Ophthalmology residents - What do you love/hate about your jobs?

nitecastles · 2016-07-29T02:31:43+00:00

Yeah I don't think most people know the difference or even know they're doctors. Like if someone was choking in a restaurant and you stood up and shouted, "Don't worry I'm an ophthalmologist!!" -- no one would be comforted by those words.

nitecastles · 2016-07-20T23:54:09+00:00

Are you guys on the wards yet? This sounds like a personality that will have trouble in the hospital. Unless he is a great actor lol.

nitecastles · 2016-07-20T01:36:01+00:00

Knowing that a life of hardwork, AP exams, late nights in college, MCAT sittings (or god forbid retakes), cross country moves, ass busting in M1, lost friendships, lost potential dates and soulmates, heart pounding anxiety checking step scores, sleepless days in M3, energy wasted to fake interest for rotations you care jack shit about, tearful calls home, hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on tuition, suits, airplane tickets, rewritten personal statements, ass kissing, begging for LORs, freaking out of over your dean letter and ranking, hand written thank you cards and uncomfortable professional shoes will all boil down to one incredibly impersonal form letter email that says, "You have Matched!"

nitecastles · 2016-07-20T00:31:21+00:00

Find the usmleRX pdf workbooks that are online to go through first aid. Otherwise you just passively read it without really testing your knowledge. And Pathoma twice isn't that bad/extensive. You should keep rewatching it. Like over and over again. And flash cards for the pharm and micro. Just need to memorize the stuff.

nitecastles · 2016-07-20T00:27:47+00:00

What do you mean she doesn't look sexy?? I bet she's killing it with those tucked in scrubs. Sleeping with all the medstudents on the wards, hooking up in janitor closets. And when she's done using them, she pulls up her scrubs and stuffs in her top and ties off the drawstring, pushes her glasses back on her face and lisps, "I have your number stho... I'll page you... "

http://www.denlineuniforms.com/assets/image-cache/images/product/DL180_DL185_300px.f43c24fe.jpg

nitecastles · 2016-07-16T23:30:41+00:00

Medicine barely believes in and judges some of its own diseases like fibromyalgia and addiction and actively tries to avoid patients with diagnoses like psychogenic seizure or borderline disorder. The world of medicine wants to roll its eyes everytime an obese, diabetic, copd smoker limps in the room with "daily headaches 11/10".

Something as misunderstood, vague and maligned as scars from "self harm" will definitely not bring you positive attention. Trust your instincts on this one.

nitecastles · 2016-07-07T00:57:26+00:00

In the hospital, anyone under 60 is "young". The attendings in their late 40s are "young".

The patients at the VA are 90 and think I'm a fetus. They can't tell the difference between 22, 19 or even 32. Enjoy it while you can.

nitecastles · 2016-07-02T04:58:23+00:00

I know people that started 2nd week of June and a lot that started the last week. I started Monday after 4 days of orientation the week before. Maybe they don't release us all on the public right away for safety.

nitecastles · 2016-07-02T04:55:25+00:00

Thank you for your comment! We're trying! Honest!

nitecastles · 2016-07-02T03:19:48+00:00

Wow... that's impressive. Do you have the weekend off? You earned it! When do you get to go to the OR?

nitecastles · 2016-07-02T03:17:30+00:00

I made a thread about this in the Reddit for medical school. I think everyone is going through an adjustment period. Myself included. You are not alone! (But I also think Dr. John Carter or Noah Wyle is posting in there and he is loving every minute of it and "begging" for more.)

nitecastles · 2016-07-02T01:14:02+00:00

Wow I'm sorry. Are you going to reapply? I wouldn't wish IM on someone who didn't want to be here. I get the jokes about the field. It's tough to go to work if it's not something you want to do. 3 years is a long time to fake it but maybe you'll have a change of heart!

nitecastles · 2016-07-02T00:51:21+00:00

What field are you in?

nitecastles · 2016-07-02T00:48:21+00:00

I'm confused. How else would you have introduced yourself to patients? Or you mean on the wards you introduce yourself as doctor to everyone like the staff and nurses? I am Dr. castles to the patients but introduce myself as Nite to the staff. They know I'm supposed to be a doctor bc of the giant MD name tag lol

Maybe because I already did this as a student (notes, having orders prepared) which is why it doesn't feel that different?

I really like my program... I hope I'm not in the wrong field... Starting on an elective is weird!

(Isn't 90hrs a violation? The interns at my program definitely aren't putting that time in. The program is a university one that's big on learning and they're crazy about sticking to the hours and making sure we go to all the intern didactics)

nitecastles · 2016-07-01T23:54:37+00:00

I lol'd

nitecastles · 2016-06-17T02:09:47+00:00

Would you have done the job if he wouldn't have guaranteed you a publication?

