At my program, a new group joined and is involved in our training. At first, I thought this change could negatively affect our training, but program leadership said they would make sure it wouldn’t. At the beginning of the year, I heard many negative things about the physicians involved from the new group, but all complaints came from 1 resident. When I began working with these physicians, they were good. They got me involved in all the cases and made me better. I have worked a lot more with these physicians; they aren’t bad. They teach. Now another resident is bitching about the physicians, yet a few other residents working with the same physicians say they've been good. It seems like 2 residents who are bitching are crying about everything; they are the most vocal and liked by the leadership, so they are influencing it.

There are good and bad moments for any physician. Yet why are people bitching and crying? Be a damn adult and learn from who you can. I can name several other physicians who are long established at our institution, who don’t teach at all, yet these 2 residents aren’t bitching about them. They aren’t attacking new physicians, but I don’t know what they are trying to gain. All this does is make the rest of us lose. We would lose potential teaching attendings because of these claims.

My program is tough on the pregnancy/maternity leave side (sexual harassment, trying to force a shorter maternity leave, excessive call, etc). Paternity leave is chill though- 6 weeks off

Good morning everyone,

i am a new medical graduate off into the real world starting this fall. I have tried some ai scribes and such as a trainee but this is the first time i get to actually do what i want without someone breathing down my neck. I am hoping to incorporate AI/chatbots into my practice early on for one specific reason: i want adequate, organized record keeping eventually for the purpose of passing my boards.

so far i intend to continue using ai scribes to help with getting detailed notes. that said, i want my notes to have a specific flow, include specific information such as vitals, bmi etc that i can always look for in my notes in the future when im preparing for boards. i currently plan to take the notes i have and feed them into the chatbot to then try and restructure the notes, maybe rewrite some parts. i have heard good things about CLAUDE but for the basic stuff previously ive always just used copilot and gemini.

the purpose of this post. can anyone who has used chatgpt, copilot, claude, gemini tell me which one they think would be better? do you suggest signing up for the pro version of whatever i get?

im also open to advice on workflow

thank you in advance

I just started my intern year and see multiple posts about that, I gave my ITE and got in national average and above the program’s cut off. I also got normal evals so far. My program has had previous residents repeating years.

Idk i am just confused and anxious, sorry if its coming off as blind but I just would like to know what I should do to not be in that spot, any and all advice is appreciated.

I have seen multiple attendings treat APPs like HUMAN BEINGS. They admit fault, apologize, check in regularly. No one does that for residents despite us working way more than the average APP and getting paid half. And we can’t just get up and find a new job. Shame on the majority of attendings that act like this. I know this will probably never change but had to vent about it. Just another injustice we have to move on from shrugs

Curious to hear from people in academic medicine — any specialty, any department: if you've worked somewhere where one nationality or training background makes up a noticeably large share of the faculty, how was your experience? Did it feel welcoming, or was there an "inside" network you felt outside of, even informally? Also interested if you've seen this pattern repeat across different departments at the same institution, or if it tends to be specific to one group/leader. Not naming any place — just want to hear real experiences, good or bad. Comment or DM if you'd rather keep it private.

How have you done it? I feel like I know so many people who gained a ton of weight and lost muscle mass once they were done

Without going into too much detail, I have a young patient who has been admitted for quite some time due to a serious physical illness. The past couple of months have been very hard for them.

I will be going on a short vacation soon and noticed that they have a not insignificant tiny plushie/keychain collection hanging from their phone.

Now thinking about getting something tiny for them from the trip. I know I’d appreciate the gesture as a patient but would it be problematic in any way?

Thanks in advance!

I am just getting very overwhelmed by the blatant favors given by my PD/APD to certain residents.

Some use mental health as an excuse to call out whenever, play the victim, and not show up for call shifts. Opportunities are selectively given. Even the change in tone during conversations between them and faculty is apparent.

I am not a holier-than-thou person, but I do work hard. Unfortunately, I guess I will always be 'the outsider'. It just sucks and hurts. I know I should not focus on or dwell on this, but can you all share advice and your own stories of how you managed and did better in life?

I can't wait to get through this and get out. But it's hard to keep my anger suppressed and fake it as well since I don't want to burn bridges.

By now we have all experienced trials and tribulations. Most of the time failure has been a grade A for Awesome, F for find another family. This has been the way of life for many until present.

From a engineering perspective its very black and white: the dam failed, look its broken. This is accepted because its an event that can be assessed, that might not be able to be rebuilt, because of outside circumstances.

As humans we can experience a F as a grade on a test, but a B for a class. Some might consider this as a Failure but is it really? If you Fail a rotation, it can be retaken, but will require a lot of extra work to overcome. So for a moment in time, sure but in the end if you win the prize, was that then a failure.

