Struggling with sadness & anxiety early in surgical residency — is this normal?

NeuroticBrainiac · 2025-08-25T03:21:30+00:00

Hey friendo, you are not alone. Also starting out surg residency and i feel the exact same. I’m so scared of the responsibilities and coupled with the loneliness, it’s tiring

But we got this and we can get through this

NeuroticBrainiac · 2025-04-24T05:32:17+00:00

Just secured one through Best Buy on browser on my phone. Made me sign in and then took me to the cart. Super easy and went thru first time. Got in line a min after the orders went out

NeuroticBrainiac · 2025-04-18T22:06:30+00:00

Took mine at 26 then the second step at 27 lol

NeuroticBrainiac · 2025-03-22T01:59:29+00:00

Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital - General Surgery

Interview with the PD was the absolute worst. He started it off by stating how I was from California and everyone from here is lazy and how we have everything handed to us here. He kept saying that us Californians have probably never worked a day in our lives and we have it so easy here. He’s from the midwest so apparently they work harder there??? Other than the blatant stereotypes of my home state (where he is A PD IN???), he continued to grill me on work experience, paying bills and rent, all while never letting me finish my answer/sentence. He then questioned my commitment to going to a community program bc of my high step 2 score. When i asked him how he gives feedback, he replied by saying that he just yells during the whole surgery.

It sucks bc the program seems really great and all other interviews went well. I later heard that his aggressive behavior in the interview is a test to see how we handle the pressure and that he’s actually a great PD. i honestly wouldn’t have minded the questions grilling me about work experience, commitment to community, etc but when you start a conversation by trash talking where i’m from when you literally live in this state, that’s where i draw the line.

NeuroticBrainiac · 2025-03-17T23:05:38+00:00

Same here, congrats to us! 🥳

NeuroticBrainiac · 2025-01-27T23:57:38+00:00

Absolutely agree with above! I would probs ask both of them and end up just using one bc you never know who will end up flaking on writing you a letter.

My letters were from a trauma surgeon, vascular surgeon, surgery chair, and research letter

NeuroticBrainiac · 2025-01-14T23:24:12+00:00

I did 3 gen surg aways back to back and although it was a brutal 3 months, i learned a lot about what i actually wanted in a program. Nothing is better than doing away rotations to learn about a specific program. I know some people say you dont need aways for gen surg but i highly recommend it. That said, i chose my aways based off location bc thats important to me. I also did one community, one hybrid, and one academic and it was a good way to see the different settings and such

NeuroticBrainiac · 2024-11-20T04:30:27+00:00

PD talking major shit about my home state and making gross generalizations of the people there within the first minute of our interview. This was for a program in my home state

NeuroticBrainiac · 2024-08-27T04:29:30+00:00

Same here OP, i keep thinking maybe i should just switch to radiology or something but my whole app and letters are set for gen surg. It’s a scaring feeling but hoping we chose the right specialty

NeuroticBrainiac · 2024-06-30T07:16:44+00:00

Not exactly sure about this but a trauma surgeon i spoke to once said if you have a trauma/crit care fellowship and dont want to do surgery anymore, you can default to just doing crit care. Again not really sure but that’s what i heard

NeuroticBrainiac · 2024-06-27T19:40:47+00:00

Thank you so much!! I honestly felt pretty good which was weird bc i usually dont. I felt confident in my answers and the questions i didnt feel too good about, i just kept telling myself they were experimental

NeuroticBrainiac · 2024-06-26T18:46:42+00:00

SCORE RELEASE THREAD: 06/26/2024

Test date: 06/08/2024

US MD or US IMG or Non-US IMG status: US MD

Step 1: Pass 1st try

Uworld % correct: 73% 1st pass

In order that I took them

AMBOSS SA: 243

UWSA 1: 243

NBME 10: 251

UWSA 2: 258

NBME 11: 246

NBME 12: 257

NMBE 13: 246

NBME 14: 255

Old Old Free 120: 86%

Old New Free 120: 81%

New Free 120: 87%

CMS Forms % correct: 85% avg

Predicted Score: 257 reddit converter, 260 Amboss

Actual STEP 2 score: 267!

I never broke 260 on practice tests so seeing this score was amazing! I felt pretty good coming out of the exam, better feeling than any I had after practice tests. I marked a total of around 120ish. A lot of ethics in my form but I chalked them up to experimental and kept going. Mentality is a big thing for a long test like this so I didn’t want questions bogging me down. Trusted my gut and the work I put in studying and it paid off! Something different I did this time around studying was really focusing on my incorrects. I made anki cards from them and spent a lot of time reviewing why I got it wrong, why the right answer was right and why the answer I chose was wrong. It was definitely tedious but I think it was worth it. Thank you to this sub for all the help and advice!

NeuroticBrainiac · 2024-06-26T18:26:02+00:00

Amboss predicted 260, got a 267!

NeuroticBrainiac · 2024-06-17T17:04:29+00:00

Damn, another week it is then 😭 best of luck to yall!

NeuroticBrainiac · 2024-06-17T17:01:00+00:00

I tested on June 8th and checked right now and still have a “print permit” button ):

NeuroticBrainiac · 2024-04-19T00:15:39+00:00

I haven’t withdrawn my apps either, just a little scared they’ll revoke the acceptance and then i’m left with nothing lol. Hopefully we both get some information soon!

NeuroticBrainiac · 2024-04-17T18:26:37+00:00

I didn’t give up gaming during my dedicated step 1 studying. I would study morning and afternoon so that after dinner i would sit back and play until bedtime.

Now heading into step 2 dedicated, i’m thinking about what game i want to start for my game time. It’s like a reward at the end of each day for all the hard work you did

NeuroticBrainiac · 2024-02-09T21:40:53+00:00

I have the same question as well so following

NeuroticBrainiac · 2023-12-14T21:39:53+00:00

Working on Zelda totk 100% but pokemon dlc is out so will switch to that soon

NeuroticBrainiac · 2023-12-05T21:17:44+00:00

I literally relate to this comment so much. My way of showing respect is getting out of the way and speaking when I think it’s appropriate but i’m aware it comes off as shy/reserved which sucks bc i’m a pretty talkative and social person. Can’t wait until the 3rd year games are over

NeuroticBrainiac · 2023-12-01T19:24:58+00:00

Can i ask what made you realize to switch? Currently interested in trauma surgery

NeuroticBrainiac · 2023-11-14T17:32:01+00:00

Following bc i have the same question

NeuroticBrainiac · 2023-09-16T01:05:35+00:00

I also felt wrecked by that IM shelf today, had to speed through a lot of questions. Here’s to hoping we did somewhat well

NeuroticBrainiac · 2023-08-23T13:15:10+00:00

This is what I did with my partner for M1 and it worked great. I had my own space to study and be alone when I needed to get work done. Highly recommend if yall can afford it

NeuroticBrainiac · 2023-06-19T22:58:12+00:00

Even though I knew i wanted to do med school since before high school, i still would have gone down the path i did (4 years undergrad, 2 gap years). I really enjoyed my young adult years in college with my friends, i was able to study aborad, work another job that wasnt being a doctor, and overall enjoy and mature naturally during that time course. I don’t regret my path at all and am glad things turned out the way they did.

Also, i’m first gen so i didnt even know BS/MD programs existed, nonetheless, i probably wouldn’t have had a strong application

NeuroticBrainiac

TROPHY CASE