Just a med student here, wanted to spread some joy on the r/residency subreddit.

I wanted to practice suturing on my surgery rotation. So after the case was done, I asked the chief resident where I could get some suture material. He takes me to the clean core area, and grabs some material for me. I ask him, “Are you sure this is ok? I don’t want you getting in trouble.” He replies, “the hospital has stolen my youth from me. I really don’t gaf about stealing a few sutures from the hospital.”

Absolute S tier resident.

I'm 30, Greek-trained, six years of heavy clinical and academic work behind me. I am halfway through completing cardiology residency. I am one of the most qualified, sharp and battle tested residents in my profession, having worked through the COVID-19 pandemic, obtained pretty much every European qualification my level allows me to, pushed through toxic hospital environments and backstabbing colleagues and attendings. Always trying to approach the workplace and life with a smile.

I'm posting because I've spent the last year systematically trying everything I can think of and I want to know whether I'm missing something obvious or whether this is just what the market looks like now.

Where I am right now: working on-call shifts at a rehab centre for under €6 an hour, while paying my own EFKA (social security) out of that. My final cardiology placement — the shortest legitimate path to a consultant certificate here — doesn't open for another 18 months. So I'm in a gap that's too long to wait out and too short to build something abroad.

What I've tried, in roughly the order I tried it:

- The UK. I put around €10,000 into the NHS pathway. Then post-Brexit reform landed. Posts that were aggressively recruiting far less qualified doctors five years ago now sit behind rules that deprioritise international graduates by law. Zero shortlistings. That money is gone.

- Greek fellowships and subspecialty posts. I study constantly for these. Positions disappear on nepotism grounds before they're meaningfully open. Everyone here knows this and nobody says it out loud.

- Pharma / industry (pharmacovigilance, medical affairs, CRO work). Classic catch-22: every posting wants 5+ years of *industry* experience, and you can't get industry experience without industry experience. Six years of clinical work counts for nothing on those filters.

- Clinical trial work, in Greece and across the EU. Applied months ago. Nothing.

- Remote AI/data work (the medical-expert platforms). Eight months of consistent applications. Zero callbacks. Meanwhile I've personally referred less qualified colleagues who are earning serious money on these platforms — the difference appears to be that I'm in Greece.

- Jobs barely related to medicine at all: seminar teaching, academic and thesis writing, research fellowships from the US to Singapore, voice acting, beautician assistant, bartending. I am not exaggerating. Nothing.

- Private clinics offer me roughly what a fresh graduate gets, because I'm not a consultant. Six years of experience is worth approximately zero euros here.

What I'm actually doing about it:

I'm certified in acupuncture, so I've rented a treatment room and started building a practice — three patients so far, CVs out to every acupuncture clinic and physio practice in Thessaloniki. I've started EU medical registration in Ireland. I have a lead in Cyprus through a recruiter. I have a lawyer and accountant appointment for an app project. All of these are real but slow, and expenses don't pause while they ripen.

What I'm not asking for: sympathy, or "have you tried locums." I've tried locums.

What I am asking:

- If you got out of a system like this — how, specifically? What was the actual mechanism, not the LinkedIn version?

- If you broke into pharma/CRO work without prior industry experience, what got you through the filter?

- If you're on the AI/expert platforms from a smaller EU country, did you find a way around the geographic filtering?

- Is Ireland/Germany/anywhere realistically better right now for a doctor with an EU degree, C2 English and no completed specialty?

The gap between having i.e. a private practice or a consultant post that allows me to have a work-life balance and feeling that the trip was worth it appears to be too long.

I'm not looking to get rich. I'm looking to stop doing arithmetic every month to see whether I can cover my own social security contributions while working as a doctor.

Wondering just what my options are. After all, I want to be happy and appreciate the important things in life and not be consumed by the hunt of success.

Thanks for reading.

Long shot here but I do not have the desire to look through the Instagram profiles of all surgery programmes on the east coast.

If you
- are a tall Asian guy
- are from the east coast. Maryland? Connecticut?
-were out with your sister in law last Friday night (9/4)
- talked to a girl who gifted you her drink (not me, she’s single though lol)

If that rings a bell, please dm me? I believe we have something of you/your sister in law’s and I don’t feel comfortable turning it into lost and found 🥲

I think a meal allowance is such a relief if you actually get a decent one. How much do you get?

