Radiology resident in trouble

[Zsuppi]

Hi!

(This is my first post, and i'm not a native english speaker so sorry for the mistakes i might make, while writing this.)

So here is my story in a nutshell:
I graduated roughly 3 years ago. I live in Central-Europe.
During medschool i was quite uncertain about which specialty i want to pursue, but i realised during the university that i really dislike Internal medicine (non-compliant patiens, drugs that don't really help, endless rounding, really old and sick patients), so i got depressed and a little burned out.
I started to question whether medicine is right for me, or not.
I like procedures but i am not a "surgeon type" i mean, well they tend to be a little to agressive for me so, i ruled out general surgery. Moreover i lost so many significant friends because of med school, that i didn't want to dedicate my life for medicine, and to marry to the hospital like some of the attendings or professors i met during the years.
I wanted to do pediatrics at first, but like in internal medicine i thought that the emotional stress what working with childern would cause, eventually would take its toll on me.
I don't really like emergencies, i need some time before i act.
So eventually i picked radiology because i loved and still love anatomy, the detalis, and also the technological aspects of the field.
The problem is, since the beginning of my residency i have been feeling depressed casue i feel my work is useless. Clinicans **** on my reports, attending **** on me, and this point i am just really, really lost.
Also i don't feel like i am helping which is kind of depressing. After all, i applied to med school because i wanted to help.
I don't really know what to do right now:S I got 2 years left from residency, i will be 29 years old by the time i finish. Should i just go on hoping that one day it will get better? (Job satisfaction means more to me than making a bank.)

Any advice and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

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[Naijaba]

Hi!

(This is my first post, and i'm not a native english speaker so sorry for the mistakes i might make, while writing this.)

So here is my story in a nutshell:
I graduated roughly 3 years ago. I live in Central-Europe.
During medschool i was quite uncertain about which specialty i want to pursue, but i realised during the university that i really dislike Internal medicine (non-compliant patiens, drugs that don't really help, endless rounding, really old and sick patients), so i got depressed and a little burned out.
I started to question whether medicine is right for me, or not.
I like procedures but i am not a "surgeon type" i mean, well they tend to be a little to agressive for me so, i ruled out general surgery. Moreover i lost so many significant friends because of med school, that i didn't want to dedicate my life for medicine, and to marry to the hospital like some of the attendings or professors i met during the years.
I wanted to do pediatrics at first, but like in internal medicine i thought that the emotional stress what working with childern would cause, eventually would take its toll on me.
I don't really like emergencies, i need some time before i act.
So eventually i picked radiology because i loved and still love anatomy, the detalis, and also the technological aspects of the field.
The problem is, since the beginning of my residency i have been feeling depressed casue i feel my work is useless. Clinicans **** on my reports, attending **** on me, and this point i am just really, really lost.
Also i don't feel like i am helping which is kind of depressing. After all, i applied to med school because i wanted to help.
I don't really know what to do right now:S I got 2 years left from residency, i will be 29 years old by the time i finish. Should i just go on hoping that one day it will get better? (Job satisfaction means more to me than making a bank.)

Any advice and suggestions will be greatly appreciated!

Hi Zsuppi, I'm sorry to hear about your predicament. It's possible you're depressed; it's not uncommon or abnormal for residents to become depressed. The lifestyle is demanding, long and poorly understood by society at large. I'd first recommend talking to a professional.

With regards to radiology, you may feel/be undervalued now, but that will certainly not last long. Here's a bit of insight - academic clinicians frequently read their own images and make interpretations without reading the radiologists' report. This is hardly the case in private practice and community medicine. The practitioners in these areas are focused on heavy clinical volumes and rely heavily on the radiologists to make diagnoses de novo and/or confirm their impressions.

Also, you are very young. In the United States students don't start med school until after four years of undergrad. I am 30 years old, will be 31 this year, and won't finish residency + fellowship until I'm 37.

 

[Zsuppi]

Hi Zsuppi, I'm sorry to hear about your predicament. It's possible you're depressed; it's not uncommon or abnormal for residents to become depressed. The lifestyle is demanding, long and poorly understood by society at large. I'd first recommend talking to a professional.

With regards to radiology, you may feel/be undervalued now, but that will certainly not last long. Here's a bit of insight - academic clinicians frequently read their own images and make interpretations without reading the radiologists' report. This is hardly the case in private practice and community medicine. The practitioners in these areas are focused on heavy clinical volumes and rely heavily on the radiologists to make diagnoses de novo and/or confirm their impressions.

Also, you are very young. In the United States students don't start med school until after four years of undergrad. I am 30 years old, will be 31 this year, and won't finish residency + fellowship until I'm 37.

Thank you for the kind words. I guess i will wait a little more and try to remediate and hopefully things will get better as i progress in my career