Residency better than med school

[UMED122]

I remember talking to an attending a few years ago that said he actually liked residency better than med school. I'm guessing that feeling is kind of uncommon, but did/does anyone else feel the same? For whatever it's worth, the aforementioned doctor is in EM.

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[Wednesday]

Residency is MUCH MUCH better than med school. I think that most people would agree actually.

 

[Ypo.]

I was talking to an intern today and she said residency is way better than medical school. I know it will be busier and more challenging, but I'm looking forward to being a doctor, and especially that my program will actually have a responsibility to teach me and make sure I do a certain number of procedures. I show up for everything, but the interns are always the ones who get to do the procedures. As a medical student I wonder everyday where exactly my money is going, because no one seems to have any responsibility for our curriculum.

 

[Samoa]

I'm on the fence about which is better. I like getting paid for the work I do, but as a prelim going into something else, it's no fun to spend rotation after rotation trying to be good at something that doesn't interest me. I thought that would end with med school.

 

[StickMe]

I'm on the fence about which is better. I like getting paid for the work I do, but as a prelim going into something else, it's no fun to spend rotation after rotation trying to be good at something that doesn't interest me. I thought that would end with med school.

I think you hit it on the head there. In med school, we do a bunch of rotations we aren't that interested in, but in residency we will get to do what we actually enjoy. Once you finish your prelim year, you may be saying you enjoy residency more than med school too. Can't wait to start and get through my prelim year!

 

[Blade28]

It's all about balance.

More responsibility and stress, but more interesting rotations.

 

[VentdependenT]

gotta grow up sometime

 

[DrDude]

First they tell you the last two years of med school are better than the first two years ---> then they tell you residency is better than med school ---> then when you're in residency they tell you just keep going because once you become an attending it gets so much better ---> then when you start out as an attending they tell you it's even better when you become a more senior attending at the hospital/private practice ---> then they finally start talking about how awesome retirement is.

They keep dangling that carrot in front of you to keep you going.

 

[Faebinder]

First they tell you the last two years of med school are better than the first two years ---> then they tell you residency is better than med school ---> then when you're in residency they tell you just keep going because once you become an attending it gets so much better ---> then when you start out as an attending they tell you it's even better when you become a more senior attending at the hospital/private practice ---> then they finally start talking about how awesome retirement is.

They keep dangling that carrot in front of you to keep you going.

A voice of wisdom has spoken.

 

[Ypo.]

First they tell you the last two years of med school are better than the first two years ---> then they tell you residency is better than med school ---> then when you're in residency they tell you just keep going because once you become an attending it gets so much better ---> then when you start out as an attending they tell you it's even better when you become a more senior attending at the hospital/private practice ---> then they finally start talking about how awesome retirement is.

They keep dangling that carrot in front of you to keep you going.

Lol. Nice.

I discovered that was all a bunch of crap in first year (we were told that 2nd semester is SO much easier than first semester, so I relaxed a little but then got slammed in the first week).

This is how it has gone for me; 1st year>2ndyear<thirdyear>fourth year. And I'm sure internship will be>>>>>fourth year.

 

[Pir8DeacDoc]

gotta grow up sometime

agree.. it can be a tough transition for some who have never had a job to jump into residency training

 

[m1234d]

agree.. it can be a tough transition for some who have never had a job to jump into residency training

does that mean you finally get treated like an adult?

 

[Winged Scapula]

Lies, all lies.

SOME things were better in residency than medical school

- I got paid
- Interesting work (most of the time)
- Got to do more than just hold hook in the OR
- Long coat to keep me warm
- More free food

MANY things were worse in residency than medical school

- The hours
- Call
- The humiliation and the yelling
- Boring rotations
- Increased responsibility
- Green scrubs (I looked better in the light blue ones during medical school)
- More free food

 

[Faebinder]

Lies, all lies.

SOME things were better in residency than medical school

- I got paid
- Interesting work (most of the time)
- Got to do more than just hold hook in the OR
- Long coat to keep me warm
- More free food

MANY things were worse in residency than medical school

- The hours
- Call
- The humiliation and the yelling
- Boring rotations
- Increased responsibility
- Green scrubs (I looked better in the light blue ones during medical school)
- More free food

I'm sorry Kim, I have to say you are wrong on the green scrubs. The greens are better at hiding the post drip syndrome.

