PGY-1

[ActionFigure]

do the PGY 1s here feel like they made progress this last academic year? do they feel like doctors?

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[deleted116380]

I feel like I've made progress in intern year and ask my senior residents for less assistance on both day and night shifts and prefer autonomy now. However, I still feel like a med student because I always have someone to report to and we have lectures for interns-only that feels like I'm still in school. Plus I'm going into rads this July so I'll feel like even less of a "normal" physician in that I won't have patients or write prescriptions and never had the desire for that. Exactly what I want.

 

[Bacchus]

Definitely have made progress but still run things by the senior, they prefer it that way.

 

[nlax30]

I still think the hardest transition was going from PGY-1 to PGY-2.

Being at an unopposed IM program where we're the only in-house physicians at night means we cover the units and run any codes/rapids on the floor. Once you're a PGY-2 you now may be the only "senior" on call are expected to supervise.

A big jump in responsibility and stress that was humbling to go through and something I constantly remind the interns about if they start to get complacent as not everyone handles that transition well.

 

[Raryn]

I think the biggest jump was in the first few months.

I thought I was pretty decent during my M4 subi and then had a bit to catch up when I started intern year a year later, but the difference between July and Oct/Nov was huge.

 

[KnuxNole]

do the PGY 1s here feel like they made progress this last academic year? do they feel like doctors?

I feel like there is progress compared to a medical student, and I do feel more of a doctor now than I've ever been. It is nice to see patients thanking you for taking care of them, which is a nice feeling. However, it's very hard to say how much progress was made, and more importantly, if it's enough.

Personally, I feel like the biggest idiot in my intern class. Everyone seems happy, not under any stress, and acting like it's easy with so much free time. For me, I find residency fun but DIFFICULT. Work long hours(12-16 hr days with every rotation), feeling like a dumb **** at least 1-2x a day, worrying if I'm not doing enough/should go faster/reading enough. I definitely don't feel comfortable being in a clinic without attendings to check out to...I'm sure patients would die if that would happen :O It also seems everyone has delivered a million babies, did pap smears like crazy, intubated a thousand patients, and did all these procedures as a student, whereas I have always been answering "No, I've never done that before in my life, but would love to learn". It is definitely a defeating feeling

 

[ActionFigure]

Do you ever walk into the patients room and they ask when is the doctor getting here cause it happens to me a lot, with nurses too

 

[colbgw02]

Do you ever walk into the patients room and they ask when is the doctor getting here cause it happens to me a lot, with nurses too

Don't be beta. Announce your presence with authority, like this guy...

 

[Bacchus]

Do you ever walk into the patients room and they ask when is the doctor getting here cause it happens to me a lot, with nurses too

I had an OB nurse refer to me as a student to her colleagues in addition to questioning me for a good solid 5 minutes about my orders.
1) I'm wearing a long coat that you can visualize. 2) I have D.O. clearly after my name on said coat and badge that you can see 3) Orders are only allowed by a provider, not a student 4) I've been here now 3 weeks as an off-service resident and worked with you multiple times.

Whatever, let the crap roll off your shoulders and move on. I'm upfront with patients about what a resident is: "Hi, I'm Dr. Bacchus and I'm with the <insert specialty> team. My supervising physician is Dr. Whomever. We'll see you as a team later, but I'm here to tentatively answer any questions you have and do anything for you before we come see you with the team. I'll let Dr. Whomever know whats going on in the meantime." This works well and doesn't create false expectations I've found.

 

[Top Gun]

I had an OB nurse refer to me as a student to her colleagues in addition to questioning me for a good solid 5 minutes about my orders.
1) I'm wearing a long coat that you can visualize. 2) I have D.O. clearly after my name on said coat and badge that you can see 3) Orders are only allowed by a provider, not a student 4) I've been here now 3 weeks as an off-service resident and worked with you multiple times.

You should tell her this. Don't be an a$$ about it, but be firm. You should tell her, "I am a resident, a physican in training, but a physician nevertheless. And I would appreciate it if in future you would stop referring to me as a student." Do not allow them to walk all over you or degrade you.

 

[shan564]

You should tell her this. Don't be an a$$ about it, but be firm. You should tell her, "I am a resident, a physican in training, but a physician nevertheless. And I would appreciate it if in future you would stop referring to me as a student." Do not allow them to walk all over you or degrade you.

I agree, although I generally use a more subtle approach. I usually say something like "I know that there are a lot of us rotating around, but a trick you can use is that the students are the ones in the short coats." Or "ha... I wish I was still a student... then I wouldn't have to do all of this paperwork and sort out all of these orders." You'd be surprised how many people are not aware of those basic things despite having worked in healthcare for several years. I had an experienced nurse recently send me a text page with something along the lines of "your student named (let's call her Jane Doe) put in this order... can you clarify?" I don't know why she decided that Jane Doe was a student, since that's obviously false - the patient was an ICU transfer, and the order was written by the ICU resident prior to the transfer.

Do you ever walk into the patients room and they ask when is the doctor getting here cause it happens to me a lot, with nurses too

There are a lot of people involved in a patient's care, so it's hard for them to figure out which is which. When I walk into a new patient's room, I'll always start by saying "Hi, my name is (first name, last name). I'm one of the doctors who will be looking after you." That allows me to tell them that I'm a doctor without using the pretentious-sounding "Hi, I'm Dr. (last name)." Then I'll usually try to clarify roles... if the attending is young, I'll usually say something like "Dr. Attending is the senior doctor on the team" so that they're sure that there's a senior doctor involved. If the attending is older, it's usually pretty obvious that he/she is the senior doctor.

 

[digitox]

Why is it pretentious to call yourself a doctor to a patient in a hospital?
If you are one.

 

[Winged Scapula]

Why is it pretentious to call yourself a doctor to a patient in a hospital?
If you are one.

I had the same question. I don't see anything wrong or pretentious in introducing yourself as a physician to a patient or colleague in the medical setting.

Patients are confused enough as it is. And especially for females I think it's important to establish caregiver roles to reduce confusion. It has nothing to do with being pretentious.

 

[nlax30]

Duplicate deleted

 

[shan564]

I guess I'm just hypersensitive or underconfident. I feel like calling myself "Dr. lastname" makes it seem like I have a special title like "Sir" or "Lord," while saying "my name is Firstname Lastname and I'm your doctor" still highlights my role in their care, but doesn't require me to give myself a title. I don't mind letting the patient call me Dr. Lastname (and they always figure out that they're supposed to do that), as long as I don't have to do it myself. I feel the same way about celebrating my own birthday... if other people figure it out and celebrate it for me, then I'll gladly partake, but if I actually invite people to come and celebrate it, I feel like I'm saying "hey everybody, come and prove to me that you care about my existence by celebrating the anniversary of my birth and giving me gifts."