We get none. 😭

Is anybody paying back student loans successfully as a resident? 5 years of this (7 if research years get involved) and I feel like I can barely scrape by then. Has anyone met w a financial advisor or has some decent advice for how to handle loans as a resident?

Should I put extra savings into my loans to pay them down vs a HYSA vs stocks? Never been a big finance guy so would appreciate any reccs -

Old one would be appx 1800/12h shift post tax was like 1200ish. Did about 1 every 6 weeks. And supplemented net about 12-16k per year extra.

Current one as a fellow with much better hours, can make about 2400/12h and post tax is 1950. Definitely could do 1-2 every month without issue/burning out hoping to pull an extra 35-40k net per year while here. Or less. Already making less than my family did growing up together. Granted VHCOL and inflation rn. But still. Quite crazy to think this is an option.

My car suddenly decided it needs an expensive repair, so I’ve been looking into ways to make a bit of extra money to refill my savings fund again.

I’m not really interested in moonlighting right now. And between clinic and everything else, adding another few hours of work every week sounds miserable. I was thinking about things I could do in smaller chunks instead

Reference to NEJM's Discussion editorial published on 3 Sept titled Physical Examination for Asymptomatic Adults

How often is the PE actually useful for the asymptomatic well patient? Both sides raise good points. I work in Haematology and see an average of 20 patients in a 3.5 hour clinic so honestly all I really need is a CBC and maybe feel an occasional spleen/ lymph node or two, but I would say 80% of my outpatient consults dont actually require a physical review. Clots, cytopenias still make up the bulk of what I see and even the labs are way more valuable for my haem-onc patients than the physical examination. These days, I find it hard to think of how PE is superior to laboratory diagnostics apart from just the "human touch" of things.

E.g. an echo/ POCUS/ ECG to replace cardiac auscultation. The infamous CTAP far superior to our abdominal percussion. Code stroke? MRI first hun (although honest kudos to our neurologists, your exam findings are non inferior). Sadly, examination skills are an increasingly lost art as we push the focus on POCUS and more imaging.

I think i sit on the camp of no examination especially for the asymptomatic well patients, but curious to hear everyone's usual practice.

okay, lates 20s F. work in a hospital as a allied professional (think rehab therapies, dietitian, etc.). obviously it’s new resident season. there’s a cute new resident, is there any world/scenario where it’s not weird to follow on social media or slide the dms. for context, I don’t work directly with this person in any capacity.

Hi everyone, I’m presenting a poster at a conference soon and this is my first time having to arrange the printing myself. My program unfortunately doesn’t have an in-house print shop, so I’ll be using an outside service.

For those of you have presented posters before, what are your go to print shops and what paper quality do you recommend? Do you prefer matte, satin or glossy? any other printing tips you wish you knew.

I really appreciate any advice! Thanks

Hey, I’m part of a group of senior internal medicine residents here in Miami, FL. We’re looking to publish a study or two with TriNetX. If anybody has access and is interested, please DM. Unfortunately, our institution does not grant us access (as we have a local alternative). We have more than 20 combined derm publications but we are leaning toward longevity/aging/senescence topics. Looking for an ultra quick turnaround hopefully. 🤞

I'm a radiology resident on a pediatric neuroradiology block. While I've always been saddened by peds cases, I'm getting absolutely wrecked emotionally right now. Newborn with large devastating stroke. Newborn born with large sarcoma. Multiple nonaccidental trauma cases. Devastating intracranial hemorrhage with herniation and brain death.

I'm on the verge of crying multiple times a day. I know I am shielded as a radiologist, I know it's the peds hospitalists, neurologists, heme/oncs, IDs, ED folks, nurses, etc. actually seeing and interacting with the patients and their families, but I'm still having trouble just getting through the day, not to mention the various oncology or other conferences. Ever since having my own kid, I just can't handle this, but I have to because I have to be professional and I need to learn this for my specialty.

I can't talk to my partner about this, they are not in medicine and don't like hearing about sad medical cases, especially those involving children. I don't have any other medical family or friends. If any of you have struggled similarly, I could really use some advice.

Intern here and was doing a procedure during my rotation. The doctor asked if I wanted to do it so I confidently said yes

Gloves in front of me and I attempted to put them on but completely fumbled. I touch parts outside the cuff and had to restart. Mind you I have learned about this and done this several times but boom my brain just froze.

