Residency is a lot better than med school

[Poit]

I'm an intern at a psych program - about 2 weeks into residency. I'm already preferring this infinitely more than medical school, and my hours are a lot better too (I work 2-3 weekend days a month. The other days I play Apex all day). Med school sucks, but there are green pastures on the other side.

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[radsisrad]

Depends on the residency.

GenSurg? I'd guess much worse.

 

[Mad Jack]

I'm an intern at a psych program - about 2 weeks into residency. I'm already preferring this infinitely more than medical school, and my hours are a lot better too (I work 2-3 weekend days a month. The other days I play Apex all day). Med school sucks, but there are green pastures on the other side.

In psych and path, perhaps. But In IM and GS, you're looking at 4 days off a month for the better part of your residency.

 

[Splenda88]

In psych and path, perhaps. But In IM and GS, you're looking at 4 days off a month for the better part of your residency.

I am an IM PGY2 and I can confirm that the hours suck, but it's a little bit better than med school, especially as MS3/4 when no one gives a f*** about your role in the hospital.

 

[deleted600623]

What about EM?

 

[studentdocftw]

Which is why it is "hot" right now. Great residency lifestyle...contracts are ~300 in rural areas...telepsych is an option...calls are mostly sleeping in bed. Pretty appealing...except for the whole "psychiatry" thing 🤢 ...bless you.

 

[Tenk]

What about EM?

What about it? For most programs intern year sucks for EM as you have a large portion of off service months. Varies by program. Overall, it gets progressively better and you work more ED months with less shifts per months as you advance.

 

[emergentmd]

I trained before hour restrictions. Did 100+ hrs a week for many months. Tired all the time.

But residency was much better than being a scut monkey, no nothing med student. It gets better as the R gets larger.

 

[docbsb2015]

Eh starting my 3rd week of intern year. There is nothing compared to 4th year of med school. These 3 weeks have been really tough. Things are coming along slowly, but I still constantly feel like an idiot for the most part.

 

[emergentmd]

4th yr med school is really not med school but for a few months. Other than my EM rotations, I could care less how well I did. 4th Yr is essentially a vacation year.

 

[whoknows2012]

IM is not 4 Days off per month for 3 yrs. it’s 4 days off per month for MOST of intern year (my program had a lot of nights=more days off). 2nd and 3rd year it averaged 6 days off per month. And now as a 3rd year fellow. 51/52 wknds off 🙂

 

[camng22]

Is psych the ultimate lifestyle for non competitive specialties? I was imagining maybe something like FM where you work a little harder than psych for residency for 3 years vs 4 years. Is attending life for psych that much better to an FM doc?

 

[deleted407021]

Is psych the ultimate lifestyle for non competitive specialties? I was imagining maybe something like FM where you work a little harder than psych for residency for 3 years vs 4 years. Is attending life for psych that much better to an FM doc?

Psych is no longer a non-competitive specialty.

As far as I can tell, FM can afford a great lifestyle if you set things up right.

 

[samac]

Is psych the ultimate lifestyle for non competitive specialties? I was imagining maybe something like FM where you work a little harder than psych for residency for 3 years vs 4 years. Is attending life for psych that much better to an FM doc?

I’m trying real hard to get into psych now. Can confirm, it’s now competitive and I’m pretty bitter about it.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

Rads residency is pretty chill.

Life as an attending is harder.

 

[twospadz]

Moonlighting money during psych is great too. Currently a pgy 3 psych resident. Moonlighting at a hospital for 140 per hour. Gonna pull 14k+ this month and 10k+ next month from moonlighting alone. (I know this because both monthly schedules have already been made).

 

[Redpancreas]

Meh debatable. Looking back, medical school was easier in my opinion. While M1/2 was pretty stressful academically, M3 wasn't nearly as bad as it seemed at the time compared to residency. There were literally no expectations of medical students and you were not held accountable for anything and could sit around and read instead of doing things if you really wanted. Meanwhile, as a PGY-2 in IM, you're literally the one who's making the medical decisions outside of rounding hours. Granted you have pharmacy/ability to touch base with consultants/MICU if you really need help, it's a lot of work. Nothing against Psychiatry. It's an important field, but the culture is less detail oriented/laid back and you're never really primary unless you're an intern on General Neurology or something. With IM/Gen Surg, you're watching every lab value that comes out on the patient and making decisions constantly, not to mention the additional burden of the OR as a Surgical Resident. All in all, like others have said, your residency choice has a lot to do with that experience.

 

[CidHighwind]

I’m trying real hard to get into psych now. Can confirm, it’s now competitive and I’m pretty bitter about it.

