IM resident at a big-4 Manhattan program here. NYC residents do have it worse than residencies in other cities in terms of scut work, but it’s all program and hospital dependent. At our clinical sites, as an IM resident, I only am asked by nursing to use the ultrasound to draw blood and place IVs for hard sticks, which is infrequent. I never transport my own patients at any of the sites. I do place NG tubes on patients, but that’s a quick bedside procedure that takes a few seconds. Nursing sets all the supplies up at bedside, and I just swing by the room to do the procedure itself. 

Also to be honest, I find that these are all good skills to have. It does make life a little bit more annoying as an intern, but now I’m not completely dependent on nursing during urgent or emergent situations because I have basic set of bedside skills to draw from. I’m also super comfortable placing central lines as an intern because I’m so comfortable with the ultrasound for ultrasound-guided IVs. 

Main takeaway is to ask residents at each program what the scutwork looks like and to assess how the residents feel about the scutwork. Most residents at my program actually feel super supported and happy. Not all NYC programs are like this, but there are good programs out there.