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

Thriving in residency: tips for your personal, financial, and professional lives

Devesh Vashishtha, MD
Physician
January 9, 2021
720 Shares
Share
Tweet
Share

The reality is just setting in: I’m months away from finishing my family medicine residency! I want to yell it from the mountaintops, but let me also channel my elation into some advice. This is for the next generation: all you phenomenal DO and MD students who are on the cusp of becoming physicians.

In deciding where to rank highly, I cannot overstate the value of being in a place where you have significant support: parents, siblings, close friends. Residency is harder than anything most of us have ever done, and you’ll need that hot meal, last-minute – or in my case, continuous – childcare, or shoulder to cry on.

When you pick an apartment or house to live, think hard about your budget and what you can afford. Living frugally in residency can empower you to start paying back debt earlier and invest more in your retirement accounts.

If you’re trying to figure out why you are cranky on your day off, do the same thing we do with babies who are crying: follow a checklist. For me, that checklist usually includes eating, sleeping, re-caffeinating, going for a jog, and lying on the couch doing pretty much nothing. One of those things usually works.

Give yourself permission to do less in your home. If you have the resources, hire a cleaning service. Order food from your favorite healthy place. Let the house get a little messy from time to time.

When the time comes, and you have the mental space, maybe towards the end of residency, think seriously about getting a financial advisor who is a fiduciary. Get somebody who knows the system to help you prioritize your financial goals.

Give yourself permission to “scale back.” It turns out that being a resident is essentially twice the work of many full-time jobs. Hobbies, research, advocacy, and community projects can wait and will be waiting for you to return when you have more time.

Let go of the tendency to compete with your co-residents. It’s a poisonous activity, and you’ll see that everybody is struggling and growing in their own ways. Remember that medicine is a lifelong career, and you’ll spend the next few decades acquiring skills that are relevant to your community or practice setting and letting go of whatever is not relevant.

For a short book that gave me some crucial guidance, check out Ben Brown’s 50 Simple Things to Save Your Life During Residency. It has some wonderful, pithy pointers on how to navigate medical training.

I shared some of these thoughts on Twitter and was struck by the additional valuable advice shared. Dr. Grotke, a self-identified PGY-21, says: “when your spouse is grumpy, you need to realize and accept that they are probably right in being frustrated with you. You may not be able to do much about it in the short term, but acknowledging it for them and for yourself will go a long way.”

Dr. Pancholy added: “If you feel like you hate everyone, you probably need to eat. If you feel like everyone hates you, you probably need to sleep.”

I hope these pointers serve you well. May your journeys be marked by an auspicious beginning.

Devesh Vashishtha is a family medicine resident and can be reached on Twitter @DMVashishtha.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com 

Prev

When your institution has a less than 1% hiring rate for Black residents [PODCAST]

January 8, 2021 Kevin 0
…
Next

The side effect of the COVID vaccine that no one is talking about

January 9, 2021 Kevin 9
…

Tagged as: Practice Management

Post navigation

< Previous Post
When your institution has a less than 1% hiring rate for Black residents [PODCAST]
Next Post >
The side effect of the COVID vaccine that no one is talking about

Related Posts

  • 10 tips for surviving and thriving throughout your partner’s residency

    Nashira Pearl
  • 4 essential tips for residency interviews

    Vivy Tran, MD
  • 8 tips to land the residency of your dreams

    Cory Fawcett, MD and Eric Brown
  • 12 tips to help you survive residency

    Priyanka Jain, MD
  • Residency training, and training in residency

    Michelle Meyer, MD
  • Why residency applications need to change

    Sean Kiesel, DO, MBA

More in Physician

  • From license to loneliness: the dilemma of retired physicians

    Richard Plotzker, MD
  • Unlearning our habits: a journey from intelligence to wisdom

    Brian Sayers, MD
  • Beyond pizza and pens: National Doctors’ Day should be about saving lives

    James Young, MD
  • Maximizing physician potential: How coaching can aid in conflict resolution, enhance health care leadership and build stronger teams

    Asha Padmanabhan, MD
  • Physicians are a finite resource we need to protect

    Jack Resneck, Jr., MD
  • Tom Brady’s legacy and the importance of personal integrity in end-of-life choices

    Kevin Haselhorst, MD
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The untold struggles patients face with resident doctors

      Denise Reich | Conditions
    • What is driving physicians to the edge of despair?