Of course. Every time someone asks “what is the easiest specialty that’s not super competitive” everyone mentions psych. Hence now more people are applying for it.

 

[samac]

Of course. Every time someone asks “what is the easiest specialty that’s not super competitive” everyone mentions psych. Hence now more people are applying for it.

Yep so it’s getting super competitive so that should no longer be the answer.

 

[Doctorows]

you're never really primary unless you're an intern on General Neurology or something

Huh? You're always primary on the psych floor. As well as in psych ED. And in psych clinic.

 

[Roxas]

1.5 months into FM residency and I'll echo the OP's sentiment. Even though 4th year may have been way "easier," I find myself excited to get to work every morning. I like taking call. It's stressful but my decisions actually matter and I'm learning a ton. Maybe unique to my unopposed program, but we actually get treated like physicians and not grunts by nurses and support staff. It's awesome.

Chin up guys, unless you're headed into gen surg or a malignant program it is indescribably better than med school.

 

[RNthenDoc]

1.5 months into FM residency and I'll echo the OP's sentiment. Even though 4th year may have been way "easier," I find myself excited to get to work every morning. I like taking call. It's stressful but my decisions actually matter and I'm learning a ton. Maybe unique to my unopposed program, but we actually get treated like physicians and not grunts by nurses and support staff. It's awesome.

Chin up guys, unless you're headed into gen surg or a malignant program it is indescribably better than med school.

Hold up, nurses treated you like a grunt when you were a medical student?

 

[Roxas]

Hold up, nurses treated you like a grunt when you were a medical student?

Perhaps I wasn't clear, the "maybe unique to my unopposed program" qualifier was meant to convey that nurses sometimes treated the residents like grunts at my hospital in medical school.

I knew my place as a student (and still do as an intern), so chill out.

 

[Medic741]

Moonlighting money during psych is great too. Currently a pgy 3 psych resident. Moonlighting at a hospital for 140 per hour. Gonna pull 14k+ this month and 10k+ next month from moonlighting alone. (I know this because both monthly schedules have already been made).

Whaaaaaaat. This is getting me really stoked for a life in psych

 

[RNthenDoc]

Perhaps I wasn't clear, the "maybe unique to my unopposed program" qualifier was meant to convey that nurses sometimes treated the residents like grunts at my hospital in medical school.

I knew my place as a student (and still do as an intern), so chill out.

I think you’ve got it twisted; I’m more shocked at the thought of a nurse *ever* treating a Med student or physician of any type as a grunt. 😱

That sounds like a toxic nursing staff

 

[Chibucks15]

I think you’ve got it twisted; I’m more shocked at the thought of a nurse *ever* treating a Med student or physician of any type as a grunt. 😱

That sounds like a toxic nursing staff

Gonna be honest from my time on the other side...some med students damn well deserve it though haha sometimes it’s toxic stuff for sure but not always

 

[Splenda88]

I think you’ve got it twisted; I’m more shocked at the thought of a nurse *ever* treating a Med student or physician of any type as a grunt. 😱

That sounds like a toxic nursing staff

When you are a med student, you have no say in anything and no one would "take your side". I certainly have heard med students complaining about nurses treating them bad. I don't think they act like that with residents or attendings; however, I have seen them 'harassing' residents by paging them for a bunch of stupid things.

 

[deleted600623]

When you are a med student, you have no say in anything and no one would "take your side". I certainly have heard med students complaining about nurses treating them bad. I don't think they act like that with residents or attendings; however, I have seen them 'harassing' residents by paging them for a bunch of stupid things.

What’s the point of nurses treating med students bad? Unless they just act like pompous little brats..do nurses get some weird little man syndrome around med students because they’re going to be their boss one day?

 

[Splenda88]

What’s the point of nurses treating med students bad? Unless they just act like pompous little brats..do nurses get some weird little man syndrome around med students because they’re going to be their boss one day?

Probably... Remember nursing is a female profession and that has its implications. Sad to say but that the truth.

 

[deleted600623]

Probably... Remember nursing is a female profession and that has its implications. Sad to say but that the truth.

Awesome. Can’t wait.

 

[Ho0v-man]

Gonna be honest from my time on the other side...some med students damn well deserve it though haha sometimes it’s toxic stuff for sure but not always

I’ll never forget watching a 3rd year med student try to let the icu nurses know that he shouldn’t be disturbed and they should know better than to interrupt him when he was examining a patient.

They had to throw him out (literally) bc the patient was coding and he didn’t realize.

