Just matched Peds, now what?

[adpimango]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hey everyone, I Just matched in Peds this year, and I wanted to know if anyone had any advice as far as gearing up for intern year, is there anything (books or otherwise) i can read or anything to do to help me start off as a mildly competent intern?

thanks!

 

[elwademd]

chill, relax, and unwind now before internship starts.

 

[DarthNeurology]

Hey everyone, I Just matched in Peds this year, and I wanted to know if anyone had any advice as far as gearing up for intern year, is there anything (books or otherwise) i can read or anything to do to help me start off as a mildly competent intern?

thanks!

Seriously, I would consider at least taking 2-3 weeks to take a vacation, which could be hiking and camping all the way to visiting another country if in anyway you feel like you need rest. I would recommend also "trophic reading" i.e. hospitalized NPO patients are given "trophic feeds" occassionally which are something like 5cc/hr of enteral nutrition, just enough to keep the gut active so it doesn't break down from disuse, . . . so maybe read 5-10 pages a night of Nelson's? That is 35-70 pages a week, and about 100-200 pages a month, . . .so between April, May, June you could have 300-600 pages read, better than nothing and I think it helps one to retain some of what you have learned in med school . . .

 

[zinjanthropus]

Seriously, I would consider at least taking 2-3 weeks to take a vacation, which could be hiking and camping all the way to visiting another country if in anyway you feel like you need rest. I would recommend also "trophic reading" i.e. hospitalized NPO patients are given "trophic feeds" occassionally which are something like 5cc/hr of enteral nutrition, just enough to keep the gut active so it doesn't break down from disuse, . . . so maybe read 5-10 pages a night of Nelson's? That is 35-70 pages a week, and about 100-200 pages a month, . . .so between April, May, June you could have 300-600 pages read, better than nothing and I think it helps one to retain some of what you have learned in med school . . .

ooh, i disagree - you are going to be reading Nelson's for the rest of your life just as I will be reading Tintinalli's and Rosen's. Spend your time reading novels or non-medical non-fiction - this may be your last chance for awhile.

 

[DarthNeurology]

ooh, i disagree - you are going to be reading Nelson's for the rest of your life just as I will be reading Tintinalli's and Rosen's. Spend your time reading novels or non-medical non-fiction - this may be your last chance for awhile.

Yeah, but 5 pages a day?? I think the person wants to minimize any problems starting residency . . . I think a little reading a day, i.e. 1 hour a day would help, . . . you could then spend another 12 hours reading a novel! Most residents I know when on a golden weekend don't do much reading anyway, good to get in a habit now

 

[MedGoatTX]

Ok 1 hour or so of reading a day probably isn't too far off from what most people will have time for as an actual resident. To think you need to do that three months before even starting residency is nuts. I just matched in peds as well, then I got out of town on Saturday. Go on a vacation, enjoy yourself and the rest of the year. By all means if you enjoy reading journals or some textbook, keep it up, but don't feel like you have to go out and buy Nelson's now just becase you matched a week ago.

Not to mention all the big textbooks are a lot of money, and not all programs use the same one. Plus many places will give you a book budget when you start this summer.

 

[DarthNeurology]

Ok 1 hour or so of reading a day probably isn't too far off from what most people will have time for as an actual resident. To think you need to do that three months before even starting residency is nuts. I just matched in peds as well, then I got out of town on Saturday. Go on a vacation, enjoy yourself and the rest of the year. By all means if you enjoy reading journals or some textbook, keep it up, but don't feel like you have to go out and buy Nelson's now just becase you matched a week ago.

Not to mention all the big textbooks are a lot of money, and not all programs use the same one. Plus many places will give you a book budget when you start this summer.

I think the best reading is stress-free uncoerced reading, i.e. reading generally about a topic of interest like a pediatric topic without an external stressor like studying for a board exam, if I was starting a peds residency I would probably be reading a moderate amount as this would be mostly stress free and would provide some good background information. I just ordered Nelson's on Amazon, and it was pretty cheap for a used version of the latest edition in good condition . . . for a textbook. Its not how fast you are going in a roller-coaster that makes it gut-wrenching, but rather the fast accelerations and decelerrations, I would rather have a study schedule down and being reading automatically so I didn't feel that I need to both start residency and start reading . . . Really, the most important I would do would be to go to the hospital one week before residency starts, and just shadow the teams for a couple hours a day to get the routine down, i.e. how to get blood when on-call, how to find radiology, caf, lab, order blood, . . . I think this would make it a smoother transition

 

[Tired]

Cover yourself in mucus and have someone scream directly into your ear, then practice smiling sincerely.

 

[gutonc]

Cover yourself in mucus and have someone scream directly into your ear, then practice smiling sincerely.

Best advice ever for preparing for intern year in pretty much any specialty.

After you do this once or twice, go out and get really drunk...stay that way until you have to move or show up for orientation. Read if you want, but only if you're loaded.

 

[oompaloompa]

Advice from a current peds intern-

For crying out loud, don't read! Go lay out on the beach, visit a foreign country, or at the very least spend some time with friends/family you'll neglect once intern year starts. It's possible that you've been in school for 21 straight years (I was) so you have no real concept that you will never have this little responsibility again. Do something only an itinerent 20-something could get away with, like backpacking across Asia or spending a week drunkenly floating down a river.

I do not say this because I don't think education for my job is important. It absolutely is. However, there is no book anywhere that is going help you ease into residency. This is because being an intern is not about medical knowledge (or not mostly anyway). It's about endurance and systems management. The intern that can push through that CT scan and maintain basic functionality 25 hours into call is infinitely more valuable to his team than someone who brings in 6 articles but signs out a ton of busywork. It really stressed me out in the beginning, but honestly if you read 20% of the crap they throw at you, than you're a stellar intern.

If you MUST read, then at least make it goal-directed so that you can make things easier for you later on. Study for Step 3 and take it before you start. Trust me, nothing during your intern year in a peds residency will help you with Step 3. I haven't given a single thought to most Int Med and Ob-Gyn topics in 2 years and now I have to relearn everything.

Anyway, I just hope that you enjoy your time before residency starts, no matter what you do. Also, don't take the whining of us current interns too seriously, we're pretty tired at this point of the year. But I still love my job. Congrats and welcome!

 

[Tired]

Best advice ever for preparing for intern year in pretty much any specialty.

No no, the surgical interns cover themselves in blood.

Medicine gets poo.

But yeah, other than that I guess it is pretty applicable to everyone.

 

[gutonc]

No no, the surgical interns cover themselves in blood.

Medicine gets poo.

But yeah, other than that I guess it is pretty applicable to everyone.

And OB gets.... Alright then, mucus for everybody! Except Rads and Gas...they get coffee.

 

[Winged Scapula]

And OB gets.... Alright then, mucus for everybody! Except Rads and Gas...they get coffee.

Nah...Gas gets plenty of mucus too.

 

[ekydrd]

chill, relax, and unwind now before internship starts.

Yeah, what elwa said!!!

 

[EtOHWithdrawal]

And OB gets.... Alright then, mucus for everybody! Except Rads and Gas...they get coffee.

Path - then you might need a trip to the butcher. See if they have any cow colons.