Rad residents EXTREMELY negative during shadowing

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SusGob711

SusGob711

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The two rad residents I was placed with systematically broke my spirit, haha. They went on and on and on about all that is wrong with medicine and how ANY career would be better. To be honest, I was really disappointed and disheartened by their bitterness. The attendings I hung around seemed to be pretty content and actually happy with their jobs--I'm not sure whether to take them seriously or laugh them off. No doubt medicine has flaws but this was the first day, actually the first twenty minutes, we were introduced. I know residency wasn't built out of candy canes and popsicles but seriously?? 😕
 
Do you care? I mean, you're not there to have your mind changed.
 
This is selection sample bias. They either became a doc specifically because they wanted to do rads (easy job, tons of money, prestige) and it didn't live up to their dreams, or they discovered they hated medicine late in the game and went into rads to avoid having to interact with patients. I'm not saying all or even most radiologists are like that, of course. Either way, shadow an oncologist or pediatrician sometime.
 
Or a radiation oncologist!
 
SusGob711 said:
The two rad residents I was placed with systematically broke my spirit, haha. They went on and on and on about all that is wrong with medicine and how ANY career would be better. To be honest, I was really disappointed and disheartened by their bitterness. The attendings I hung around seemed to be pretty content and actually happy with their jobs--I'm not sure whether to take them seriously or laugh them off. No doubt medicine has flaws but this was the first day, actually the first twenty minutes, we were introduced. I know residency wasn't built out of candy canes and popsicles but seriously?? 😕
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The best thing you can do is to take at least a year off after undergrad. Medicine might not always be sunshine, rainbows, and puppy dogs, but if you have real world experience and understand that most jobs suck, and that overtime most people grow to hate their jobs, albeit to varying degrees, you might be less likely to become jaded later on in life. If you see these residents again, ask them if they took time off. For that matter, ask all residents you see if they took time off, and most of them will fall into two groups: 'I took time off and I'm glad I did' or 'I didn't take time off, but I wish I did'
 
morning said:
This is selection sample bias. They either became a doc specifically because they wanted to do rads (easy job, tons of money, prestige) and it didn't live up to their dreams, or they discovered they hated medicine late in the game and went into rads to avoid having to interact with patients. I'm not saying all or even most radiologists are like that, of course. Either way, shadow an oncologist or pediatrician sometime.
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Or they could have just been having a bad day.... People choose Radiology for more than just the money/hours or the lack of patient interaction. Once you get to medical school you may start to realize this.

I guarantee you catch a pediatric resident or oncology fellow on a bad day and you may hear the same exact things.
 
I think some people make their own unhappiness and will find a way to hate their life no matter what they do; similarly, some people make their own happiness and will find a way to enjoy whatever they go into.

Every job has its pros and cons; people don't like hearing it, but I feel that whether or not you are happy is often a decision that you make, consciously or unconsciously.
 
deuce924 said:
Or they could have just been having a bad day.... People choose Radiology for more than just the money/hours or the lack of patient interaction. Once you get to medical school you may start to realize this.

I guarantee you catch a pediatric resident or oncology fellow on a bad day and you may hear the same exact things.
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My post was a whopping 4 sentences long and one of those sentences was a disclaimer you apparently did not read at all.
 
morning said:
This is selection sample bias. They either became a doc specifically because they wanted to do rads (easy job, tons of money, prestige) and it didn't live up to their dreams, or they discovered they hated medicine late in the game and went into rads to avoid having to interact with patients. I'm not saying all or even most radiologists are like that, of course. Either way, shadow an oncologist or pediatrician sometime.
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Huh?
 
morning said:
My post was a whopping 4 sentences long and one of those sentences was a disclaimer you apparently did not read at all.
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I did read it but by that point I was annoyed by your over-thinking biostatistics of a simple interaction between 2 residents and a student.
 
^ That's a pretty ironic combination of avatar + smilie.
 
deuce924 said:
I did read it but by that point I was annoyed by your over-thinking biostatistics of a simple interaction between 2 residents and a student.
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That's okay. I just get totally frustrated with this whole MEDICINE IS AWFUL DON'T DO IT!! bs. And I don't think rads (or derm, or rad-onc, or opthamology) is necessarily an easy or cushy job, it's just a prevalent mindset among pre-meds that I think can easily lead them astray and turn them into tomorrow's bitter residents.
 
They may have been tired.
They may have gone into radiology because they don't like interacting with patients very much. They may be intelligent but not very in to the do-gooder side of medicine. In that case, any type of medicine (including radiology) could become onerous for them.

Medicine is a pretty cool job, but the hours are way, way worse than most other jobs. Even for radiology residents and radiologists...
you can find some bitter IM, fp and pediatrics folks as well. It's hard to find a bitter dermatologist, though...LOL!
 
morning said:
That's okay. I just get totally frustrated with this whole MEDICINE IS AWFUL DON'T DO IT!! bs. And I don't think rads (or derm, or rad-onc, or opthamology) is necessarily an easy or cushy job, it's just a prevalent mindset among pre-meds that I think can easily lead them astray and turn them into tomorrow's bitter residents.
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Agreed.
 
