- Joined
- May 21, 2012
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- 142
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Hi everyone!
I’m an intern in a categorical IM program. I thought by now (November) that I’d have this figured out by now, but I don’t, so I was looking for some advice.
What should my expectations be for how much I study over the course of intern year? Not just for Step 3, but also for building my knowledge base to be a good physician. I’ve often heard the advice to “read about your patients,” but I still don’t really know what that translates into. Most of my patients have multiple comorbidities and even if I pick just one (like a fib, for example), I just fall down a black hole of Harrison’s, UptoDate, landmark studies, etc. In the end, I get overwhelmed and study very little. I’m not sure if I’m setting expectations that are too high for myself, or if I’m really failing to meet appropriate expectations for how much to study as an intern and then that becomes an issue of figuring out why and how to correct that.
(For reference, I managed to figure things out in medical school, and did well (in both clerkships and on Step exams), but obviously, residency is not medical school, so I’d appreciate any guidance from my more experienced peers. I also think my knowledge attrition is real, since I recently received my ITE score back, and although I scored above average, my score was nowhere near my Step percentiles, so I do think I need to step up my studying).
Thank you!
I’m an intern in a categorical IM program. I thought by now (November) that I’d have this figured out by now, but I don’t, so I was looking for some advice.
What should my expectations be for how much I study over the course of intern year? Not just for Step 3, but also for building my knowledge base to be a good physician. I’ve often heard the advice to “read about your patients,” but I still don’t really know what that translates into. Most of my patients have multiple comorbidities and even if I pick just one (like a fib, for example), I just fall down a black hole of Harrison’s, UptoDate, landmark studies, etc. In the end, I get overwhelmed and study very little. I’m not sure if I’m setting expectations that are too high for myself, or if I’m really failing to meet appropriate expectations for how much to study as an intern and then that becomes an issue of figuring out why and how to correct that.
(For reference, I managed to figure things out in medical school, and did well (in both clerkships and on Step exams), but obviously, residency is not medical school, so I’d appreciate any guidance from my more experienced peers. I also think my knowledge attrition is real, since I recently received my ITE score back, and although I scored above average, my score was nowhere near my Step percentiles, so I do think I need to step up my studying).
Thank you!
