Life in Residency

So how is life on the flip side? We’ve drained our blood, sweat, dollars and tears into med school and now we are …

well, we are doing alright.

I can only speak for David’s Family Medicine residency experience (which is still relatively new) at this specific program. But being an intern seems to be a challenging and rewarding experience for him.
I have to preface this post by admitting that David shares hardly anything with me about his patients – as it should be. We both take HIPAA seriously and the need for discretion intensifies in a very small-town community.
So while I understand that who you work with and what you see is 90 percent of the job, this blog won’t have any of that.
But you (the spouses who actually read this) are probably more concerned about the hours anyway 🙂

The Hours:

I’ll just get this out of the way first, since it seems to be the question on most people’s minds. Yes, the hours are rough. And yes, you will adapt to it and you will be OK.

David’s program consists of four-week blocks in which he will work in the OB, Emergency, Internal Med, Pediatrics, Surgery, Orthopedics, Cardiology, and other departments. Some rotation hours are better than others. OB was either 6 a.m. – 8 p.m. for the day shift or 6 p.m. – 8 a.m. for the night shift. But there was a day off here and there. Emergency department shifts are from about noon ’till midnight or thereabouts. For two months out of the year they will live two or three hours away in a provided (2-bedroom, family-friendly thank Heavens!) apartment in either Boise or Salt Lake City at Primary Children’s Hospital. Internal Medicine – they will basically live at the hospital for four weeks tied to an on-call phone. No joke. But we can handle only four weeks of anything, right? Plus the Community Medicine rotation is four weeks of 9-5 hours. So it balances somewhat. He will be working Christmas and New Years, but I hear they *try* to alternate years for people.

There are many times that I feel like a single mother – as much as both David and I hate to call it that. Holding down a job without an in-home caregiver is all but impossible. It is hard when your spouse is so busy stitching up bleeding people that he or she can’t respond to a text for days on end.

At the graduation ceremony for the 2014 class of residents, one of the preceptors/attendings came up to the group of newbs and said, “If you are prepared to work hard, you will be just fine.” He seemed to know what he was talking about, for the spouses as well.

No matter the specialty, the hours are hard. But if you like being a doctor and enjoy the people you work with, you will be happy. And when Huz is happy, wifey is happy. And when wifey isn’t happy … well, nobody’s happy. 😉

The People:

While I can’t say much about the patients or procedures, I can share what David has shared about the people and the program. Although David has been challenged, he works with good people. Many of the attendings and preceptors are graduates of the residency program, making them a little more understanding. Actually liking the people you work with makes even the rough hours a little better. When they say during residency interview season that they want candidates that will work well as a team, I can completely understand what they meant now.

Also many residencies will tell you in the interview process (once they learn that you have kids and a family) that they are “family friendly.” This residency not only talks the talk but also walks the walk. The families get together regularly. There is a playgroup every Thursday. We are amazed at the sense of community among the residents, preceptors and their families. I was able to attend the outgoing resident graduation at the invitation of the program. The accolades for the graduating residents did highlight their professional accomplishments. But what was focused on more was their accomplishments as compassionate human beings, parents and spouses. I was sincerely impressed by ISU’s sense of priorities.

Now a little (at least what I know) about the program:

• People seem to like to stay here. The program is run by many former ISU Family Med Residents.
• The hospital is brand-spankin’ new. Built in 2010.
• He can walk to and from work. In hindsight, a BIG plus.
• The OB experience was awesome. David caught at least 15 babies in four weeks, was in on any and all C-Sections and felt empowered and supported as an obstetrician.
• It is a completely unopposed program. Family Med is the only residency here.

I hope that by sharing a few of our experiences, you will feel better about interview season and the next step. Interview season is scary as heck and my thoughts and prayers are with all our friends. But I hope you can find a place where you can feel like you belong! If you can handle surgery and IM at Arrowhead, you can handle this.