resident personality trends

[PAgirl]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey everyone. I know I've been posting a lot on here lately, but as the time rapidly approaches when I must commit to applying to a surgery program, I realize I have a lot of questions.

This question comes after doing my OB/gyn rotation. I really loved it, with the relative independence (i.e. not shadowing a doc in clinic all day) and the large amount of surgeries. However, I oscillated between loving being in the hospital and miserable being around the residents. With the exception of a handful, they really were horrible people. They didn't like their patients, let alone speak to them like caring human beings, and they acted completely annoyed when I asked a question or just ignored me altogether. I think I still prefer surgery to OB/gyn as a specialty regardless of the residents, but any interest I had in pursuing a career in OB/gyn was crushed by the people. I would be absolutely miserble if I had to work with people like that every day.

But then I started thinking. I loved the residents where I did my surgery rotation, which was at a large community hospital in a fairly large city, and I knew they were the kind of people I would want to work with during my residency. But what if they weren't as nice everywhere? What if at some programs they were like the OB/gyns I hated so much, and what if I ended up going to one of those programs? I would hate to think I would be moserable for five or more years.

I loved the surgery residents because they cared about teaching, were funny in a cynical way, weren't super sensitive, and they were genuinely nice to one another and to the med students. It really felt like a close-knit team. Are there different personality trends among surgery residents depending on the program, such as academic programs, large community or small community programs? I have heard that residents are happier at non-academic programs, which I would make sense if the people applying to the academic programs are more cut-throat and competetive. Also, will I be able to tell what the residents are like based on the one opportunity I have to meet them, at the dinner or whatever the program has during the interview?

This has become a big concern to me after experiencing what it's like working with a**holes for six weeks and realizing it's really important to me not to have this happen. Thanks.

 

[igap]

Plastics baby, plastics.

 

[sendwich]

Plastics baby, plastics.

aren't most people going into plastics pretty cutthroat, as most of these programs are pretty sought after/competitive? OR are people just more relaxed b/c they're already "in" and have no need to compete?

 

[Winged Scapula]

aren't most people going into plastics pretty cutthroat, as most of these programs are pretty sought after/competitive? OR are people just more relaxed b/c they're already "in" and have no need to compete?

I found most of the Plastics, ENT and Uro residents very nice and relaxed. The Ortho and Neuro guys were a little more high strung, but still fun to be around.

To the OP: all specialties have personality types which are attracted to it and every program has a culture. I've met just as many nice and caring surgery residents as I've met *******s. My Ob-Gyn department during medical school was very female-centered, male bashing which turned me off, even though I liked the work, the patients and most of the residents.

Its unfortunate, but a negative experience during medical school can color your exposure to a field and desire to pursue it. But as you note, you cannot be guaranteed that experience will translate to every program; this is why it is key that you enjoy the work. I had a very encouraging surgical faculty in medical school who loved to teach and therefore was somewhat shocked to find that not all surgeons were like that. It can be difficult to find the right residency program - one where you like the personalities, where you are taught and encouraged and gets you where you want to go in your professional life.

Do not go into surgery over Ob-Gyn just because you liked the people better. You can always find residency programs that will fit your personality and a practice that will as well. You cannot change the work involved in a specialty.

FWIW, at all the programs I've rotated, done residency/fellowship and worked at, I liked the personality of GS residents more than Ob. The complaining in GS almost always had an air of black humor whereas it came off as just generalized bitchiness in OB. My experience only and yours may be different.

I don't know if residents are any happy at smaller programs; the ones in my town seemed to be (compared to us) but the culture there was different - they worked less hours, called their attendings by their first names, etc. Its just something you'll have to figure out when you interview; something we all did.

 

[PAgirl]

Winged Scapula, I agree about the complaining in OB versus the humor in surgery. I feel like the surgery residents took the everyday annoyances- like the ridiculous consults, long hours, and half-hearted abuse by attendings- in stride and laughed it off, while the OB residents let it make them miserable.

How easy is it to tell, based on the small amount of time you spend with residents during your interview, how well you will fit in/get along with them? What do you look for, and what questions do you ask?

 

[njbmd]

Winged Scapula, I agree about the complaining in OB versus the humor in surgery. I feel like the surgery residents took the everyday annoyances- like the ridiculous consults, long hours, and half-hearted abuse by attendings- in stride and laughed it off, while the OB residents let it make them miserable.

How easy is it to tell, based on the small amount of time you spend with residents during your interview, how well you will fit in/get along with them? What do you look for, and what questions do you ask?

