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salahabusin said:

Tips for Interns

 

I thought of writing a few tips for our colleagues who are due to start on july 1^st in Residency, I hope you find useful.

 

1. Work hard, come early, and leave late

Regardless of how much you know, an intern who works hard is always appreciated more than the one who knows the most but doesn’t get the job done.

Start Early

Pre round on all your patients well ahead of the clinical round, you must have deep knowledge of the reason they got admitted, how they are doing that day, their vital signs, all their investigations, the plan of the day and the admission, the discharge plans and their follow up plans. For added effect, try to memorize this information off hand, so that you can present it in a brief succinct manner during the round. This is an art in itself which you can only acquire by dedication and hard work, and its’ your moment to “shine”

Leave late

Make sure you don’t leave until the job is done, be it 6 pm or 12 pm, as you gain more experience you will leave earlier. And remember time you spend now, you will save later.

2. Relationships with colleagues

Important rule the Senior is your friend, even if he or she is the worst character ever.

Always be polite to your senior even if they are unprofessional. You have to know that if you have a problem with the senior you should resolve it with him or her. Do Not seek conflict resolution from the Chief Resident or the Program Director unless it has a clear proven risk on patient care. In some cases, you might have a “weak” resident who makes wrong decisions, or lacking in knowledge. Do Not try to shine on his expense, remember he is your senior and has more leverage on you with the attending. Moreover, sometimes program directors regard evaluation by Seniors about interns more than that of attendings, they use it to see if you are the person who “gets along with others”.

Be in control of your emotions. Do not show anger. Do not show frustration. And Do not Complain. People don’t like whiners. You must always work hard on portraying yourself as the “niceguy/girl” who is always in a good mood, pleasant to everyone, works hard and doesn’t complain.

Be smart, understand the “balance” system in your program, you might end up in an IMG program which is dominated by one nationality. Play it right, don’t pick sides, don’t dwell in conflicts, keep away from problems. Once you grasp the system you can then play it in your favour.

Be firm and assertive

Residency is harsh, and you only have yourself to look after you. Although, you are mr.niceguy do not expect others to pay back the favour you might have paid them. So when it comes to rotas, oncall takes, cross coverage, a bit of firmness goes a long way.

But again it is an art; you must be firm but not rude. if you are not sure how to be assertive then be cautious and accepting rather than rude and obnoxious.

Be careful, there are some bad people out there who will compete with you, talk behind your back, and spread lies about you. Initially, you will not know them, so be cautious in your relations with others until you can tell your friends from your enemies.

3.  Relationships with Attendings

Do your homework; learn as much as you can about the attending. What he likes, and what he dislikes, etc. The more you know, the better armed you will be to face his rounds. If he is the worst person in the program, and you manage to be in his good books, then that will be very impressive when the evaluation comes through.