PGY-2 here, interested in fellowship, trying to be active in research (despite crazy OBGYN hours), and PD/department chair both know I am interested in fellowship. Unfortunately, my program is academic only in the sense that we are associated with a medical school. The faculty do not do research, publish etc. That has made it an uphill climb for me to pursue research projects, but I'm overcoming. Whatever. The other residents also do not do research beyond the 1 project that is required.
The thing that really gets me is that when I request 1-2 days off from service to attend a conference (where I have an oral or poster presentation), I get a lot of resistance from the PD and chief(admin) resident. This is partly because we are very busy and finding coverage can be hard. Another factor may be that none of the other residents go to conferences and also because the faculty don't do research, I don't think they see it as being important. I took 2 days off during intern year for an oral presentation, and getting that approved was absolute hell. The admin chief literally rolled her eyes and I think she hated me for the rest of the year. My PD wasn't exactly pulling for me either. I later asked him to look over my power point presentation but he never got back to me, and later apologized about missing my email. Overall I just did not feel supported.
I have the chance for a poster presentation later this year, and asked if I could attend, but PD said something to the effect of "well... let's see.... will get back to you..." At this point, I am thinking about forgoing this conference, so I can save my brownie points for a bigger/better conference If I get accepted, maybe next year.
I am so frustrated right now. I feel like I'm blazing my own path here, trying to pursue my dream, and keep getting cut down. My PD is actually a pretty understanding person - he will say "stay home" if you're feeling sick, and seems pretty understanding about letting residents take a few days off if someone in their family is sick or going through something. But for whatever reason, taking 1-2 days for my future career is not cutting it.
In case somebody asks, I am not a problem resident. I'm also not the best resident in my class, probably because I'm almost always sleep deprived because I only have time to work on research if I cut into my sleep. I scored well on my in service exam. I've passed Step 3, first attempt. To put this in context, a few residents have failed and needed to take 3-4 months off work to retake/pass the exam before the hospital renewed their 3rd year contract.
I guess my questions are:
1) What is it like at other programs? How often are you allowed to attend conferences etc?
2) How can I improve my chances that I can attend these conferences?
The thing that really gets me is that when I request 1-2 days off from service to attend a conference (where I have an oral or poster presentation), I get a lot of resistance from the PD and chief(admin) resident. This is partly because we are very busy and finding coverage can be hard. Another factor may be that none of the other residents go to conferences and also because the faculty don't do research, I don't think they see it as being important. I took 2 days off during intern year for an oral presentation, and getting that approved was absolute hell. The admin chief literally rolled her eyes and I think she hated me for the rest of the year. My PD wasn't exactly pulling for me either. I later asked him to look over my power point presentation but he never got back to me, and later apologized about missing my email. Overall I just did not feel supported.
I have the chance for a poster presentation later this year, and asked if I could attend, but PD said something to the effect of "well... let's see.... will get back to you..." At this point, I am thinking about forgoing this conference, so I can save my brownie points for a bigger/better conference If I get accepted, maybe next year.
I am so frustrated right now. I feel like I'm blazing my own path here, trying to pursue my dream, and keep getting cut down. My PD is actually a pretty understanding person - he will say "stay home" if you're feeling sick, and seems pretty understanding about letting residents take a few days off if someone in their family is sick or going through something. But for whatever reason, taking 1-2 days for my future career is not cutting it.
In case somebody asks, I am not a problem resident. I'm also not the best resident in my class, probably because I'm almost always sleep deprived because I only have time to work on research if I cut into my sleep. I scored well on my in service exam. I've passed Step 3, first attempt. To put this in context, a few residents have failed and needed to take 3-4 months off work to retake/pass the exam before the hospital renewed their 3rd year contract.
I guess my questions are:
1) What is it like at other programs? How often are you allowed to attend conferences etc?
2) How can I improve my chances that I can attend these conferences?
