Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact
  • Contribute
  • Book
  • Careers
  • Podcast
  • Recommended
  • Speaking
  • All
  • Physician
  • Practice
  • Policy
  • Finance
  • Conditions
  • .edu
  • Patient
  • Meds
  • Tech
  • Social
  • Video
    • All
    • Physician
    • Practice
    • Policy
    • Finance
    • Conditions
    • .edu
    • Patient
    • Meds
    • Tech
    • Social
    • Video
    • About
    • Contact
    • Contribute
    • Book
    • Careers
    • Podcast
    • Recommended
    • Speaking

Residency training, and training in residency

Michelle Meyer, MD
Education
January 8, 2019
438 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share

Exhausted. Aching. Hungry. Slightly delirious.

Mile twenty-four of a marathon? Or hour twenty-four of a twenty-eight-hour shift?

I am a resident. I am a runner. I am also a rather tired human since, as I type these words, I’m both post-call and post-run. However, this post-call/run state of body and mind is one I have learned to love and embrace during this residency whirlwind.

I’m not myself unless I’m wearing scrubs or running clothes. In fact, I almost wore running shoes with my wedding dress a few months ago. In the hospital, I’m “that resident who runs;” at races, I’m “that runner who works strange hours and rarely sleeps.” For me, lines blur between life as a resident and life as a runner because the two are so intertwined.

During medical school, I joined an all-women’s racing team. With my teammates, I learned the “power of the pack”: working together to achieve goals we could not accomplish alone. During my first season, our “pack” trained together with the goal of running a marathon together, in sync, to qualify for the Olympic Trials. Shattering our personal bests, six of us achieved a dream we could never have accomplished alone.

The “power of the pack” is also found in residency. Medicine is not a solo journey; it is a true team effort. As residents, we lean on one another for medical knowledge and emotional support, cover shifts when co-residents are sick, take admissions when teams are swamped, and stay late for additional clinic patients. We work together not only to support one other, but to accomplish the ultimate goal of improving our patients’ health.

Running demands discipline, sacrifice, and early morning start times. Training consists of running 2,000 m repeats around the track until legs are wobbling, and waking up at other people’s bedtimes to squeeze in pre-work runs. Running teaches flexibility, humility, and gratitude. You learn your body’s limits during beautiful, but grueling outdoor runs. You also learn that those limits change when readjusting after injury.

Residency also demands discipline, sacrifice, and early morning start times. Training consists of working twenty-four-hour shifts until exhausted, and waking up before sunrise to pre-round on patients. Residency teaches flexibility, humility, and gratitude, learning daily from our patients and treatment teams, and becoming humbly grateful that we can help children in such a meaningful way.

As a runner, my bigger racing goals are currently on hold. After residency, there will be time to train faster and harder. For now, I’m satisfied with my daily headlamp runs at odd hours of the morning. When fellow runners ask what my next “goal race” is, I say that I am training … for residency.

As a resident, my training goals are not on hold at all; they are front and center. I am training as best I can, not on the track or trails, but in the wards and ICU to become a knowledgeable, caring, and well-rounded physician, with the ultimate goal of doing best by my patients.

Michelle Meyer is a pediatric resident.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com

Prev

A physician's plea to Santa Claus

January 8, 2019 Kevin 0
…
Next

Patients and physicians need to talk more and tweet less

January 8, 2019 Kevin 0
…

Tagged as: Hospital-Based Medicine, Residency

Post navigation

< Previous Post
A physician's plea to Santa Claus
Next Post >
Patients and physicians need to talk more and tweet less

Related Posts

  • Renewal is what we need during residency training

    Anonymous
  • Why doctors-in-training need better nutritional education

    Abeer Arain, MD, MPH
  • How the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the need for social media training in medical education 

    Oscar Chen, Sera Choi, and Clara Seong
  • Why residency applications need to change

    Sean Kiesel, DO, MBA
  • Let’s talk residency: COVID edition

    Angela Awad and Catherine Tawfik
  • It’s time to focus medical education on training the whole person

    Tracy Asamoah, MD

More in Education

  • How Tratak yoga reshaped my USMLE Step 2 prep

    Dr. Nikita Mehdiratta
  • The role of income in medical school acceptance

    Carter Do
  • Balancing tension and kindness in medical education

    Chloe N. L. Lee, MD, MPH
  • I want to be a doctor who can provide care for women: What states must I rule out for my medical education?

    Nandini Erodula
  • A chance encounter in Chicago: lessons in compassionate medicine

    Emily S. Hagen
  • Business education’s role in preventing physician practice decline

    Curtis G. Graham, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The erosion of patient care

      Laura de la Torre, MD | Physician
    • Challenging the diagnosis: dehydration or bias?