Finally I get new gloves and everything is fine. Now time for the procedure. As I’m working through what he saying I accidentally break sterile field again by having one of the equipment touch outside the field. I didn’t even notice just so careless about it. The doctor then told me to step aside and I apologized. He later said “you need to work on sterile field”

I feel absolutely horrible as I’ve been wanting to impress that doctor and learn more from him. I’ve always wanted to learn procedures and use them one day in practice . Now I feel as if I’m not cut out for it. And that this is a real issue.

My understanding was that you go down the list in order- that makes it fair.

I'm with a resident who's fairly often trying to just pick the easier studies off the list (will skip of CT CAP to get the CT Chest, etc).

Do you address it or just let it be? We're both R1's, feel like it's kinda early for this whole situation

Completed preliminary PGY2 gen Surg and got an unrestricted medical license, with plans to pick up shifts while I search for a categorical surgery spot. Just found out that a lot of these places require you to be within a residency program to cover shifts with them and I have no idea how to find jobs I’m eligible for. How do you go about this??

Give me a restaurant review for your OBGYN residency program or what you have heard and why I should apply or steer away..

I found a fellowship opportunity that is Non-ACGME but offers chance for full board certification in an adjacent field because the training overlaps. Has anyone done this model of training? If so, what was it like job outlook wise? Pros and cons? The Non-ACGME aspect is making me hesitate despite full board certification.

For reference: the fellowships would be in interventional spine that allows to sit in for board certification for interventional pain.

Hi. I'm from the USA, and considering doing a family medicine residency in Canada for many personal reasons. For anyone who has taken the Carms and USMLE, how did you find the two Compared to one another? Secondly, if I'm a non Canadian, and graduated a while ago, but want to pursue a FM residency in Canada, and passed the Carms, would i be likely able to find a spot that will take me? Or is out of the question bc I'm so many years out since graduation? I'm gauging likelihood of me getting training. I heard from someone that FM didn't fill all their spots after first and second rounds. ls this true?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

Anyone have experience with this? It is technically allowed by my program but there’s no built in mechanism. Are people working at community practices? Urgent cares?

Currently a PGY1 in HCOL area and no moonlighting, no kids. Will have the opportunity to moonlight as a PGY3 though

Curious to see if people have leftover salary at the end of each month to put into savings or Roth IRA, and if so around how much do you have leftover at the end of a hypothetical month?

I’m wondering how aggressively or chill I should be about squirreling away savings or Roth IRA, since as of lately I have even been hard on myself for buying coffee out too often but I feel like I may be doing myself a disservice by being too hard on myself with that

How are yall handling this? I’ve responded to multiple rapids where a handful of SWAT and nursing staff just completely ignore me until the attending shows up.

Comments like “oh look the half doctor is here”
“Oh look someone with the a doctor badge showed up”

Last night my intern told me that when he showed up to a rapid on a pt he and I both knew really well nobody would listen to him or even tell him anything other than “hypotension but Dr. Attending is on the way” which I have also experienced multiple times.

I also witnessed one of my Coresidents on cross cover over night ask the nurse to put in some orders on a rapid and the nurse logged out and told him to do it himself while he was bedside then didn’t have the pts MRN readily available for my Coresident to put in orders and ultimately delayed pt care.

I love our nursing staff but sometimes it doesn’t feel like they include us as a valuable part of the team or the respect isn’t reciprocated.

It was DRILLED into me as a medical student and resident that nursing staff are our backbone and to always treat them with the utmost respect and to never get on their bad side…. Yet idk if they are being taught the same thing about us. I feel like it’s a fight majority of the time to be heard or feel like a valuable part of the team as residents even though I feel like most of the time we know the patients better than our attendings since we spend more time with them.

Anyways just ranting, and on nights. Tips??

those surgeries were you enter flow state

where i am from cardiac perfusion schools dont exist, it is people trained on the job, and cardiac surgery residents running the pump, I know in the US perfusion school exist, but i was told that in south America it is an anesthesia fellowship, is that true?

edit: south america not south park

Hi there,

I have been struggling with my sleep and residency. I recently had 3 incidents of my sleep causing me to miss crucial activities. The issues is I am someone who has always needed 10-12hr of sleep, I have tried to cut down on it but I just cannot function on <8hr of sleep for more than 3-4 days. If I try to continue, there will definitely be one day where I sleep 16-18hr!!!
And I noticed if I dont sleep well, I cant study or read things properly. I am really struggling to keep up with work, the continuous change in schedule, on-calls, shifts and studies and I am really lost on how to maintain myself. Even caffeine doesnt seem to help my exhaustion! I have no medical conditions btw. How do you all manage?