Must haves for Intern Life

[ShambhalaRed]

The thread about what to carry when at work is good stuff! What I want to know is, for those of you already in residency, what kinds of things helped you keep your sanity intern year and made your life easier when you were not at work, i.e. TiVo, a housekeeper, etc...

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[cchoukal]

As a med student I started having my shirts laundered and pressed, and I've continued this into residency. Life is far too short and free time FAR too precious to waste it ironing a bunch of fricking shirts. And you need to have hobbies. I moved to a new city for residency, and although I've met a lot of people and we do go out some, there seems to be a lot of times (particularly during days off in the middle of the week) that I wished I had more of a life and more hobbies.

 

[KidDr]

The thread about what to carry when at work is good stuff! What I want to know is, for those of you already in residency, what kinds of things helped you keep your sanity intern year and made your life easier when you were not at work, i.e. TiVo, a housekeeper, etc...

Definitely TiVo if you're into that, you can't beat watching all your favorite shows in 1/2 the time it normally takes....
And for me it was also a subscription to my favorite non-medical magazine, and wireless internet access on my laptop.

 

[Blade28]

I also get my dress shirts dry-cleaned and pressed
TiVo is awesome
Gym
Go eat a meal or have a drink with coworkers when you can, but NO SHOP TALK!
Guitar
DVDs
Internet

 

[southerndoc]

I'm thinking of having my clothes cleaned and pressed. I just spent 2 hours doing laundry today!! Definitely think I'm "outsourcing" next time.

 

[southerndoc]

Oh yea, definitely TiVo all the way if you like TV.

 

[beyond all hope]

The most important 'thing' you can have, IMHO, is perspective.

It's very easy to get sucked into the regimented insanity of a teaching hospital and the chaotic insanity of patient's lives.

When you feel yourself getting overwhelmed (which will be frequently, and that's good, 'cause if you're not challenged intern year than something's not right) just take a step back and remember:

1) The patient is the one with the illness, (House of God) and that person is usually the cause of their own illness (at least in adult medicine)
2) The resident/attending is yelling because s/he's upset, but that doesn't mean you have to be.
3) It's just a job. It's an important job, but it's still just a job.
4) You will make mistakes. That's why residency exists. Fortunately, most of the mistakes you make won't hurt anyone.

 

[aus1ander]

I have to say TiVo was awesome to have in medical school, so I'm sure it'll make life easier in residency. And with TiVoToGo, you could load some of your favorite shows on a laptop and watch them when you have some downtime on-call. Not that I would do that

 

[southerndoc]

downtime on-call

Down time on call. Oh man, that was great!

 

[PatrickBateman]

As a med student I started having my shirts laundered and pressed, and I've continued this into residency. Life is far too short and free time FAR too precious to waste it ironing a bunch of fricking shirts. And you need to have hobbies. I moved to a new city for residency, and although I've met a lot of people and we do go out some, there seems to be a lot of times (particularly during days off in the middle of the week) that I wished I had more of a life and more hobbies.

Yes, life is better when you have lots of cash. Is that your point?

 

[aus1ander]

Down time on call. Oh man, that was great!

hey if you admit your five in the first 8 hours, there will be downtime.

 

[Blade28]

hey if you admit your five in the first 8 hours, there will be downtime.

There will?

 

[DrMom]

hey if you admit your five in the first 8 hours, there will be downtime.

You get a max # of admits per night as an intern? I've not heard of this before.

 

[usnavdoc]

I also get my dress shirts dry-cleaned and pressed
TiVo is awesome
GymGo eat a meal or have a drink with coworkers when you can, but NO SHOP TALK!
Guitar
DVDs
Internet

I cant emphasize that enough. Do not let residency take away your health. As well as the gym can really be a huge stress outlet. Whether you lift, run, or whatever just make time for this in your daily schedule.

 

[southerndoc]

You get a max # of admits per night as an intern? I've not heard of this before.

Yea, I think the RRC limits you to 5 admissions plus 1 transfer (i.e., an ICU to floor transfer).

