First year radiology residents:
1- Show up on time or slightly earlier. The impression you make the first few months will last the rest of your residency.
2- Be fresh for the morning conferences. Many programs have 1 hour morning conference. Be very attentive.
3- Don't get desperate if you do not understand many things in the first few months during the morning lecture or the case conference. You will learn it sooner or later. The learning curve for radiology in the first 2 years is very very steep. Though it is also steep after.
4- Be nice to everybody esp other clinical services. Be a team worker. Do not argue with your co-residents over reading a study.
5- Read as much studies as you can. Do not be afraid of reading a study. I remember during my second Body rotation I pulled up an MRCP and I was totally confused. After reading a few of them, I was much much better.
6- Ask question. Ask. Ask. Any question even the simplest one is appropriate during the first year. If you are in a case conference and do not know what is diffusion restriction, ask. As you become a senior resident, you will be reluctant to ask many questions.
7- Try to start taking cases as soon as you can. After a few months. Don't wait till second year. Nobody expect you to make a final diagnosis. But they will appreciate your try. A lot of mistakes that I do not make now, are things I missed in residency or during case conferences.
8- Stay late. Finish the list. Be precise in your reports.
9- It is very important to develop your reporting style by the end of first year. It is a never ending process and I myself still work on it. So just try to start from a point and you will add to it later.
10- Study, study and then study. At least 45 min to 1 hour a day, esp the cases you have seen during the day. It is important to study esp during your core rotations. There are a lot of references that are beyond this discussion. Try to learn your anatomy, major disease processes, emergent cases and also bread and butter of everything by the end of first year. You have to know the common presentation of the common disease entities or emergent entities by the end of your first year. Yes, it is to much.
11- Cases are the best method to learn radiology. They stick more than just reading a book. Case conferences and case series books are helpful. Also try to read as much studies as you can. Ask about interesting cases or important ones that your fellow residents had. Many attending like to show you cases. You have to encourage them to do so.
12- Many other points that I can not remember now.
New Interns going into radiology:
1- You already have the stigma of going to radiology in medicine department. Whatever you do, at the end of the day they look different at you. If they are A..holes, they torture you. If they are nice, they recommend you to switch because they think you are wasting your talent (happened to me that at the end of the year had a PGY-2 medicine position offered to me).
2- Be nice. Don't be a jerk. Never ever brag about radiology. Never tell them that your next year will be more interesting.
3- Do not try to impress anybody. It is just a year that you have to pass.
4- Do the minimum requirement. You are there to do the scut work 80% of your time. Do what you were told, but try not to overdo to impress everybody. They will forget you.
5- In most IM programs there are plenty of categorical residents and medical students who want to impress the faculty. If they want to do your job, let them do it with cheers. I don't say dump your work on the others, but if they want to do, don't discourage them.
6- Bottom line: Despite what people say, you need 2 months of internship at maximum. The rest is useless. Do the bare minimum. Don't waste your time and energy. Nobody also cares whether you are good or bad.
7- I personally strongly believe that reading anything radiology during internship is a waste of time. Don't do it. Enjoy your free time. Save study time for your R1.
Good Luck
1- Show up on time or slightly earlier. The impression you make the first few months will last the rest of your residency.
2- Be fresh for the morning conferences. Many programs have 1 hour morning conference. Be very attentive.
3- Don't get desperate if you do not understand many things in the first few months during the morning lecture or the case conference. You will learn it sooner or later. The learning curve for radiology in the first 2 years is very very steep. Though it is also steep after.
4- Be nice to everybody esp other clinical services. Be a team worker. Do not argue with your co-residents over reading a study.
5- Read as much studies as you can. Do not be afraid of reading a study. I remember during my second Body rotation I pulled up an MRCP and I was totally confused. After reading a few of them, I was much much better.
6- Ask question. Ask. Ask. Any question even the simplest one is appropriate during the first year. If you are in a case conference and do not know what is diffusion restriction, ask. As you become a senior resident, you will be reluctant to ask many questions.
7- Try to start taking cases as soon as you can. After a few months. Don't wait till second year. Nobody expect you to make a final diagnosis. But they will appreciate your try. A lot of mistakes that I do not make now, are things I missed in residency or during case conferences.
8- Stay late. Finish the list. Be precise in your reports.
9- It is very important to develop your reporting style by the end of first year. It is a never ending process and I myself still work on it. So just try to start from a point and you will add to it later.
10- Study, study and then study. At least 45 min to 1 hour a day, esp the cases you have seen during the day. It is important to study esp during your core rotations. There are a lot of references that are beyond this discussion. Try to learn your anatomy, major disease processes, emergent cases and also bread and butter of everything by the end of first year. You have to know the common presentation of the common disease entities or emergent entities by the end of your first year. Yes, it is to much.
11- Cases are the best method to learn radiology. They stick more than just reading a book. Case conferences and case series books are helpful. Also try to read as much studies as you can. Ask about interesting cases or important ones that your fellow residents had. Many attending like to show you cases. You have to encourage them to do so.
12- Many other points that I can not remember now.
New Interns going into radiology:
1- You already have the stigma of going to radiology in medicine department. Whatever you do, at the end of the day they look different at you. If they are A..holes, they torture you. If they are nice, they recommend you to switch because they think you are wasting your talent (happened to me that at the end of the year had a PGY-2 medicine position offered to me).
2- Be nice. Don't be a jerk. Never ever brag about radiology. Never tell them that your next year will be more interesting.
3- Do not try to impress anybody. It is just a year that you have to pass.
4- Do the minimum requirement. You are there to do the scut work 80% of your time. Do what you were told, but try not to overdo to impress everybody. They will forget you.
5- In most IM programs there are plenty of categorical residents and medical students who want to impress the faculty. If they want to do your job, let them do it with cheers. I don't say dump your work on the others, but if they want to do, don't discourage them.
6- Bottom line: Despite what people say, you need 2 months of internship at maximum. The rest is useless. Do the bare minimum. Don't waste your time and energy. Nobody also cares whether you are good or bad.
7- I personally strongly believe that reading anything radiology during internship is a waste of time. Don't do it. Enjoy your free time. Save study time for your R1.
Good Luck
