The PGY1 Blues

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tussy

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OK, 3 months are done, and although i love it, i feel like someone threw me down a flight of stairs and kicked me repeatedly. I knew being a surgery intern would be rough, but i had no idea what it's really like. This month i'm on call 1 in 3, I'm on 3/4 weekends. The call i'm doing this month is horrible - i cover about 70 gen surg and thoracic surg beds as well as an 8 bed step-down. There is a senior resident at home on back-up (but he doesn't want me to call unless someone needs to go to the OR); i'm the only one in the hospital. i haven't slept yet on call. The patients all go crazy at midnight and try to rip out their foley's and NGs. I should put Haldol and lorazepam in the drinking water cause i seem to be giving it to everyone. Everyone is either dry and needs a bolus or are wet and need lasix. The nurses call at 3am just to tell me that some patients potassium is normal,... I put my first IJ in with my senior explaining how over the phone as the patient's pressure dropped lower and lower and she became more and more obtunded. And it goes on and on. There never seems to be an end to it. Every day i feel stupid, incompetant, weak, worthless, and useless.

I'm sorry, i'm post-call and on call again tomorrow. I just needed to rant. How are you other new PGY1s doing out there?

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Tussy, you aren't stupid, week, incompetent or worthless!!! It does get better, just hang on! The first year is always the toughest...

You Can Do IT!! We are all rooting for you!

Kris
 
Hang in there, Tussy. We're all cheering you on.
 
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Hang in there, Tussy. It isn't you, it is the system. You wouldn't have gotten where you are if it were you.
 
IF YOU LOVE YOUR JOB
YOU NEVER HAVE TO WORK A DAY IN YOUR LIFE :)
 
But if you're honest you can admit that the training is brutal!
 
Tussy,

Hang in there. For many programs, pgy1 is the worst year of surgical residency. There's not very much autonomy and you get bothered for every little thing. The light at the end of the tunnel is the fact that nobody can stop the clock and each day, each hour, each minute is marching you closer towards the end of internship.
By the way, having that senior resident instruct you over the phone on how to put an ij in is just plain irresponsible of that person. Any pneumothorax that you may have inadvertently caused is his or her problem.

Hang in there, it only gets better!
 
Originally posted by draper:
•Tussy,

By the way, having that senior resident instruct you over the phone on how to put an ij in is just plain irresponsible of that person. Any pneumothorax that you may have inadvertently caused is his or her problem.


Draper's right Tussy...congrats to you for being able to do the IJ, but sounds like this place is setting themselves up for some major lawsuits if they are not careful.

Hang in there! You WILL get thru this. You have many of us out here cheering you on with our thoughts and prayers. And remember this experience next year when you will have a new PGY-1 under you, so try and help him/her out!

Billie
(who will be a PGY-1 in July :eek: )
 
You are NOT alone tussy (as you undoubtedly already know). While my schedule is tiring (I'm doing q2 this week so the other resident can have the weekend off; mine will be next weekend, the first day off in 5 weeks) what makes it so for me is not the length of the hours but the stress - stress over whether I'm doing the right thing for patients, fear when I'm alone with a sick patient, stress when I'm being chastized for something I did/didn't do/didn't know to do/was told to do then plans changed and no one told me, etc.

I've had many of the same experiences - being called with normal lab values in the middle of the night, sleepless nights (and then some with up to 5 hours of sleep), TRAUMA TRAUMA TRAUMA - which is the worst for me because I don't enjoy it and tempers run high in the bays.

So far I've only cried once - which really amazes me. Like you, everyday I feel incompetent, stupid and sluggish. I'm actually starting to feel better when I get less sleep. :eek:
 
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awwwww Tussy, you'll get through this!!

What's a PGY1 guys?

Gosh, your lives seem very tough at the mo, is that what I've got to look forward to 7 years down the line??!! :eek:
 
Originally posted by Sita:
•awwwww Tussy, you'll get through this!!

What's a PGY1 guys?

Gosh, your lives seem very tough at the mo, is that what I've got to look forward to 7 years down the line??!! :eek:

PGY1 = postgraduate year 1, commonly referred to (often with derision) as the intern.
 
Thanks for the encouragement guys. I was having a bad day and needed to vent. I was on call again last night - it was busy, but everything went well and i was on with a good senior. Residency is a new strange thing with lots of responsibility (too much sometimes), and lots of crap to wade through. Despite my earlier rant, I am mostly enjoying my PGY1 year so far.
 
I'm with you. Feeling pretty lousy myself...made a nurse cry yesterday. She put a patient in danger (not the first time) and deserved to be reprimanded, but I had no right to yell at her. I was just frustrated because this girl is totally incompetent, but we're so short of nurses that they keep her on. However, after hearing your stories, I can see I've got it better than most...only have call q5, but I too am by myself...covering 50 beds.
 
Originally posted by Neurogirl:
•I'm with you. Feeling pretty lousy myself...made a nurse cry yesterday. She put a patient in danger (not the first time) and deserved to be reprimanded, but I had no right to yell at her. I was just frustrated because this girl is totally incompetent, but we're so short of nurses that they keep her on. However, after hearing your stories, I can see I've got it better than most...only have call q5, but I too am by myself...covering 50 beds.•


What'd she do?
 
Tussy,

I'm thinking about you. Hang in there! And I agree it is the system, not you! You are doing great, I'm certain!

Smiles,
Christy
 
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