They sound like whiney ass b1tches to me.
 
Today was my first day so I will be curious to see what the rest of the week entails. I know residents work harder, are paid less, and are underappreciated but I just hope I don't end up as seemingly better as they are 🙁
 
I agree with the person who said they were having a bad day (most likely). Residents are put under a lot of strain and I've had several conversations with a few who have told me that if I caught them on some days they'd beg me not to do it. Its just a gauntlet that we're all going to have to go through... I think a rational conclusion would be that in medicine there are going to be highs and lows, and at certain points in your career it'll be more of one than the other.
 
These questions will probably help you understand why you experienced this.

If you studied your ass off for years and then landed a minimum wage job where you work like a dog how would you feel?


If you are now making a lot of money and have a lot better hours and "on top" in the hierarchy, how would you feel?
 
I've never met a particularly upbeat resident physician of any kind.
 
dragonfly99 said:
...
Medicine is a pretty cool job, but the hours are way, way worse than most other jobs. ...
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Agreed. I think folks in pre-allo are too much at the "I can't wait" end of the spectrum, and the best thing they can perceive is some of this tough love. Medicine isn't bad, but residency is a tough pill to swallow for most. You work crazy long hours for minimal pay. If you didn't think it was bad at least some of the time, there would be something very wrong with you.
 
Lol.. is this a troll? I've never met an unhappy diagnostic radiologist resident. They have super easy hours, and will have cushy jobs awaiting them in just a few short years.

Oh noes, I have to sit in the dark all day (by that I mean 8-4 4d/wk), and count my money.
 
GoSpursGo said:
I think some people make their own unhappiness and will find a way to hate their life no matter what they do; similarly, some people make their own happiness and will find a way to enjoy whatever they go into.

Every job has its pros and cons; people don't like hearing it, but I feel that whether or not you are happy is often a decision that you make, consciously or unconsciously.
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This

ILikeDrugs said:
They sound like whiney ass b1tches to me.
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and LOL definitely THIS!
 
fahimaz7 said:
Lol.. is this a troll? I've never met an unhappy diagnostic radiologist resident. They have super easy hours, and will have cushy jobs awaiting them in just a few short years.
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I wish I was making this up--that's why I am so surprised by what I found at this hospital. But keep in mind that EVERY specialty has it's negatives and EVERY specialty has those people that make everyone else miserable. Btw...these residents work ~8AM-4:30PM. I think the attendings work more than they do, lol.
 
Law2Doc said:
Average hours for a diagnostic radiologist are still over 60 hours/week ...
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Not in private practice. Honestly, the guys that I know in private practice work ~150 days/year. If they want to work more, they have that option as well, since the other partners are much more interested in spending the money that they get.

The radiologists that are at major teaching hospitals, have to work a lot more, and tend to be a lot more frustrated with the system. I can't blame them either, since the ones that I know left a private setting, where they made more and worked less. But, they get a killer retirement package as a state employee.
 
SusGob711 said:
I wish I was making this up--that's why I am so surprised by what I found at this hospital. But keep in mind that EVERY specialty has it's negatives and EVERY specialty has those people that make everyone else miserable. Btw...these residents work ~8AM-4:30PM. I think the attendings work more than they do, lol.
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8am-4:30 is a joke during residency. Imagine that guy crying to the general surgeon resident, that shows up at 5am and leaves at 10pm, with call every 3 nights.
 
OP, imagine all the times you have complained about being a pre-med and how high schoolers would feel listening to you. People have their ****ty days. It just happens that residents probably experience them a lot more frequently than everyone else.
 
Law2Doc said:
Average hours for a diagnostic radiologist are still over 60 hours/week ...
Click to expand...

Need to see some data on that.

fahimaz7 said:
Not in private practice. Honestly, the guys that I know in private practice work ~150 days/year. If they want to work more, they have that option as well, since the other partners are much more interested in spending the money that they get.

The radiologists that are at major teaching hospitals, have to work a lot more, and tend to be a lot more frustrated with the system. I can't blame them either, since the ones that I know left a private setting, where they made more and worked less. But, they get a killer retirement package as a state employee.
Click to expand...

I know a bunch of private practice radiologists, and this is exactly what I have seen.
 
http://www.ajronline.org/cgi/content/full/193/4/1136 shows an article based on 2007 surveys which puts the average number of hours worked by radiologists around 50 (25th percentile is 45 and 75th percentile is 55) but it might not be limited to just rad diagnostics and has an n of 487.
 
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Yeah in my experience even at a busy academic center, radiology is real dead come 5 pm.

The thing is, though, call as a radiology resident SUCKS.

