Soon-to-be med student working in a Peds office

Started by Roy Basch
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Roy Basch

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So I work in the pediatric resident office at a hospital, and I'm a soon-to-be med student. What type of info about peds or residency in general do you wish you'd know, that I might be privy to at this point? I've spent my days transcribing resident reviews from patient parents, nurses, and peers and it seems like it can be pretty dog-eat-dog.
 
I'd say focus on the positive at this point...there's always gonna be negatives, cons, drawbacks, etc. in any field (witness the joys of working in the Finance industry circa late 2008). When I was a pre-med (I'm an MS4 going into Peds now), I worked for several pediatricians and I had no clue how hellish some aspects of medical training would be. I think in your position, you might be able to prepare for the worst and hopefully end up avoiding the pitfalls that lead people to burn-out and angst.

If you're transcribing resident reviews, you're privy to a lot of interesting (but sensitive and confidential) info that most of us never really see or understand fully. So surely there's plenty of stuff to learn from what you hear around the office.

You may also be in a position to notice how the residents interact with staff and each other--might be good to pick out a few superstar residents and try to figure out how they are successful at people skills.

Just a few of my random thoughts.