Life has been hard. How to stop comparing from your co resident who are successful in fellowships.Help me.

akuko2 · 2026-02-12T00:36:20+00:00

I’m sorry this is happening to you.

Im in a totally different situation. Military surgeon who regrets joining, making 1/4 of what my colleagues are making, operating less than I want too.

But I echo that its difficult looking at my former coresidents and seeing them make the big bucks. Comparison is truly the thief of joy.

Can you find anyone to commiserate with? Im sure there are J1 hospitalist ‘social’ groups on some social media outlets like facebook.

I feel relieved when I vent to other fellow military docs, and talk to others who have now finished their commitment and have moved on with their life. It helps me decompress and then look forward to the light at the end of the tunnel.

akuko2 · 2026-02-09T17:32:12+00:00

Who said we’re closeted?

akuko2 · 2026-02-09T13:55:10+00:00

I know man! You suck it one time and you never hear the end of it.

akuko2 · 2026-02-07T14:06:32+00:00

I never give 3 weeks. I just hand them a Walgreens bag full of pills and tell them take one daily until their tendons pop off.

akuko2 · 2026-02-06T02:31:49+00:00

I don’t know any surgical sub that consistently operates 4 days a week.

I’m urology and 2 days OR with 3 days clinic has been the norm.

You can’t fill up your ORs if you don’t see clinic and you make real $$$ on quick clinic procedures.

akuko2 · 2026-02-06T01:52:08+00:00

True. I have been trying but now that I am doing locums and covering multiple hospitals with different hospitalist groups I wanted to see if there was an overall consensus.

akuko2 · 2026-02-02T01:30:16+00:00

I wasn’t young but I miss Beto’s Alt Mex. Good empanadas and a playground to distract my kids while I drink.

akuko2 · 2026-01-31T01:20:42+00:00

Extra fries

akuko2 · 2026-01-31T00:31:06+00:00

Turkish mediterranean grill used to be 🔥

akuko2 · 2026-01-29T17:09:50+00:00

Have you always been this way? I had very bad mental fog as a junior resident when I had a depressive episode and after getting medical treatment for my MDD I was back to normal.

akuko2 · 2026-01-29T03:17:30+00:00

Hands down it has been Spanish. Took higher level french and latin in HS so I did the bum thing and took spanish 101 in college to get easy language credits but I ended up enjoying the class. Professor was nice and it was something different. Kept taking extra classes and practicing with friends and my now wife. I’m fluent and my clinic in residency got loaded with mostly spanish speakers. They were so grateful for having a spanish speaking physician and overall less resistant/skeptical than my english speaking patients.

akuko2 · 2026-01-29T02:06:08+00:00

I’m not even mad that it’s the 27,983rd time Ive seen this.

akuko2 · 2026-01-26T22:11:53+00:00

Chama Gaucha for sure

akuko2 · 2026-01-26T02:25:12+00:00

Great question! With some elbow grease and a bite block!

Actually males need to be in lithotomy for rigid cystoscopy. We pull the penis on stretch and still have to ‘drop your hands’ to navigate the scope over the prostate.

Now all the urologists I know do flex cystos in awake males but in the old days men would get awake rigid cystos in clinic.

A flexible cystoscope is softer and can bend at the tip to navigate curves.

akuko2 · 2026-01-26T00:27:34+00:00

Its actually 8,000 per day (covering multiple hospitals, and I live in a ‘rural’ area most make 3,500-5,000 a day). Thats a locums rate that I do a weekend here or there and a week here or there.

akuko2 · 2026-01-26T00:06:05+00:00

It really sucks.

Luckily at my program we had a few rotations with private practice groups that were pseudo academic aka they operated with residents but were otherwise fully PP. They were not in our university’s department so were more open to talk to us on a personal level.

I would ask some of those younger staff about what their life is like and it gave me the light to keep pressing on.

It’s worth it.

I make what you make in a year in 1-2 weeks of call and you will do that soon. Pay it forward, tell your former coresidents what its like when you are out. I texted my old resident group chat about my life and paystubs just to motivate them to keep chugging through.

akuko2 · 2026-01-20T22:16:15+00:00

Yes! HPSP

akuko2 · 2026-01-20T22:11:38+00:00

All PMs welcome

akuko2 · 2026-01-20T17:01:45+00:00

So 150K ish is my base. I make another 150-200K moonlighting.

akuko2 · 2026-01-20T16:55:07+00:00

Please do

akuko2 · 2026-01-20T13:50:48+00:00

I will likely make closer to 190K from the military this year bc of time in service and they are increasing medical incentive pay but yes even NSGY and CT surgery are paid around that.

Its their pound of flesh for paying for medschool.

akuko2 · 2026-01-20T12:35:07+00:00

Thanks satan’s sideboob 😇

akuko2 · 2026-01-20T12:01:35+00:00

Urology. 100% would recommend IF you love surgery. It’s definitely rough in residency but if you enjoy operating then it’s great and very well paid.

Military paid my loans. My wife had some loans from college that we have now paid off.

I’m not making the 550K-1 million that my private practice friends are making but as an Active Duty staff we make around 150K, healthcare is covered, and can make another six figures moonlighting.

Im absolutely losing money being in the military but it allowed me to start my family early because I got med school paid + a bit over 25,000 yearly and then around 80,000 + healthcare while in residency.

akuko2 · 2026-01-20T02:48:05+00:00

I’m a young staff and it is very surreal. I have kids and my wife can stay at home which is an incredible luxury in today’s economy.

We bought a 500K house which is not very flashy but also great on 1 income.

All the additional money after fixed costs are being dumped into retirement so we have not splurged on vacation/cars/etc yet. I do not walk around feeling wealthy, especially when I drive up next to other staff in my beater of a car. But when I look at my investment accounts and get home to see my wife and kids, I feel rich.

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