Agree with WS that personality of the residents is not a particularly good measure of whether or not you want to enter a specialty or particular residency program. After all, many of the residents that you would encounter during a residency interview (or even a rotation) may not be around when you actually enter that program.

Things that were important for me in terms of any residency program were:

• A high quality of teaching by attendings and more senior residents and a good variety of clinical experiences.
• Location in terms of being able to easily get to and from work.

Things that I asked current residents in the program:

• Why did you choose this program? What drew you to this location?
• What things have surprised you about being here?
• What are your plans after graduation? Private practice? Fellowship?
• What kinds of research opportunities exist here and how much support for research do you receive?
• What do you think of your rotations away from the main hospital?
• Is there a Veteran Administration rotation experience?
• For senior residents: Do you feel comfortable that you have received what you need for future practice?

In terms of choosing a specialty, I looked at what would be exciting and interesting for me on a daily basis for the next 25 to 30 years. I looked for the specialty that would challenge me on many levels. Things that were not very important were the "personalities" of the attendings or residents in any specialty or residency program. As long as the teaching in said residency program is strong and of high quality, the satisfaction of learning would be there for me. There isn't a single day that goes by that I do not learn something from my work or my patients. There are good days and bad days but they are always pretty interesting.

The other factors that do not matter much are the political ones. There is no specialty that is immune from the politics of practice either in a hospital setting or an office setting. One learns to deal with the situation and if not, move on to a situation where you can do your work because ultimately, you are responsible for your work.

In the beginning, I dealt with things like the OR staff getting used to my style of practice (goal-oriented but laid-back); people who would try to exert their "power" because they wanted me to show them deferential treatment and other useless things but I have always been able to "go with the flow" and get the job done. If I couldn't do this, then I would move on but essentially, I love my work and strive to do it well. Again, this is not something that is specific to the specialty that I entered but my approach to doing my job.

 

[Flank Pain]

There are four categories of people who go into general surgery:

I. People who love general surgery.
II. People who knew they could not get into ORTHO.
III. People who watch too much grays anatomy.
IV. People who are still wounded from getting picked on in high school and think that general surgery is an alpha profession.

How they are too work with:
I: Awesome.
II: Enjoyable to awesome.
III: Hit or miss.
IV: Not enjoyable. Generally not enjoyable at all.

 

[SLUser11]

There are four categories of people who go into general surgery:

I. People who love general surgery.
II. People who knew they could not get into ORTHO.
III. People who watch too much grays anatomy.
IV. People who are still wounded from getting picked on in high school and think that general surgery is an alpha profession.

How they are too work with:
I: Awesome.
II: Enjoyable to awesome.
III: Hit or miss.
IV: Not enjoyable. Generally not enjoyable at all.

I know you're kidding for the most part, but I'm still a little annoyed by your post. I would write you off as a troll if you didn't post a legitimate question in a thread earlier today......

I. Very few people love general surgery anymore, even including the residents. Many of them see it as a means to an end, just like the IM folks. That being said, these people are usually idealistic and believe in the general surgeon being the "last true man of all seasons in the hospital." I happen to be one of them.

II. I've never really encountered a significant population of residents that secretly want to be orthopedic surgeons, but settled for a grueling 5-year general surgery residency and subsequent career......I have seen them start in GS and then wash out, or just fail at getting ortho, then switch to something entirely different. I don't know, the two specialties are just so different, I'm not sure that there's as much overlap in interest among the GS residents that I interact with.

III. Since that show's only been on for like 4 years, and most people in medicine are unable to watch it without throwing up, I hope this was just a bad joke.

IV. I feel the opposite is true. I haven't encountered many battered people who choose surgery as some sort of vengeance or "look at me know" ploy. I have met people who were probably the bullies in high school, and subsequently continued on to General surgery, which seems like a more natural progression.

 

[Flank Pain]

It was about 90% joke. Points taken none the less.

 

[SLUser11]

It was about 90% joke. Points taken none the less.

And there's nothing wrong with what you said...it's just that for every one medical student that says that facetiously, there are 5 or 6 that truly believe it, especially the part about surgery residents being mad about getting picked on in high school.

They think that mean surgery residents are a product of abuse, and have some inferiority complexes, when I think the mean ones have just been giving out abuse their whole lives. Plus, they often are not the brightest, and they may have made residency choices that led to them being even more miserable and mean.

 

[likes pizza]

II. People who knew they could not get into ORTHO.
.

Most people I knew who wanted ortho/ENT/urology did NOT want to go into gen surg. Most of them wanted these fields because the lifestyle was good and they could still make good money. Gen surg was the last thing they wanted and they would rather do IM or ER or something non op as their back up. You don't go into this field (and stay) unless you really, really want to do it.