Today is the first day of July.
For many hospitals in the US, this is the day a new generation of resident doctors officially begins their journey.
- The blouses are brand new.
- The employee card is not yet used to swiping.
- As soon as the pager rang, my heart wanted to stop beating too.
10 years ago, I also walked into the hospital on my first day with the same feeling: proud, excited, but also secretly afraid that people would soon realize I wasn’t as good as they thought.
Looking back on that challenging time, here are 10 things I wish someone had told me sooner when I started medical residency in the US.
1. Article 1: You don’t need to know everything, but you must know when to ask
No one walks into their first day of residency and instantly becomes a perfect doctor.
The danger on this journey is not that you don’t know that knowledge. The most dangerous thing is that you don’t know but are afraid to ask because you’re afraid of being judged by others.
A well-timed question can protect patient safety much better than trying to pretend you understand everything.
2. Article 2: Feeling “not good enough” does not define your actual abilities
You will constantly encounter colleagues who speak very quickly, remember every treatment guideline, and always appear as if they know exactly what to do.
Meanwhile, you may have to recheck the medication dose three times and read a medical record five times to truly understand.
Don’t rush to conclude that you are inferior to them. You’re actually just seeing other people’s exposed confidence on the outside, then accidentally comparing it to all the insecurity hidden inside you.
3. Article 3: Reliability is always more important than being the smartest person
Instead of trying to be the smartest, strive to be the most trustworthy:
- Understand your patients deeply.
- Proactively closely monitor ordered test results.
- Call your family back when you promise to call.
- Immediately report to superiors when the patient’s clinical condition shows signs of change.
And absolutely never let an important task be forgotten just because of the thought of “thinking someone else will do it for you”. During the residency period, credibility is often far more valuable and appreciated than making a rare diagnosis during a housekeeping session.
4. Article 4: Don’t consider your teacher’s assessment as a judgment on who you are
There will be bad days when you have your medical record edited, are asked a clinical question that you can’t answer, or receive a harsh comment that makes you sad for a week.
At times like that, learn to separate these two things from each other: “I didn’t do this well” is absolutely not the same as “I’m a bad doctor.”
Evaluations are only really useful when you are calm enough to learn lessons to improve, instead of always wallowing in feelings of inferiority and shame.
5. Article 5: Working hard is good, but don’t suffer silently to the point of exhaustion
You may tell yourself that everyone around you is tired, so you have no right to complain or share.
But prolonged lack of sleep, depression, anxiety and exhaustion are absolutely not prestigious medals proving you deserve to become a doctor.
When you feel really unwell, proactively share it with a trusted person. Being strong is not about enduring everything alone. Sometimes, being strong is realizing you need help before everything completely falls apart.
6. Article 6: Absolutely do not give others the right to decide your own value
You will meet wonderful, inspiring teachers who will make you want to strive to become a better doctor. But you may also meet people who make you feel small, slow, or like you don’t belong.
Just learn what you need to learn from them, but absolutely do not give any individual the right to determine your own value.
A rigorous assessment during a one-month internship is only a very small part, it does not represent your entire capacity and your future journey to becoming a doctor in the US.
7. Article 7: Always treat everyone in the hospital kindly
Nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists, receptionists, technicians, social workers, case management coordinators, and cleaning staff can all teach you valuable real-life lessons that you sometimes never find in textbooks.
Don’t just choose to be nice because you think one day you might need their help. Be kind because a hospital is a complex system made up of many people, and the title “doctor” does not make your job more important than the work of everyone else.
8. Article 8: Doctors’ orders may be forgotten, but the feeling of being cared for will be remembered forever by the patient
During crazy busy days, it is easy for patients to accidentally be called by our names instead of “room 302”, “chest pain case” or “discharge patient today”.
But you need to remember that for them, this may be one of the scariest days of their lives.
Sometimes, your willingness to sit down for an extra minute, patiently explain again in easy-to-understand language or simply ask a warm question: “What are you most worried about right now?”… is just as important as an accurate medical order.
9. Article 9: American medical residency is a large part, but by no means the whole of your life
Besides the blouse, you are still a child, a friend, a wife, husband or father, mother of the family. You still need to sleep, eat, laugh, call your family and sometimes do something completely unrelated to medicine.
Don’t wait until the end of your boarding journey to allow yourself to live. Those three years, four years or five years of youth are also your precious life that passes day by day.
10. Article 10: Strong maturity will automatically form according to instinct
- You’ll know exactly how to handle a 2 a.m. emergency call.
- You will become calmer when dealing with abnormal patient test results.
- You’ll know when to make your own decisions, when to ask for support from upline, and when to just sit quietly next to a grieving family.
That maturity and stability never happens overnight. It is molded and formed through hundreds of night shifts, thousands of big and small decisions, and the many times you step out of the hospital with your body exhausted, wondering if you have enough strength to come back tomorrow.
But I believe, you will continue to move forward. And day by day, you will gradually become the doctor you aspired to and hoped you could become on your first day of residency.
To all the medical residents starting their journey today: You don’t have to be perfect on your first day.
You just need to keep the spirit of continuing to learn, continue to ask, continue to give sincere attention to patients and absolutely do not lose yourself on the path to becoming a good doctor.
Welcome to the world of medical residency in the US! The years ahead may be very difficult, but they will certainly be the years that change and elevate you the most.
What do you think about the words shared from this bloody experience of yours? Are you mentally prepared for your first day at the hospital? Please leave a comment below to discuss with me.
If you feel this article provides a useful perspective, please share it with colleagues or relatives working in the medical industry!
Dr. Christina Nguyen
Phoenix Medical Academy
