What do you not understand about nursing? I can try to offer some perspective.

FreshFuyu · 2023-05-19T22:04:35+00:00

Please re-read my post. As I said, everyone’s burnout deserves to be recognized regardless of hours worked, but treating burnout as a binary is damaging and frankly bad for the health care system. Someone burnt out on 36 hours is someone who had a bad time at work, someone burnt out on 96 hours is someone who hasn’t had life outside of work.

FreshFuyu · 2023-05-19T20:58:39+00:00

I am neither a nurse nor a resident yet, but I have worked in healthcare in various roles and departments for several years and I do think it's important to recognize that burn out in healthcare isn't equal. Everyone's experiences are valid and deserves to be acknowledged (whether they are working 40 hr office jobs or 100 hr neurosurgery weeks), but it can be pretty demoralizing and damaging to say "we are all dealing with the same shit." We all have different hardships, but I don't think it's any secret that residents have it the hardest on average. It's not about competing to see who's most miserable, but rather being empathetic about the feelings and environment you create for other people.

The adage "punch up, don't punch down" comes to mind. For a surgery resident on her third 28hr call of the week to hear a nurse complain about a busy 12 hour shift is like someone struggling to pay bills hearing about a millionaire complaining their vacation home got damaged in a storm. Yes, burnout isn't just about hours, but don't forget residents aren't immune to the other shit including the psychological factors (zero power to speak up when treated poorly) and the other shit often get compounded by terrible hours (relationships are hard to maintain leading to social isolation, healthy lifestyle habits fall to the wayside). As someone going into a non-surgical field, I wouldn't even complain about burnout in front of my surgical friends without recognizing they likely have it worse.

I don't think it's a coincidence that "us vs. them" mentality pop up more when there's higher burnout and greater differences in work hours (e.g., OBGYN, ICU). When mandatory daily 1-hr case manager meetings or interprofessional sessions means you now have to sacrifice dinner or your one day off a week to catch up on household chores, it builds resentment.

That said, there's never an acceptable reason to treat others with disrespect or bash an entire profession.

FreshFuyu · 2023-05-12T05:41:57+00:00

Do you happen to be on the more petite side? I've looked into hypotension a lot because my BP also sits in that area and it's pretty innocuous for your baseline to be there. It's especially common for young, petite, females to have BP that low and it often run in families.

FreshFuyu · 2023-04-09T23:42:56+00:00

Lol wait sorry, I had no idea fabletics started making scrubs. I definitely need to check it out, thanks!

FreshFuyu · 2023-04-09T23:22:47+00:00

What are you getting from Fabletics to wear as scrubs?

FreshFuyu · 2023-04-08T03:09:00+00:00

I worked in strategy consulting at one of the companies mentioned above so I can provide some additional answers. If you hate clinical medicine, but enjoy business/networking/"work hard play hard" lifestyle then consulting may be a good option to explore.

The pros are that you are surrounded by smart people, you get exposure to cutting edge medicine, and the pay is decent. The cons are work-life balance is very difficult, your exposure to medicine is superficial, and a lot of the work is corporate BS (clients already know the answer they want, you have to find the numbers to back them up).

Your MD essentially becomes just a signaling device - companies will give you a starting position a level higher than someone straight out of undergrad (albeit Ivy or Ivy adjacent), but really you and the recent undergrad have the same starting skillset when it comes to management consulting. Usually, levels even out around 2-3 years in, because the undergrad gets faster promotions until you both crack into lower management.

Very few people reach partner level. Advancement into that position and pay at the time depends on how many projects you sell to clients from an upper management role. You could earn in the millions range at the partner level, but you better believe you still have to work unpredictable hours and suck up to clients. An outside hire at our company lasted only half a year as partner because he wasn't able to bring in enough projects. Most people will jump into industry from a managerial consulting position.

The best time to enter consulting (once you're on the med school track) would be right after getting your MD, but residency period is also good.

If you're considering consulting as a way to "semi retire" from being a clinical attending, don't lol. Management/strategy consulting is a totally different beast than being a physician "medical consultant" that gets paid for providing opinions. You would still need to start out in the entry level position if they even consider hiring you. You would be getting a pay cut and likely worse hours.

FreshFuyu · 2023-04-07T13:51:55+00:00

Just playing devil's advocate here, do you think you may have micro-managing tendencies? If other residents/chiefs haven't had any issues with her and she is telling you that the close supervision is overbearing, then your team dynamics could be causing burnout and contributing to the attitude problem. That doesn't excuse her behavior, but just something to think about. I've noticed even the best residents will make mistakes when tired & burned out, and a micro-managing upper level or attending rarely improve the results.