 

[elwademd]

i'd have to agree with kim. in some ways it is better, in some ways it is worse.

our scrubs are a pale aqua green... sort of between blue and green!

 

[medicinesux]

does that mean you finally get treated like an adult?

Sure you will be treated like an adult! You will be utterly floored at how adults treat each other in our progressively worsening healthcare system. In fact, you will be praying to be treated like a kid again. At least kids have social services to protect them. If little children were treated the way adults treat each other in our system, they would be locked up for child abuse.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I'm sorry Kim, I have to say you are wrong on the green scrubs. The greens are better at hiding the post drip syndrome.

Some of us don't drip!

 

[Ypo.]

- I got paid

I could be wrong, but I think this is going to make a huge difference for me.

- The humiliation and the yelling

Not looking forward to that.

- Green scrubs (I looked better in the light blue ones during medical school)
- More free food

We all wear the same color scrubs, including the nurses. And then you get the resp therapists and the "diet techs" wearing blue scrubs and long white coats. Gets very confusing.

Also, although residents spend twice as much time in the hospital than we do, we both get the same annual food allowance. Go figure.

 

[mashnuts]

Lol. Nice.

I discovered that was all a bunch of crap in first year (we were told that 2nd semester is SO much easier than first semester, so I relaxed a little but then got slammed in the first week).

This is how it has gone for me; 1st year>2ndyear<thirdyear>fourth year. And I'm sure internship will be>>>>>fourth year.

3rd year > 4th year ?????

Now that's odd.

 

[Llenroc]

It depends upon your medical school, some are a lot more "cush" than others in years 3 and 4. I would say residency in a given field is actually less variable than medical school.

Some places will pass you on your rotations if you merely show up everyday, with no expectations beyond passing the clerkship exam.

Some places give their medical students 3-5 days to take off every month any time they want.

Some places have no call expectations for medical students.

Then there's schools like mine which make you come in on national holidays, which assign you two extra nights of call for taking a genuine sick day, which tell you the 30 hour rule doesn't really apply to med students on call so they can keep you as long as they want post call, which give the residents and attendings 100% subjective power to decide your grade on rotations, which assign call the night before exams, etc.

Coming from my school, I think all the graduates have found residency even in the most unpleasant fields to be easier.

 

[Ypo.]

3rd year > 4th year ?????

Now that's odd.

I meant "Greater than"="harder than."
In other words 1st yr is harder than 2nd year which is not as hard as third year which is harder than fourth year.

 

[mashnuts]

I meant "Greater than"="harder than."
In other words 1st yr is harder than 2nd year which is not as hard as third year which is harder than fourth year.

ahhhhh!

That makes a lot more sense!

 

[yaah]

I hated fourth year. Of course, I didn't care much for third year either, but at least it was more useful. Fourth year was fine for awhile because I did a couple of interesting rotations in things I would never do again (cardiology, heme-onc, derm) but it does not need to be a year long. Med school should be compressed 6 months and residency should start earlier. It felt like a waste of my time because I had to spend extra time doing these electives that were unrelated to my field of interest (pathology) and my school required 6 months of "clinical" electives in fourth year (path doesn't count, neither would radiology). So therefore I hated fourth year. Second year was my favorite year because it was full of constant education but lots of flexibility in terms of when you studied, etc. Class was usually 8am-1pm and the rest of the day to do as you please. I'm a nerd and enjoy classrooms and lectures though - I felt my brain atrophying during third year when I had to retract for 4 hours.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I felt my brain atrophying during third year when I had to retract for 4 hours.

But think of all the tricep building you did! Comes in handy for the microtome!

 

[yaah]

But think of all the tricep building you did! Comes in handy for the microtome!

The tricep building benefits were minimized by the back pain from having to bend over a bit since everyone else is shorter than me.

 

[fang]

The tricep building benefits were minimized by the back pain from having to bend over a bit since everyone else is shorter than me.

Ha! I retracted various tissues for hours without actually seeing what I was doing because everyone else was taller. "Move your hand to the left" "more tension" "lift up". I liked the rotation and the surgeons though... just not the actual operating!