MD/DO medical students who might be on rotation too. Their knowledge base is much better than the podiatry student. Those are the facts. Just accept that and do the best you can.

 

[mairahorwwww]

I felt the same way on every off service rotation. You are just there. Forget what the other residents or attendings think about you. They are not there for you. They do not want to really teach you. You are just there because their program made an agreement with the podiatry school you came from. Try and absorb as many pieces of knowledge as you can. You can pick up a lot of tips and tricks in surgery from different specialties that you would never be exposed to if you just did podiatry rotations alone. So look at it from that perspective. Just pay attention. Even if you are not doing anything. You can still learn.

Study enough to not kill anyone and to stay afloat. But you will never be on par with the residents or even the MD/DO medical students who might be on rotation too. Their knowledge base is much better than the podiatry student. Those are the facts. Just accept that and do the best you can.

Thank you for your reply!! However, I’m a fourth-year student with boards in less than a month, and I’ve talked to so many classmates — none of them are being put on unrelated services with no podiatry resident, no role in the OR, and no flexibility to study right before boards. I tried explaining this, and the resident still said no.

I’m not trying to avoid work. I’m just genuinely overwhelmed. This rotation feels different — not just hard, but confusing and discouraging. I’m losing precious study time on cases that don’t relate to podiatry at all, and it’s making me feel like I’m drowning.

I can handle tough rotations, but this situation doesn’t feel normal for a fourth-year, and that’s why I’m struggling so much.

 

[FutureDPM123]

It sounds like you don’t like the program, so why care? Don’t show up, no one ever actually fails a clerkship

 

[heybrother]

It sounds like you don’t like the program, so why care? Don’t show up, no one ever actually fails a clerkship

I would write to your school and ask to quit the rotation before I'd just not show up.

 

[iridocyclitiss]

I mean if you’ve already complained to the chief I don’t think you’re getting this place anyways. I hate complaining. Focus on getting the most out of it including studying when you can. Keep your head down. This will make you better