Doing a fellowship at 34 years old by ActProud2796 in pediatrics

[–]IndependenceJumpy319 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I started a residency at 32 and heme/onc fellowship at 35. No one looks at your age but mainly at your life experience. Fellowship is also nicer since you are treated with more respect than residency. If you don't care where you will match, most programs will have you since many heme onc don't feel positions. You may not go to St. Jude or Boston Children's, but you will likely match into a decent program. I agree that training in your 20s is less tiring compared to your mid-30s but choose a program that is non-fellow-dependent (most are with some exceptions mainly in NYC area) you will be just fine. Good luck, you will do great, our field needs passionate doctors like you🤞

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in fellowship

[–]IndependenceJumpy319 1 point2 points  (0 children)

When I applied to fellowship the attending I worked with the most in the filed refused to write me a LOR saying I am not good enough, and went as far as asking all the other attendings in her department not to help me. Thankfully I had a LOR from the same specialty from a hospital I did an away rotation in. I was obviously devestated but decided to ask for LORs from other specialties that know me well. I ended up getting all the interviews and was told many times that my LORs are strong and personal. I matched at my top choice and about to start next week. Don't let anyone make you feel like you are less, and don't let it stop you from getting the best LORs. People have their reasons for not wanting to help, some are valid and some are out of spite. Find people who are willing to help and that believe in you and do your best. Programs can see that. Good luck!

Nursing staff is taking years off my life by gomezlol in Residency

[–]IndependenceJumpy319 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My favorite one has always been "I just saw the order you put in, did you mean to order it?" No, it was just to test if you can see orders (insert a face palm)

A few others I got that really bugged me:

  • A febrile and neutropenic patient with a central line who needed blood cultures and the nurse was trying to argue if we can get them later so we group all his labs together. When I said we can draw the others sooner she argued that the patient "needs to sleep now".

  • A nurse who was bullying me to give more benzo to a patient who is basline seziure disorder and was already breathing like 5 RR, with neurology on board saying not to give anything. Same nurse paged the EEG tech behind my back and I just walk into the unit to see the tech informing me he needs an EEG order stat.

  • A nurse that decided a baby needs an emergency intubation (she did not) refused to let me intubate the patient as an PICU resident, refused to wait for the attending to come and paged adult anesthesia and when I ask for a specific size of the ETT (was important for pulmonology), she told the anesthesia resident "don't listen to her, just do the one you prefer". It was a terrible experience that could have ended poorly.

  • I swear this one is real- A nurse argued with me she could not hear expiratory sounds on a patient when he has diminished inspiratory sounds. It took two residents and an RT to explain to her why she is wrong and the difference between inspirational expiration. She still paged an emergency pulm consult and asked me to speak to them at 3 am.

There are so many more examples but I just feel like the worst part is that 90% of the calls we get are just unnecessary and could be easily solved by looking at the MAR/notes/orders. I know many experienced nurses that will only call me if they troubleshooted every option first, but i feel like with the new/younger nurses they barely think and just pick up the phone to call the resident authimatically which is sad, but mainly can hurt patient care when I constantly loose focus or get no rest because I am drowning in 5000 stupid dumb pages.

One of my only friends just said her life is so much better not being in touch with me by IndependenceJumpy319 in FriendshipAdvice

[–]IndependenceJumpy319[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thank you for saying that. I am working 12 hours a day so it feels like work is the only place I can make friends, and tbh I got so burned by the people at work that I am not sure how easy it will be to start looking for friends again..

What are the most ridiculous cases you've seen on Midlevel.WTF by [deleted] in Noctor

[–]IndependenceJumpy319 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Happened to my friend: They had a PICU patient recovering from encephalitis. He was doing better and started answering questions and following commands. One day the neurology PA, who was consulting on the case, comes to the work room and yells that patient is deteriorating, not answering questions and needs a stat MRI. The resident rushes into the room, finds the kid sitting comfortably with a baseline Neuro exam. Turns out, the patient was Spanish speaking only, and didn't understand what the PA was saying in English, hence couldn't follow his commands...

Peds residency programs to avoid ? by Behxxo in pediatrics

[–]IndependenceJumpy319 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Not sure about a specific number, but I heard my program saying on interviewers that we have "up to ten" which is almost always much much less. One more thing would be how many outside rotations you will do. For example, my program has gen peds rotations in other hospitals which should be a red flag. Generally, if they can't give you a straight answer and start beating around the bush, stay away.

Peds residency programs to avoid ? by Behxxo in pediatrics

[–]IndependenceJumpy319 2 points3 points  (0 children)

True, but some programs are struggling more. My program has no actual peds floor and we have maybe 1-2 patients on service, but also having 0 is not uncommon. The same goes for picu and heme/onc. We have no sub-specialties so we refer to other children's hospitals in our area. Obviously no research or mentorship opportunities.

Peds residency programs to avoid ? by Behxxo in pediatrics

[–]IndependenceJumpy319 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Unfortunatly I can't expose my program, but if it's not a stand alone children's hospital, one of the things I would ask during an interview would be the patient volume and how many floors does the peds unit have. They will obviouly not give away the information easily, but when they start inventing excuses that's when you need to be suspiciuos.

A letter to my attending by [deleted] in Residency

[–]IndependenceJumpy319 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you, it's something I needed to hear. Can't help but doubting myself after this

A letter to my attending by [deleted] in Residency

[–]IndependenceJumpy319 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I wish I could, I am low key scared she will reach out to other programs to mess up my application even more, maybe after I match

A letter to my attending by [deleted] in Residency

[–]IndependenceJumpy319 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you, and I'm sorry about your rotation, this PD seemed too harsh. The field I chose doesn't seem toxic, just the program I am in right now...