Surviving Intern Year: Advice from Residents

Making the transition from medical school to residency is an exciting time for new medical interns; one that may leave you with a lot of questions on just what to expect before you get started. In addition to the questions you will have while working with patients, you may wonder how to effectively balance your new schedule with your studies.

For the Millennials in Medicine Scrubs team, these residents are all too familiar with the excitement and nervousness that comes with the start of your new chapter in your medical academic journey. And they have some advice for your intern year.

In this webinar, our speakers addressed the many questions incoming interns had about the process as well as shared their experiences and the things they learned along the way. Here is some of the advice addressed in this session:

Balance USMLE Step 3 preparations with first year rotations

With your new role, you’ll be caring for several patients each day. How will you begin to juggle your studies and all of your tasks? It is vital to practice time management in order to prioritize short intervals of time in your day to review for your exams. To allow more time for preparation, some programs provide a dedicated time with lighter rotations. You may find it helpful to discuss your schedule with your upperclassmen to help determine the best time for your exam around your rotations. 

Carry a cheat sheet with you at all times as new interns at the hospital

While these cheat sheets are only recommendations from personal experience, we recommend talking to your upperclassmen to see just what cheat sheets work best for your specific specialty. For instance, Dr. Castro, a general surgery resident, recommends keeping the ABSITE Review book by Stephen Fiser on hand as a cheat sheet for the in-training exam to review high-yield facts. For internal medicine, UpToDate, an electronic clinical resource tool for physicians, or Pocket Medicine that will fit in your white coat worked best for Dr. Rodriguez.

Be engaged and go the extra mile

Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Demonstrate that you are coachable while also proving that you can be independent in completing your work. Go the extra mile by showing your eagerness to learn and stepping up where you can, such as taking the time to assist a co-intern that may be struggling. Not only will this make you distinguishable, but it will also show that you have grit and are a hard worker.

Watch the Webinar for More Advice

Those are just a few of the pieces of advice addressed in this hour session with the MIMS residents. Watch the video below to catch up on all of the tips and questions answered in the Surviving Intern Year webinar session!

Prepare with TrueLearn’s SmartBank 

Intern year is right around the corner, which means you may be thinking about steadily implementing a daily study routine into your busy schedule. TrueLearn’s SmartBank is a trusted resource by thousands of residents, including many members of the Millennials in Medicine team. It provides thousands of high-yield practice questions mapped to the content outline, SmartText messages to reinforce missed topics, personalized testing analytics to gauge weak areas ahead of the exam, and so much more.