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Originally Posted by DoctorJ
I read in your recent post that ability means a lot.
What kind of ability do the residency programs EXPECT you to have as an intern, say your 1st week on the job?
I've been talking to a lot of 4th yr US med student recently (my buddies) and we're very insecure and anxious about July. We can't interpret EKG (that well). We didn't get a lot of practices drawing blood and doing IVs or injections. Can only read simple (I mean simple x-rays). Not much experiences in the actual delivery of a baby.
We feel like we have the basic/clinical knowledge down but just lack real handson...
And I'm an IMG and I rotated with a lot of them for my clinicals.
This is normal? Will the residency program really "train" us?
Thanks.
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I aspire to be steph, but today I can only chime in as another opinion to the OP.
for the first several months of my internship, I used to feel sick before I took night call. I mean physically ill, I was so terrified.
my first night on call I slept with my shoes on "ready to run and save lives"
Little did I know that in any code, I was not even close to being in charge!
In my fellowship, I got the same sick feeling. It is worse when you ARE in charge.
Then my first few months as an attending, I felt sick again because this time there was absolutely no backup whatsoever. I was the back-up.
My point is that being nervous is normal. Depending on your specialty, yourlevel of responsibility ( and concomittent stress ) may be tremendous.
Being nervous is totally normal.
as an intern what you really need to know the first few weeks is how to ask for help.
If you can't read an EKG, get a book and learn. Do a cards elective. Study harder/ Prepare yourself for day one.
the learning curve in residency is so steep.By November You will look back at some of the things you did in your first month and crack up.
In my case, I can't remember learning all the stuff I learned. It just happens, maybe by osmosis and by trial and error. you will have lots of support. suddenly, med students will be following you around, and you will see how little they know compared to you.
It's all relative. the more experience I get, I do not feel much smarter, but the people around me seem to know less and less.
we all freaked out before starting. It's totally normal