Tips and Tricks for surviving residency / internship

Many applicants ask what is the real thing behind the so called malignant programs. This term is usually given to the programs which have a high rate of kicking residents or making residents repeating their years. After meticulously analyzing these incidents we noticed that most of the times if not all, the factors that lead to such bad end for a resident is usually his/her fault not the program's manners. It is really not a hobby or a good thing for the program reputition to have such incidents from time to time. However it is happening frequently most of the times due to the lack of preparation of an IMG to start his/her residency.

In any specialty you are begining, there are always key things that mark you as a superb or a fool. The first impression from any experience in any rotation usually gives the attendings a general idea about you that may not be easy to change over the next few months of residency. So it is mandatory that you start your residency fully prepared to avoid the negative evaluations given to you and hence avoid being in the danger zone of being fired or repeating your year. The list of recommended books to read during residency in every specialty are gathered in Residency Recommended books Page.

In this blog and related pages the question how to survive residency will be answered in details taking into consideration the most important skills that you may need to know as PGY1 or PGY2 in every specialty to avoid "failure to progress" evaluation result given to you by the program director. Although most of the other pages will be directed to teach the interns in the medical domains how to manage certain situations however in this first page here we will address what every intern or resident need to be fully prepared to start his or her residency in any specialty.

Surviving residency may not be an easy thing especially for IMGs who have less experience with the US medical system. IMG survivors are usually armed by all the necessary medical equipments and gadgets that help them survive residency especially in the so called malignant programs. Competetion on fellowships makes the peer to peer evaluations sometimes affect your reputation and ranking in your program. Residency gadgets are very important part of your personality and affect your medical and professional performance greatly.

You will soon find down hear all the gadgets in all specialties as we still updating this page.



Gadgets for Internal Medicine Residents:


1. Tarascon Pocket Pharmacopoeia

2. Pocket Medicine: The Massachusetts General Hospital Handbook of Internal Medicine

3. Maxwell Quick Medical Reference

4. MDF(R) Babinski Buck Reflex Hammer - Universal Navy Blue

5. Pilot G2 Fine Point, Black Gel Ink Pens, Box of 12

6. Sharpie Accent Retractable Highlighters, Assorted, Fine Point, 8/Pack

7. ADC Metalite Reuseable Penlight, Black, Small

8. The Sanford Guide to Antimicrobial Therapy 2012

9. 3M Littmann Classic II S.E. Stethoscope, Black Tube, 28 inch

10. Tarascon Internal Medicine & Critical Care Pocketbook

11. Get one of these two:

      The Little ICU Book

or  The Washington Manual of Critical Care

12. The ICU Book (optional for those who are interested in ICU fellowship)

13. The Washington Manual of Medical Therapeutics

14. Get one of these two
  
       Rapid Interpretation of EKG's

or   The Complete Guide to ECGs (if you are interested in Cardiology fellowship)

15. Medicine 2012 Edition This book is very important when doing admissions, it will teach you what orders to be put.

This is only the must-have gadgets list to survive residency. The recommended list of books for residency and board exam will be posted in this page: Residency Books.