Tips to Adjust to Residency Life
Written by Elizabeth Yim, MD
Adjusting to a residency schedule can be hard. At least in my experience, it was the first time in a long time that my time was not “my own.” Gone were the days of listening to recorded lectures. After time spent traveling and enjoying the end of my fourth year post-match, coming back to a 60-80 hour work week was difficult to adjust to. Factor in conference time and time spent switching your circadian rhythm between day and night shifts and suddenly your one to two days off a week feels like much less. After completing one-third of my first year of residency, here are tips that I have compiled:
Find time to read about an interesting case you’ve had each day. No longer can you say, “let me ask my resident?” That is now YOU. With the great power (that comes with your MD or DO), comes great responsibility (of being able to be your patient’s competent physician).
Find mentors. Carving your path in residency is much murkier than carving your path in medical school. There is no set blueprint on what you should do to build your CV. Now is the time to pursue a subspecialty or professional interest that you are genuinely interested in. Find someone whose career you admire and find out how to create one of your own
Do a little bit each day. With one to two days off from work weekly, it can be daunting to see a whole sink full of dishes to do plus two weeks worth of laundry, grocery shopping, and all your other chores. Doing a little bit each day will help clear up your day off to spend doing things that re-energize you.
Don’t feel guilty if most of your day off is spent resting. You may create grand plans to perform all your chores, go on a day hike, and catch up with your friends and family... but you might want to sleep in and spend most of the day resting. Listen to what your body needs!
Spend time creating strong bonds with your co-residents. After all, residency is a tough time, and who better to commiserate with than your co-residents who are going through the same thing? Creating strong friendships and bonds has been shown to improve resiliency. A bonus is creating lifelong friendships after graduation.
Be upfront with your friends and family about your work schedule early on. Creating fun plans can help give you something to look forward to at the end of a long week and can help fight the “fear of missing out” of not being able to make every single hangout or family function.
Find ways to be more efficient in day-to-day life. Whether that means meal prepping, listening to podcasts on the way to work, or biking to and from shifts to fit in your daily exercise, efficiency is key to freeing up your time in residency.
Request important days off with plenty of advanced notice. If celebrating your birthday is important to you, ask for it months in advance. Achieving some semblance of normal life and being able to celebrate important milestones is important in maintaining your happiness and well-being.
Find healthy coping mechanisms that work for you. For me, I started therapy for the first time, and talking about difficult patient scenarios has been helpful for my healing. For you, that might be journaling or talking with a close friend. Regardless of the method, invest time for self-care and reflection.
In summary, taking care of yourself during residency while taking care of your patients, friends, and family can be overwhelming but necessary in the long run. Check-in with yourself, develop efficiency in daily tasks, and make time to cultivate yourself outside of the hospital or clinic.
