Advice for Intern Residents
Every intern resident looks the same nearing July 1. Bright-eyed, eager to learn, filled with good intentions….AWAKE for that matter 😅. Now some are skulking around, ready to throw their new MD title, AKA badge of honor and hall pass to treat others like 💩. Although I pray you’re of the former descriptions, this post is for all residents. Below are my suggestions for entering into your first week and every week thereafter!
1️⃣ Practice positive inner dialogue. This is the BEST advice I can give you. This was where I struggled most. If you miss an order, put a restraint on your type A personality and refrain from calling yourself “stupid”. Y’all already know if you’re black, the world and people’s implicit and subconscious biases are already pretty much against you. The more you talk to yourself this way, THE MORE AND MORE YOUR CONFIDENCE, and hence, YOUR ABILITY to critically think and treat, are negatively impacted. Replace the “dang I’m so f*cking slow/stupid/dumb” with “dang ok I made a mistake, but I had good intentions/I’m a good person/let me try to change this for next time.” This was my biggest learning point and honestly, I didn’t learn to not do this until AFTER residency, and I truly think I might have tested/performed even higher than what I did if I had learned to talk to myself better. Don’t make the same mistake I did, stop that ish now.
2️⃣ Keep a To-Do List: Not so fast, I know you think you’ve heard this one before, but hang on ☝🏾. NO MATTER HOW SWAMPED YOU ARE, you will be bombarded with more orders. The second best advice I can give you is to put orders in IMMEDIATELY when asked to do them, or say, “Ok sure no prob, hang on let me write this down and I’ll get it done for you in like 5 mins, cool? Hey give me a call back if it’s not in, ok? Thanks!” But I’m not only talking about a To-Do list that incorporates what you have to do at work, but also what you have to do at home, what articles/publications you plan to read, etc. My personal to-do list incorporates what I have to do at work and what things I have to do when I get off of work (getting car fixed, picking up groceries, laundry, etc). Make your list as complete and organized as possible. You’d be surprised at how quickly you can forget to do these things in residency. Which brings me to my next point. 👇🏾
3️⃣ Don’t just go to sleep cause you’re tired! Self care, even when tired, is important. Remember, sometimes going to sleep as soon as you get home is actually the worst form of self care 🤷🏽♀️. I hate to tell you this but, you’re always going to be tired homie 🤷🏽♀️. Do what you need to do as much as you can, even if you’re tired. Believe it or not, completing your chores is actually a form of self care. Less on your to do list and less clutter=a clear mind. At least for me, sleeping just cause I’m tired doesn’t mean I’ll feel rested when I get up. Remember to take some time to clean, work out, stretch, meditate, sit in a sauna, facetime family/friends, go to therapy (check out @therapyforblackgirls and @therapyforblkmen ), EVEN WHEN TIRED. You may be surprised that when you make time to release tension with these activities, you’ll feel a lot more at peace and restful than from just coming home and going directly to sleep everyday. Don’t fall victim to this dangerous routine, please!
4️⃣ Be nice: I know you’ll be stressed/overwhelmed/tired. But try to remember that it’s not anyone else’s fault; the majority of people calling/consulting you are asking for help.
5️⃣ You can and will learn from your nurses. Please don’t have a God complex. I hate those kinds of people. I would say I learned about 95% of my bread and butter labor procedures from nurses. In fact, some of my closest friends today were the nurses that trained me 😉 Y’all know who y’all are 👋🏽.
6️⃣ Sleep hygiene is important! I wish I had of taken this more seriously in med school residency. It took me a year to fall back into healthy sleep habits after I got out of residency. Don’t read in bed (you’ll just get more and more tired when you do), don’t fall asleep with the TV on, no IG or screen time for at least an hour before bed! Better sleep hygiene makes you more productive and less tired when you’re awake.
Shout out to my classmate @asadbaigmd for putting this #AdviceForIncomingResidents campaign together. Happy treating! ✌🏾