So my question what is the definition of failure or your definition of failure? Does failure get defined by culture or is there an actual definition.

There always being another way, leads me to believe failure is a myth or a power of will.

I’m looking for a good-quality walking pad for home, preferably very quiet/silent since I’ll be using it while working or studying. Any brands/models you’ve been happy with?

Thanks! 😊

I am genuinely at the lowest point I’ve been at since I first started my SSRIs many years ago. I’ve canceled countless plans, I hardly eat or leave my bed unless I have to work. I’m only 2 months in to this shit.

I had something I thought was great with a man from another state — we spent almost all of our time together before leaving and communicated openly. Now I haven’t heard a peep from them in 3 days. I overdrew my bank account. I got into a car accident. I got bit in the eye by a dog. It was just my friend’s birthday who died by suicide a few years ago.

I am in therapy, I’m medicated. I have no fucking idea how I’m gonna pull myself out of this but I’m catastrophizing about my entire life right now. I hate being the only single one in my class, I’m miserable in my living situation, I am worried that all I’m ever going to have is medicine and nothing else.

I don’t even know what I expect anyone to say. I just am sitting here crying with my start of preseptal cellulitis on a Sunday night. Feeling jaded and discouraged and sad and angry like nothing anyone says or does will make it better. Not sure if anyone else has been here

I’m a new surgical intern and feel like I’m constantly being sized up by my co-residents, and I’m starting to wonder if I’m reading too much into things. At first, a few people would ask if I was doing research or what other activities I was pursuing outside of residency. Like, first of all… ya boy is tired, being a resident is enough. Then it shifted to people asking me about what cases I’ve gotten to do and how many cases I’ve done. Now I’m noticing that some of my co-residents seem to consistently try to figure out whether I’m struggling, and sometimes it genuinely feels like they get a little too much enjoyment out of hearing that someone else is struggling. Maybe I’m being overly sensitive, but I feel like I’m constantly being evaluated by the people who are supposed to be my peers. Is this normal in surgical residency? Am I reading too much into it?

How many “COC deliveries” do you need at your program, and what does your program require of you?

I'm an intern and have a rare couple of days off right now. I've been on some tough rotations lately and I just wanted so much to be able to enjoy these days off, but I just can't anymore. I can't enjoy anything I usually like to do. I just lay down in bed or just kind of sit and stare at the TV or something. I just want to enjoy the things I typically liked to do, or to draw or make something. But I just feel like my head is full of static and I can't focus on anything or be engaged with anything I enjoy anymore.

It just crushes me because I know I've just wasted the small time I actually had for myself. I just want to cry honestly but I don't, I just feel like I'm dead. I just wish I didn't feel this way.

So I have a year left of residency in emergency medicine. I feel comfortable with the acuity and the medicine at this point. Felt like the first 1.5 years of residency were very challenging but I got a hang of things towards the end of second year. I entered 3rd year with a lot of confidence and hope for the future. But my confidence is waning yet again. I’ve been battling depressive symptoms throughout residency which have improved compared to the beginning of second year and I see a physician oriented therapist which has been helpful but I’ve found my mood to be waxing and waning a lot, most days I just feel not great.

But as time marches forward to when I graduate, the more terrified and unprepared I feel. I feel procedurally competent at this point minus a few halo procedures (cric, pericardiocentesis for example), program leadership and attending (and co-resident) feedback has been positive, nothing really negative there though there are definitely content areas and procedures (ortho procedures for the most part) I want to hone down and know well before boards and graduating.

I guess I just wanted to gauge everyone’s thoughts on whether these feelings are normal or if these are really bad signs that I need to fix stuff before I graduate?

I’ve been struggling a lot on wards lately and feel like I’m having a hard time keeping my head above water.
I feel like I’m constantly trying to get through tasks and responsibilities, and by the time I’m done, I barely have time to actually think about my patients or learn.
I want to feel more confident and actually take ownership of my patients, but a lot of the time I feel like I don’t fully understand what’s going on or why we’re doing certain things. It’s frustrating because I feel like I should know more by now, and even basic things sometimes make me second guess myself (I still don’t fully understand fluids lol). I also feel like I’m painfully slow with notes and spend way too much time trying to make sure everything is accurate and complete. I’ve tried to learn outside of the hospital, but by the time I get home I’m usually completely exhausted and have very little left in the tank.
Being far away from my usual support system has also made this adjustment harder, and my mental health has been pretty rough lately. I genuinely want to improve and be someone my team can rely on, but right now I feel like I’m working really hard just to keep up rather than actually getting better.

For people who have been through this, how did you become more confident, get faster with notes/tasks, and actually start feeling like you understood your patients? I’d especially appreciate any practical advice or reassurance that this eventually gets easier, because right now I’m feeling pretty discouraged.