There is usually very little downtime. At my institution, most teams "cap" (get their maximum number of admissions) by 3 or 4 pm. For the remainder of the night, they're doing their H&P's. While the resident sleeps the night away, the intern is usually getting paged incessantly for their patients and cross-coverage.

 

[DrMom]

Yea, I think the RRC limits you to 5 admissions plus 1 transfer (i.e., an ICU to floor transfer).

There is usually very little downtime. At my institution, most teams "cap" (get their maximum number of admissions) by 3 or 4 pm. For the remainder of the night, they're doing their H&P's. While the resident sleeps the night away, the intern is usually getting paged incessantly for their patients and cross-coverage.

Hmmm. I'll be in an osteo program & I don't believe we have any similar limit...or if we do it isn't enforced. Five admits a night would be really light for our house officers at my hospital.

 

[blotto geltaco]

Hmmm. I'll be in an osteo program & I don't believe we have any similar limit...or if we do it isn't enforced. Five admits a night would be really light for our house officers at my hospital.

The five is for an intern. When I did my intern year, there were always 2 'terns on each team. Plus you would get transfers as well. If you capped then the ED went to a list of community physicians. Half the time one of these community docs would be an attending at our institution, so we would end up taking the pt anyway. We usually took 8-12 hits every call night. And there were the ever present bouncebacks as well.

 

[DrMom]

8-12 sounds more like what I've seen/heard interns bitching about

 

[3dtp]

8-12 sounds more like what I've seen/heard interns bitching about

The RRCs have had admit caps for decades, the hospitals ignore them.

---------------------
"A bottle of your best champaign...and put it on my bill, please. It is a little game we play. They put it on my bill, I tear up the bill."

Captain Louis, Prefect of Police, Casablanca

and

Louis: "This place is to be closed at once!"
Rick: "Why?"
Louis: "I'm shocked, shocked to find illegal gambling here."
Waiter: "Your winnings sir.

 

[southerndoc]

My hospital follows the 5+1 rule. Anything over that and it goes to the hospitalist service (hospital employed attendings and PA's). The unit teams (MICU, SICU, CCU, etc.) have no caps.

 

[Mumpu]

You can iron the shirts while watching TV.

I gots my guitar and my dirty old airplanes.

 

[Smurfette]

I think the RRC caps are only for certain specialties (med, peds, FP, etc.). I don't think it exists for surgical specialties. I don't think surgical specialties have team caps under the RRC either.

 

[Blade28]

Yea, I think the RRC limits you to 5 admissions plus 1 transfer (i.e., an ICU to floor transfer).

There is usually very little downtime. At my institution, most teams "cap" (get their maximum number of admissions) by 3 or 4 pm. For the remainder of the night, they're doing their H&P's. While the resident sleeps the night away, the intern is usually getting paged incessantly for their patients and cross-coverage.

This must be a medicine thing. I've never heard of "caps" for admits. We just keep admitting until it's 6 am, time to round.

 

[southerndoc]

This must be a medicine thing. I've never heard of "caps" for admits. We just keep admitting until it's 6 am, time to round.

Definitely a medicine thing.

 

[njbmd]

The thread about what to carry when at work is good stuff! What I want to know is, for those of you already in residency, what kinds of things helped you keep your sanity intern year and made your life easier when you were not at work, i.e. TiVo, a housekeeper, etc...

Hi there,
Must haves for me: Tempurpedic mattress in king size; 24-hour fitness center with whirlpool spa.

I DO have my labcoats professionally laundered since my wardrobe is mostly scrubs these days. I want my coat nicely pressed and very clean.

njbmd

 

[jamie]

A supportive, patient, understanding, completely unselfish spouse/significant other who understands that your time isn't really your own. Besides that, I love my wireless internet, TiVo, and massage chair (a graduation gift).

 

[Tapout]

The most important 'thing' you can have, IMHO, is perspective.

It's very easy to get sucked into the regimented insanity of a teaching hospital and the chaotic insanity of patient's lives.