You don't have it as often as a surgery resident, but you're a lot more busy doing it, because you're reading all the imaging coming through the hospital at night by yourself (depending on how big the institution is) and there's no letup. Taking care of the floor as a surgery resident is more ebb/flow and a lot of the problems aren't serious.
 
WNT Signaling said:
The best thing you can do is to take at least a year off after undergrad. Medicine might not always be sunshine, rainbows, and puppy dogs, but if you have real world experience and understand that most jobs suck, and that overtime most people grow to hate their jobs, albeit to varying degrees, you might be less likely to become jaded later on in life. If you see these residents again, ask them if they took time off. For that matter, ask all residents you see if they took time off, and most of them will fall into two groups: 'I took time off and I'm glad I did' or 'I didn't take time off, but I wish I did'
Click to expand...


I agree with this statement. Most docs don't know what it's like to pull engines in 100 degree weather and then have customers come in and bitch about the labor costs. Most docs don't know what it's like to get into work at 9am on a Monday and start counting the hours till Friday rolls around. I took a lot of time off before med school (worked odd jobs ie mechanic and held careers as well) and found med school to be infinitely more interesting. While working my first career, I felt as if I knew everything about my job within one year- it was very un-fulfilling. Every single day was the same thing over and over and over again. Medicine on the other hand, no two days have been the same.
 
At work the other day, a resident told me to buy 200,000 lottery tickets with the 200k I will be in debt.

I'm thinking about it.... lol
 
basupran said:
I agree with this statement. Most docs don't know what it's like to pull engines in 100 degree weather and then have customers come in and bitch about the labor costs. Most docs don't know what it's like to get into work at 9am on a Monday and start counting the hours till Friday rolls around. I took a lot of time off before med school (worked odd jobs ie mechanic and held careers as well) and found med school to be infinitely more interesting. While working my first career, I felt as if I knew everything about my job within one year- it was very un-fulfilling. Every single day was the same thing over and over and over again. Medicine on the other hand, no two days have been the same.
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It's not a great feeling, and I have a cushy desk job. At least I get to start the day with SDN 😀
 
TooMuchResearch said:
It's not a great feeling, and I have a cushy desk job. At least I get to start the day with SDN 😀
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So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.
 
basupran said:
... what it's like to get into work at 9am on a Monday and start counting the hours till Friday....
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THIS. Working a job where I count down the hours from 9am to 5pm would be my nightmare. I would rather be bone-tired and underpaid -- but doing something challenging and meaningful -- than working just for the sake of not getting fired.

(is writing this from lab at 11pm).
 
ArkansasRanger said:
I've never met a particularly upbeat resident physician of any kind.
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Really? Maybe I just have selection bias because I'm from the sunny south 😀

I talked to a couple Peds residents a little while ago and they seemed to love their job. One of them did mention that she was tired of moving every 4 years and was ready to have a house with a picket fence and a dog, but that was only a couple years away.

Rads resident I met was pretty upbeat too, could hardly contain himself from telling me about the MRI he was reading.
 
Trexate said:
So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.
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office space FTW
 
Trexate said:
So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.
Click to expand...

that's messed up, man.
 
Trexate said:
So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.
Click to expand...


😆
 
SusGob711 said:
The two rad residents I was placed with systematically broke my spirit, haha. They went on and on and on about all that is wrong with medicine and how ANY career would be better. To be honest, I was really disappointed and disheartened by their bitterness. The attendings I hung around seemed to be pretty content and actually happy with their jobs--I'm not sure whether to take them seriously or laugh them off. No doubt medicine has flaws but this was the first day, actually the first twenty minutes, we were introduced. I know residency wasn't built out of candy canes and popsicles but seriously?? 😕
Click to expand...

I find there is a great deal of cynicism in medicine. It is probably not going to be worth it 😀
 
Trexate said:
So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.
Click to expand...

Great movie.....
 
Well I just finished my second day and needless to say...it was actually worse. I'm so concerned about said resident I almost want to talk to his attending. He's going on and on about how much easier his life would be if his patients would just have the courtesy to die. I also caught several colorful swear words (which isn't so bad by itself) and what I thought to be a racial slur. He was also blatantly disrespectful to collaborative department techs, etc.

Anyways, I took the time to talk to several attendings and they definately allayed my fears. He said residency sucks for everyone and that in fact the residents didn't know how good they have it. And to the 'bad day excuse' posters...I would NEVER talk someone out of doing pre-med just because it sucks sometimes--no matter how bad of a day I am having...
 
startswithb said:
that's from a movie? 🙁 I thought it was hilarious but now I just feel cheap.
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Its from Office Space:

Peter Gibbons: So I was sitting in my cubicle today, and I realized, ever since I started working, every single day of my life has been worse than the day before it. So that means that every single day that you see me, that's on the worst day of my life.
Dr. Swanson: What about today? Is today the worst day of your life?
Peter Gibbons: Yeah.
Dr. Swanson: Wow, that's messed up.
 
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