Half of med school graduates beginning surgical residency feel unprepared

[kluurs]

A resident who was living with me back in the 80s took out a large life insurance policy as he was reasonably certain he wasn't going to survive.

[George K]

@George-K said in Half of med school graduates beginning surgical residency feel unprepared:

“Adequate exposure to the necessary realities of surgical training and independent practice, particularly overnight call during the medical school clerkship, may [my emphasis] contribute to improved preparedness,

Or, as a surgeon with whom I worked said, "The problem with being on call every other night is that you miss half the good cases."

[bachophile]

Pussies

I took call every third night. Stayed in the whole next day. No Libby Zion laws.

Not that I think that it was sane , but surgery needs to be immersive. The only way to learn to be independent is to be there at two AM shitting your pants with worry and figuring out what to do.

Next generation of docs will be Computer savvy and up to date on all the new technologies , augemneted reality, hybrid ORs, robots. But I’m not sure what will be facing a knife in the chest, and no robot to help you open the chest in a few minutes.

[George K]

@bachophile said in Half of med school graduates beginning surgical residency feel unprepared:

Libby Zion laws.

Is there any evidence that those laws made a difference in outcomes, or reduced mistakes?

[bachophile]

The only help they may have done was reduced car accidents of residents driving home after call.

[bachophile]

Which is something...

[Jolly]

Residents found Charity, much like Cook County, to be a soul-grinding zoo.

But they learned.

[Mik]

no substitute for experience.

[George K]

@Mik said in Half of med school graduates beginning surgical residency feel unprepared:

no substitute for experience.

Good judgment comes from experience.

Experience comes from bad judgment.

[George K]

When I told Mrs. George about this article, she reminded me...

"Remember when you were a resident on OB, and because of a lack of staff, you were on call every other night?"

Oh...yeah.

That was a lifetime ago, of course, and the residency was quite different (not as busy - I could usually get 2-3 hours of uninterrupted sleep).

Is more frequent call a good thing, ultimately?

I don't know.

This report seems to suggest that entering a residency while not having a rich late-night experience is detrimental, at least in terms of "feeling prepared."

My experience was remarkable. The day after I grabbed my diploma, I was 100% ready, with no anxiety. I was confident in what I knew, and I was confident that I would have support from my senior colleagues (my resident) that he would help me if I needed it.

It was not a surgical residency, but a medical one, but I think the basic point stands - my schooling made me ready.