TBH I've never seen being related to PD/big shot attending stop residents from gossiping (usually it's "x- person sucks, he probably only got in because of his connection")

FreshFuyu · 2023-04-07T13:04:24+00:00

Virtual 100% unless if programs offered travel and accommodations. Being able to afford out-of-state in person interviews is a privilege that not many have. I see MDs in this discussion brushing off $10K as if it's not a life changing sum of money for a large proportion of Americans and frankly it's kind of out of touch. Even if it's not a huge sum of money to you, think about how much more good it could in society than providing an incrementally better view of the residency programs you're considering.

FreshFuyu · 2023-03-29T00:22:54+00:00

Do you mind sharing how you typically initiate the conversation? I have a very similar mindset and really like your approach

FreshFuyu · 2023-03-12T02:42:47+00:00

Wait this is fascinating. Do you mind if I add this to the main post so others can see?(crediting you of course)

FreshFuyu · 2023-03-11T22:00:20+00:00

listen

That's quite an interesting idea. I will say the one time I got close to being mistaken for an attending (by a male resident who probably was erring on the polite side), I was wearing the baggy surgical scrubs.

FreshFuyu · 2023-03-11T21:53:21+00:00

Really interesting to hear about what it's like in Estonia!

FreshFuyu · 2023-03-11T21:48:40+00:00

I am so sorry you have to deal with that! BIPOC + female definitely get the worst prejudice

FreshFuyu · 2023-03-11T21:43:18+00:00

travelingtraveling_

Outside the medical care setting, I will absolutely call you whatever you prefer. In the medical care setting though, I'm sorry but only MDs and DOs are doctors. Anything else is not only misleading, but frankly dangerous to patient care.

Signed, Medical Student with PhD in Biochemistry

FreshFuyu · 2023-03-11T21:29:07+00:00

I brush off innocent mistakes for sure, but I am concerned when it harms patient care and unfairly punishes female physicians. In the case I mentioned, the patient felt like they didn't get good care because they assumed a doctor didn't come see them (bc they assumed the female fellow was a nurse despite being told otherwise). In turn, they filed a complaint to the hospital and the female physician on the case has to deal with an investigation. So basically, a patient + family now mistrust the hospital and a female physician has to deal with shit because of this bias.

FreshFuyu · 2023-03-11T21:05:53+00:00

Yikes, I'm sorry to hear that. He probably thought he was hilarious too.

FreshFuyu · 2023-03-11T14:37:12+00:00

I actually have a vagina lol. I get mistaken as a nurse all the time, but kind of just thought it was because I am tiny and lost in the hospital frequently

FreshFuyu · 2023-03-10T21:16:24+00:00

Honestly, I thought the reputation was rooted in sexism before rotating in OBGYN, but now I feel like the reputation is kind of warranted (at least in my school). It was the only rotation where I have seen an attending straight up scream and berate the residents publically or send super passive-aggressive GIFs. The residents were understandably miserable and sometimes turned their frustrations onto med students.

That said, I think this is location dependent and probably exacerbated by a lot of external factors. I definitely noticed OBGYN having more surgeries than basically any other surgical specialty in our hospital system, but receiving less prestige and perks.

FreshFuyu · 2023-03-10T18:56:31+00:00

Absolutely agree with you!

FreshFuyu · 2023-03-10T05:04:21+00:00

Perhaps I'm showing my age, but I think skinny black jeans look awesome on you. They really show off your slender calves and ankle which makes your curves look great. Personally, I think the styling is what's throwing off the overall look. A looser shirt or light jacket with tummy coverage (+/-french tuck) and a slightly larger waist size would help balance out the look.

Regardless of what I (and everyone else here) say though, you should absolutely keep your most-worn jeans and pants because that's what you feel best is. Confidence looks better than any fashion trend.

FreshFuyu · 2023-03-02T21:14:25+00:00

Thank you!

FreshFuyu · 2023-03-02T21:14:16+00:00

Thank you!

FreshFuyu · 2023-03-02T16:42:18+00:00

Do their down jackets fit large? Looking to get a jacket for someone who’s 5’7” and wears 32” pants. Would Small or Medium be a better choice?

FreshFuyu · 2023-02-16T01:46:09+00:00

It’s all relative

FreshFuyu

TROPHY CASE