      Sydney Lou Bonnick, MD | Physician
    • COVID-19 unleashed an ongoing crisis of delirium in hospitals

      Christina Reppas-Rindlisbacher, MD, Nathan Stall, MD, and Paula Rochon, MD | Conditions
    • A teenager’s perspective: the pressing need for mental health days in schools

      Ruhi Saldanha | Conditions
    • Unraveling the complex enigma of obesity [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Physician autonomy and patient interactions in corporate health care

      Michele Luckenbaugh | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Medical gaslighting: a growing challenge in today’s medical landscape

      Tami Burdick | Conditions
    • I want to be a doctor who can provide care for women: What states must I rule out for my medical education?

      Nandini Erodula | Education
    • Balancing opioid medication in chronic pain

      L. Joseph Parker, MD | Conditions
    • The erosion of patient care

      Laura de la Torre, MD | Physician
    • Reigniting after burnout: 3 physician stories

      Kim Downey, PT | Physician
    • Mourning the silent epidemic: the physician suicide crisis and suggestions for change

      Amna Shabbir, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Unraveling the complex enigma of obesity [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Second chances and simple beauty in thrift stores

      Debbie Moore-Black, RN | Conditions
    • How to facilitate caregiver learning and support to improve clinical care outcomes

      Kerri Milyko, PhD | Tech
    • Air quality alert: Reducing our carbon footprint in health care

      Shreya Aggarwal, MD | Conditions
    • Exploring HIV care and advocacy [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • A teenager’s perspective: the pressing need for mental health days in schools

      Ruhi Saldanha | Conditions

Subscribe to KevinMD and never miss a story!

Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.


Find jobs at
Careers by KevinMD.com

Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now.

Learn more

Leave a Comment

Founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, KevinMD.com is the web’s leading platform where physicians, advanced practitioners, nurses, medical students, and patients share their insight and tell their stories.

Social

  • Like on Facebook
  • Follow on Twitter
  • Connect on Linkedin
  • Subscribe on Youtube
  • Instagram

CME Spotlights

From MedPage Today

Latest News

  • What Percent of Kids Had Long COVID?
  • Primary Care Visits With NPs, PAs on the Rise; C. Diff in the Intensive Care Unit
  • Are Obesity Drugs for Adolescents Cost-Effective?
  • Lab Tests That Escape FDA Oversight May Come Under Agency Review
  • Fezolinetant Benefits Women Not Suited for Hormone Therapy

Meeting Coverage

  • Fezolinetant Benefits Women Not Suited for Hormone Therapy
  • Plant-Based Estrogen Improves Lipids in Postmenopausal Women
  • New Schizophrenia Treatments Are Coming: Don't Panic
  • Loneliness Needs to Be Treated Like Any Other Health Condition, Researcher Suggests
  • Stopping Medical Misinformation Requires Early Detection
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The erosion of patient care

      Laura de la Torre, MD | Physician
    • Challenging the diagnosis: dehydration or bias?

      Sydney Lou Bonnick, MD | Physician
    • COVID-19 unleashed an ongoing crisis of delirium in hospitals

      Christina Reppas-Rindlisbacher, MD, Nathan Stall, MD, and Paula Rochon, MD | Conditions
    • A teenager’s perspective: the pressing need for mental health days in schools

      Ruhi Saldanha | Conditions
    • Unraveling the complex enigma of obesity [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Physician autonomy and patient interactions in corporate health care

      Michele Luckenbaugh | Conditions
  • Past 6 Months

    • Medical gaslighting: a growing challenge in today’s medical landscape

      Tami Burdick | Conditions
    • I want to be a doctor who can provide care for women: What states must I rule out for my medical education?

      Nandini Erodula | Education
    • Balancing opioid medication in chronic pain

      L. Joseph Parker, MD | Conditions
    • The erosion of patient care

      Laura de la Torre, MD | Physician
    • Reigniting after burnout: 3 physician stories

      Kim Downey, PT | Physician
    • Mourning the silent epidemic: the physician suicide crisis and suggestions for change

      Amna Shabbir, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • Unraveling the complex enigma of obesity [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Second chances and simple beauty in thrift stores

      Debbie Moore-Black, RN | Conditions
    • How to facilitate caregiver learning and support to improve clinical care outcomes

      Kerri Milyko, PhD | Tech
    • Air quality alert: Reducing our carbon footprint in health care

      Shreya Aggarwal, MD | Conditions
    • Exploring HIV care and advocacy [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • A teenager’s perspective: the pressing need for mental health days in schools

      Ruhi Saldanha | Conditions

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today
  • Terms of Use | Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • DMCA Policy
All Content © KevinMD, LLC
Site by Outthink Group

Leave a Comment

Comments are moderated before they are published. Please read the comment policy.

Loading Comments...