 

[sunshinefl]

I’ll never forget watching a 3rd year med student try to let the icu nurses know that he shouldn’t be disturbed and they should know better than to interrupt him when he was examining a patient.

They had to throw him out (literally) bc the patient was coding and he didn’t realize.

.... not a very astute exam.....

 

[aafisahar]

Huh? You're always primary on the psych floor. As well as in psych ED. And in psych clinic.

there's a huge difference between being primary on a patient on the psych ward (can't go anywhere, not actually sick, there for many days) vs the general medicine floor or ICU. The acuity is higher (eg bleeders, volume overload, COPDers, sepsis, renal failure) that can go south much faster (eg 813 just went from 2L o2 to 15L, also now hypotensive, and doesn't speak english). You don't have a captive audience like in psych (eg, most patients can leave anytime they want to on medicine).

You have the luxury of time on psych floors, not so much medicine. Missing a lab or finding can mean the difference between a treatable problem vs a spiraling problem.

 

[operaman]

Surgical sub pgy5 here who actually loved medical school and still thinks residency is better. Hours are longer but doable. Can’t beat the fact you’re actually practicing medicine and it’s really pretty cool at the end of a long training program to realize how much you’ve learned and what things you can actually do now. Chief year is pretty awesome- I basically just operate like a fiend every day and mooch off my attendings who are slogging away in clinic 2-3 days a week to Book These cases!

Surgery hours are longer but I’ve only sporadically gone over 80 hours in a week and absolutely never had it average out as such over any 4 week period. I use a consumer location tracking app for my hours so they’re about as accurate as they can be. My quality of life is incredible - only work 4 weekends this year (6 last year) and all the rest are golden (ie sat and sun off). Does wonders for the soul!

I love my job.

 

[Matthew9Thirtyfive]

Surgical sub pgy5 here who actually loved medical school and still thinks residency is better. Hours are longer but doable. Can’t beat the fact you’re actually practicing medicine and it’s really pretty cool at the end of a long training program to realize how much you’ve learned and what things you can actually do now. Chief year is pretty awesome- I basically just operate like a fiend every day and mooch off my attendings who are slogging away in clinic 2-3 days a week to Book These cases!

Surgery hours are longer but I’ve only sporadically gone over 80 hours in a week and absolutely never had it average out as such over any 4 week period. I use a consumer location tracking app for my hours so they’re about as accurate as they can be. My quality of life is incredible - only work 4 weekends this year (6 last year) and all the rest are golden (ie sat and sun off). Does wonders for the soul!

I love my job.

You’re in ENT, correct?

 

[operaman]

You’re in ENT, correct?

Yup.

 

[Kr#36]

I’ll never forget watching a 3rd year med student try to let the icu nurses know that he shouldn’t be disturbed and they should know better than to interrupt him when he was examining a patient.

They had to throw him out (literally) bc the patient was coding and he didn’t realize.

Well thats probably because they were disturbing him mid exam, and they should know better. Thats totally it.

 

[Giovanotto]

Well thats probably because they were disturbing him mid exam, and they should know better. Thats totally it.

Dude was probably seeing the dementors flying around the room.

 

[takeurmeds02]

Just watching my residents, it's more than a boat load of work but it beats having to kiss ass for year and a half hoping to get a job and adding very little value to anyone else's life including your own lol. I think that's the part that stresses me out the most.

 

[CherryRedDracul]

Just watching my residents, it's more than a boat load of work but it beats having to kiss ass for year and a half hoping to get a job and adding very little value to anyone else's life including your own lol. I think that's the part that stresses me out the most.

Yeah, the best part of residency is starting to get that feeling that you're actually doing something. You do get some autonomy per attending discretion, and the autonomy increases as you become more experienced.

My favorite parts of intern year were essentially managing some private hospitalist's patients solo and just having him agree with just about all my management decisions said.

 

[MSTP18]

In psych and path, perhaps. But In IM and GS, you're looking at 4 days off a month for the better part of your residency.

In path when you’re not on surg path. Surg path hours (at a major hospital) is just like the rest of you. Only difference is I have more control of exactly when the 40 hours of work I do outside of Monday to Friday 9-5 occurs.

 

[Socrates25]

I am an IM PGY2 and I can confirm that the hours suck, but it's a little bit better than med school, especially as MS3/4 when no one gives a f*** about your role in the hospital.

This is spot-on

Med school sucks because you can't contribute anything to direct patient care and your role is mostly irrelevant to the patient. I got around that by spending extra time with patients that I didnt have to as a med student, but still it's nice that as a resident what I think/say matters and you get to make real decisions that affect patient care.