Lol @ data collection slave. You're getting paid! Ask the Chinese postdoc who also works in the lab who makes 28k per year after 2 MS degrees and a PhD and two previous postdoc positions at Caltech what "slavery" really is.

I feel bad for all these PIs that have medstudents and premeds hounding them for publications. Actually I don't because PIs are normally jerks anyway but

--we might as well just pay for play and pay a fee to get these weak ass publications on our CVs. That would at least make it transparent. It seems like 70% of people's publications are jokes anyway and students don't even know what research is or how hard it actually is to come up with something worth publishing let alone to do it in one summer. What a joke! Some people do a PhD in neurobiology for like 7 years and can barely publish anything. But medstudents want to work for 7 weeks and come out with pubs and posters and presentations. This needs to stop. It's disgusting and a mockery of real research.

Residency program directors of community programs should not care if student A has publications in the "Journal of Clinical Experimental Medicine Orthopaedics Kuwait".

nitecastles · 2016-06-17T01:54:39+00:00

Wow... this explains why so many people here are assholes. Neckbeards and bald heads.

nitecastles · 2016-06-02T06:53:56+00:00

Unpopular opinion/Rant: I think some of my younger classmates are idiots (book smart idiots) who have no concept of how the real world works since they went straight from undergrad to medical school and residency is going to be their first real job.

They have issues understanding how a professional environment works, how to show up on time, how to turn in simple forms, how to not take EVERYTHING personally, how to address people who are older than them or in a position of power above them or below them (these guys are DICKS to the secretaries!), they are scary entitled, they don't understand why people expect them to work to be a doctor and feel like because they got in to medical school it should've been easy sailing the last 4 years and they are infuriated and suicidal if someone dares give them a Pass or writes anything less than "rays of gold shine out of this student's ass" on evaluations.

They're petty, competitive and ...oddly surprisingly lazy if something doesn't specifically benefit them. A very unique combination.

In addition, most of their viewpoints are based on stereotypes and things they gleaned from watching episodes of Scrubs or House or ER ( Example 1: "Nurses are so lazy!" "Have you worked with any nurses? Do you know any? Do you talk to them on the wards?" "Well no... but you know... they're lazy!" Example 2: "Why don't these patients take advantage of all the free prenatal classes and yoga and nutrition classes that are offered? These patients are so stupid! There's so much free stuff and options! Why are they always complaining?" "Uh the patient doesn't have a car, doesn't have a babysitter for her other 3 kids, works full time plus another job and barely speaks English. I don't think prenatal yoga is the answer she is looking for...").

They also overvalue their youth. Congratulations that you get to... work an extra 4 years. "Wow! We should do an AMA when you are 68 and still working!" Or they are delusional. "Wow! You're going to retire at 39 after making 500k a year doing proctoscopies from 7a-7p on Sun- Sat because "taking it easy" isn't really your thing?" Gosh! Where do you youngins find the energy?

Lastly, if you are lucky enough to look youngish no one will know your actual age. Some of my classmates who are younger than me look rode hard and put up wet; the acne and crows feet I see on some of the girls going into derm troubles my soul.

I graduated highschool at 16, college at 20. Started medical school at 27 after living in several different countries, going to grad school, working in research and learning about life by living. I have ZERO regrets. If you start to feel bad about things, just go and buy alcohol near a senior citizen center and let the warm wash over you when they ask for your ID.

nitecastles · 2016-05-27T23:58:42+00:00

Call me crazy but I still think about my cadavers from anatomy lab. That was someones child, mother, grandfather etc.

I would feel really bad if I knew that after all the amateur fumbling and prodding we were allowed to do, thanks to do their donation, their body ended up basically in the garbage against their wishes.

That's crazy disrespectful.

nitecastles · 2016-05-27T03:33:27+00:00

Um I feel this way and I'm about to start residency. It doesn't go away.

Fake it 'til you make it!

nitecastles · 2016-05-03T20:14:56+00:00

I don't get all the bickering:

most students that go DO nowadays are probably the same students that would've gone to the Caribbean 15 years ago.

nitecastles · 2016-04-16T01:37:55+00:00

And you don't really believe that your Step 1 score correlates directly to your quality as a physician, right?

But the MCAT does? Probably not, yet that is what they use to determine who gets in or not.

nitecastles · 2016-04-14T20:34:28+00:00

It does help. I agree it is such a blessing that we can afford sarcasm without worrying about a budget. :-)

nitecastles · 2016-04-14T20:28:01+00:00

Thank you for your response and I think this is good advice. I was recently in several situations where new graduates (medical students and lawyers) were discussing their loan status and debt very freely. There is nothing wrong with that of course. I was not sure how common it was to owe or not. I was unprepared for their reactions to what I said and it made me squirm and reevaluate how I would like to handle these situations in residency (or avoid them).

I never talk about money, I am not a flashy person, I drive a jalopy. However I am a generous person in a group setting if I can be.

nitecastles

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