When you feel yourself getting overwhelmed (which will be frequently, and that's good, 'cause if you're not challenged intern year than something's not right) just take a step back and remember:

1) The patient is the one with the illness, (House of God) and that person is usually the cause of their own illness (at least in adult medicine)
2) The resident/attending is yelling because s/he's upset, but that doesn't mean you have to be.
3) It's just a job. It's an important job, but it's still just a job.
4) You will make mistakes. That's why residency exists. Fortunately, most of the mistakes you make won't hurt anyone.

Very well said!

 

[la gringa]

i repeat #1 to myself over and over... in a county hospital the social problems often outnumber/exacerbate the medical ones, and i can't fix those. i didn't make the patient's bed and i'm not going to go nuts trying to make it when they won't.

 

[DOtobe]

Going to the gym and playing around on the internet are two things that have gotten me through my intern year sane. I also try to watch TV every now and then (lately it's American Idol) to let my brain just rest for a while. Hanging out outside the hospital is also important, but as someone else said - no work talk! (This was really hard at the beginning of intern year when our intern class would get together, but it's a lot easier now.)

And I had no idea there was a limit on the number of admissions an intern does in one night...on my night float nights I sometimes did 8-10 admissions. There was only me and a senior resident covering the whole hospital...

 

[coogmed]

Must haves

- my loving and supporting wife

- my pets, who are happy to see me no matter what

- good food, good wine (on occasion)

- espn

 

[angel80]

In the program where I'm starting in July (for IM), there is a cap of 5 admissions per night per intern, and 3 per sub-I. After that, the rest of the admits go to the hospitalist B-service. I think that is pretty standard for Internal Medicine in most programs.

 

[fourthyearmed]

I think the RRC caps are only for certain specialties (med, peds, FP, etc.). I don't think it exists for surgical specialties. I don't think surgical specialties have team caps under the RRC either.

Peds has no caps. Believe me.

 

[uhoh!]

Before everyone went all serious here..
Me Want fer sure:
- a sprawling BOSE home theater system & BOSE Computer speakers for my PC
- a new Bass Guitar + Amps
- The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, The Complete Far Side (and more..)
- a Hookah + good Apple/Lemon flavored 'baccy
- Netflix
- LOADS of CDs (an entire seperate list )
- a Lazy-Boy
- really comfy-yet-formal shoes (Mephisto/Hush Puppies sort, I guess..)

Things I took as a given before they were pointed out on this thread :
- Laundry
- the Internet
- a comfortable mattress to sleep on
..guess I should count my blessings real quick..

Might I also suggest these obvious needs:
- Easy-to-get-along-with co-residents
- World Peace and an end to poverty and social injustice
- Loads more $$

 

[ShambhalaRed]

Before everyone went all serious here..
Me Want fer sure:
- a sprawling BOSE home theater system & BOSE Computer speakers for my PC
- a new Bass Guitar + Amps
- The Complete Calvin and Hobbes, The Complete Far Side (and more..)
- a Hookah + good Apple/Lemon flavored 'baccy
- Netflix
- LOADS of CDs (an entire seperate list )
- a Lazy-Boy
- really comfy-yet-formal shoes (Mephisto/Hush Puppies sort, I guess..)

Things I took as a given before they were pointed out on this thread :
- Laundry
- the Internet
- a comfortable mattress to sleep on
..guess I should count my blessings real quick..

Might I also suggest these obvious needs:
- Easy-to-get-along-with co-residents
- World Peace and an end to poverty and social injustice
- Loads more $$

Ooh...the complete Calvin and Hobbes! Now that's one I didn't think of! Now I know what I'll use my book stipend for!

 

[mysophobe]

Luckily, I had the complete Calvin and Hobbes collection from my childhood. My book stipend gave me the Harry Potter series. Mwah hahaha.

 

[megacolon]

Hi there,
Must haves for me: Tempurpedic mattress in king size; 24-hour fitness center with whirlpool spa.

I DO have my labcoats professionally laundered since my wardrobe is mostly scrubs these days. I want my coat nicely pressed and very clean.

njbmd

I have a tempurpedic pillow and would love a mattress. I was wondering if you could comment any on how hot the mattress gets. I imagine the material could heat up and make things kind of sweaty...not the ideal. It's on my wish list though.