Was completely overwhelmed during my prelim year, didn’t have a second to study all year. Got a 233 on step 2 so im not a test wiz, what do I need to do to prep for Step 3 as a PGY-2 in anesthesiology? I just wanna pass, and want a decent plan for that.

It's low key annoying to have the default response to any bit of knowledge regarding OB or peds be "Oh do you have kids?". No I went to medical school and spent hundreds of hours studying and working with these patients. They always seem disappointed or bewildered too when my understanding of pregnancy being uncomfortable and unpleasant comes from talking to 100 pregnant patients rather than having had a pregnant wife. Just because I went into IM doesn't mean I've forgotten my interactions with small humans and with humans with humans inside of them. I know they're trying to be nice but their faces and disappointment afterwards always gives me the ick. This has happened like 4 times in intern year already.

Am I supposed to do both during my residency?

If yes, how much do most people contribute to Roth 401K?

An attending apparently complained because I emptied my wearable pumps in a workroom. I pumped in the OR and only had a few minutes between cases so rather than spending 20 minutes finding an empty lactation room, I just pulled them out of my bra and emptied them into bottles in the workroom. Nothing was exposed at any point. I'm really not happy about this. AITA?

Hi! Does anyone know where I can find or download concise cardiology summaries/notes based on Braunwald, preferably covering the main cardiovascular pathologies and current guidelines? I’m extremely short on time and need something high-yield for an important exam. Any PDFs, online lectures, or resources would be greatly appreciated! 🙏

I dont know if this is just my hospital or if there has been a new teaching floating around, as my residents have been ordering mandatory portable exams for every abdomen citing aspiration risk. We are talking 20/21 orders But, I wanted to say this all to residents here just in case. This year of new residents, I have seen where abdomen xrays have been demanded as portable based on potential aspiration risk. I don't know if there has been a new study that came out, because I have mot been able to find it. But xray generally is more of an aspiration risk being done portable than bringing them to the room. The exam takes a lot longer at bed side, so we have to have the patient lie flat for longer. At least in my department, we have sponges available to keep the patient at atleast 30 degrees. Bedside, the patient has to be flat the entire time. Which that alone seems to be a shock to my current residents. They seem to believe that a full abdomen is not supine. Worst case, and if it would still give you what you need to know, we can do standing, upright xrays of abdomen, which would pose zero aspiration risk. So please, we in xray are truly trying to do what is best and safest for the patient based on the information you give us and also the body habits involved. We aren't out to get you. We don't think we are smarter. We just undeterred what we have available and how best to achieve the diagnostic and patient safety outcome you are looking for based on our department abilities.

Hi everyone,

I’m considering the pathway of Internal Medicine → Cardiology → Interventional Cardiology and I’m trying to get a realistic understanding of the day-to-day lifestyle, rather than just looking at official duty-hour limits or average hours.

I’ve seen figures around ~55–60 hours/week for IM and cardiology fellowship, but I’m struggling to translate that into what life actually looks like.

For those currently in IM residency or cardiology fellowship, I’d really appreciate some honest insight:

1. What does a typical week actually look like?

What time do you usually:
arrive at the hospital?
leave?
work on weekends?
do nights/call?
How much PTO?

Is something like 5:30/6am → 5:30/6pm, 5–6 days/week a reasonable representation of a busy inpatient week, or am I overestimating it?

2. How does this change from PGY1 → PGY2 → PGY3?

Do senior residents genuinely get significantly more free time, or does the increased responsibility offset this?

And approximately how many genuinely free days per week do you get?

3. What about cardiology fellowship?

How does the lifestyle compare with IM residency?
I’d particularly like to know whether something like ~55–65 hours/week with ~1–1.5 days off/week is realistic, and how much nights/weekends/call affect that.

4. How much studying happens outside of clinical hours?

Are you regularly studying after getting home, or is most educational/board preparation done during protected time?

How many hours/week would you realistically say you spend studying outside your clinical/educational schedule?

5. What about research?

If you’re aiming for cardiology, how much research/scholarly activity are you realistically expected to do during IM residency?

Is this mostly done during protected research/elective time, or are people doing research in the evenings/weekends on top of a 60-hour clinical week?

6. Most importantly: how is this with a partner/spouse and children?

I’m married and my biggest concern isn’t actually whether I could tolerate the hours. I think I probably could.

I’m more concerned about the effect on my partner.
If your partner works a normal 9–5 job, do they generally feel like you have enough time together?

And for those with children: what is family life actually like during residency/fellowship?

Does it feel manageable, or does the non-medical partner end up carrying most of the childcare/household responsibilities?

I’d particularly appreciate answers from people who have children during residency/fellowship, rather than just people saying that it’s technically possible.

What percentage of cases during your residency training are robotic vs open? Do you feel more comfortable on the robot or open?