      Edward T. Creagan, MD | Physician
    • Beyond pizza and pens: National Doctors’ Day should be about saving lives

      James Young, MD | Physician
    • Physicians are a finite resource we need to protect

      Jack Resneck, Jr., MD | Physician
    • From clocking in to clocking out: the transition to retirement

      Debbie Moore-Black, RN | Conditions
    • From license to loneliness: the dilemma of retired physicians

      Richard Plotzker, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • The real cause of America’s opioid crisis: Doctors are not to blame

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • The vital importance of climate change education in medical schools

      Helen Kim, MD | Policy
    • The fight for reproductive health: Why medication abortion matters

      Catherine Hennessey, MD | Physician
    • Resetting the doctor-patient relationship: Navigating the challenges of modern primary care

      Jeffrey H. Millstein, MD | Physician
    • It’s time for C-suite to contract directly with physicians for part-time work

      Aaron Morgenstein, MD & Corinne Sundar Rao, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • From license to loneliness: the dilemma of retired physicians

      Richard Plotzker, MD | Physician
    • Tackling the health care crisis with artificial intelligence: Combating physician and nursing shortages in the United States

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • From hope to heartbreak: a story of loss in the ICU

      Ton La, Jr., MD, JD | Conditions
    • Unlearning our habits: a journey from intelligence to wisdom

      Brian Sayers, MD | Physician
    • Lessons from an orthopedic surgery journey [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Beyond pizza and pens: National Doctors’ Day should be about saving lives

      James Young, MD | Physician

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

  • Team-Building Gone Wrong; An MD's Wildly Variable Income; Skin Docs' Top Sunscreens
  • Prenatal Thalidomide and Cancer Risk; MDS Combo Shows Promise; Symptoms Often Missed
  • Why I Don't Identify With Women's History Month as a Black Doctor
  • A Drink or Two a Day Won't Help Prolong Life
  • Sleep, Exercise, and Death; Pope Improving, Eats Pizza; Obesity Med Strategies

Meeting Coverage

  • VTE Risk in Recurrent Ovarian Cancer Increases With More Lines of Chemotherapy
  • Obesity's Impact on Uterine Cancer Risk Greater in Younger Age Groups
  • Oral Roflumilast Effective in the Treatment of Plaque Psoriasis
  • Phase III Trials 'Hit a Home Run' in Advanced Endometrial Cancer
  • Cannabis Use Common in Post-Surgery Patients on Opioid Tapering
  • Most Popular

  • Past Week

    • The untold struggles patients face with resident doctors

      Denise Reich | Conditions
    • What is driving physicians to the edge of despair?

      Edward T. Creagan, MD | Physician
    • Beyond pizza and pens: National Doctors’ Day should be about saving lives

      James Young, MD | Physician
    • Physicians are a finite resource we need to protect

      Jack Resneck, Jr., MD | Physician
    • From clocking in to clocking out: the transition to retirement

      Debbie Moore-Black, RN | Conditions
    • From license to loneliness: the dilemma of retired physicians

      Richard Plotzker, MD | Physician
  • Past 6 Months

    • The real cause of America’s opioid crisis: Doctors are not to blame

      Richard A. Lawhern, PhD | Meds
    • Nobody wants this job. Should physicians stick around?

      Katie Klingberg, MD | Physician
    • The vital importance of climate change education in medical schools

      Helen Kim, MD | Policy
    • The fight for reproductive health: Why medication abortion matters

      Catherine Hennessey, MD | Physician
    • Resetting the doctor-patient relationship: Navigating the challenges of modern primary care

      Jeffrey H. Millstein, MD | Physician
    • It’s time for C-suite to contract directly with physicians for part-time work

      Aaron Morgenstein, MD & Corinne Sundar Rao, MD | Physician
  • Recent Posts

    • From license to loneliness: the dilemma of retired physicians

      Richard Plotzker, MD | Physician
    • Tackling the health care crisis with artificial intelligence: Combating physician and nursing shortages in the United States

      Harvey Castro, MD, MBA | Tech
    • From hope to heartbreak: a story of loss in the ICU

      Ton La, Jr., MD, JD | Conditions
    • Unlearning our habits: a journey from intelligence to wisdom

      Brian Sayers, MD | Physician
    • Lessons from an orthopedic surgery journey [PODCAST]

      The Podcast by KevinMD | Podcast
    • Beyond pizza and pens: National Doctors’ Day should be about saving lives

      James Young, MD | Physician

MedPage Today Professional

An Everyday Health Property Medpage Today iMedicalApps
  • 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...