I still really love the following comprehensive post on how to intern essentially:
Help me turn things around. I rather wish i'd seen this when i was starting out.
It can take a while to 'see the forest for the trees". Is what one intern said to me about how they having trouble adjusting at first (which is universal). For me, it felt like, static and white noise. Ringing in the ears after, a mild concussion. Too many things going on to really process. Sometimes I didn't even know how or when to ask things, even that took adjusting.
I can relate to this
I specifically remember my 4th day of residency being my lowest point of residency (from a "I'm in over my head and I probably should not have been allowed to graduate from medical school and oh my god how am I going to do this for the next 3 years and I'm probably dumbest person on the planet I wonder if my program director is going to find out I'm a fraud" standpoint)
I had some bad imposter syndrome going on for me too.
The transition into being a resident is about converting the medical knowledge and more formalized or didactic teaching you received as a student into work. Textbook into practice, a bit like rotations, but on steroids. I can't remember where I heard or read it, but you don't really start 'critically thinking' (or piecing it altogether independently) as a doctor until you reach PGY2.
As a junior, it's getting used to doing logistical work, paper work or 'scut'. the seniors are the ones who are able to look at the bigger picture (as their job) as they're less overwhelmed with the 'details' that you may be swamped with. Like, how, when or where to submit or file a lab request. And as an intern, they don't expect much from you, other than to be reliable (doing the jobs you were asked to do, and not lying about things either if you missed or forgot something).
It may take weeks before you feel comfortable with knowing all your patients. or most of them. It's much easier with patients you see from start to finish, from the day of their admission to their discharge. Rather than inheriting a whole list that you've never met before and are mid way or towards the end of their treatment. give it time.
As for studying, you can do that on your own time. I usually save this for things I know I need refreshing my memory for, could be as simple as reading ECGs or ABGs. the first few weeks or months in though, maybe focus more on adjusting to the responsibilities and expectations of working as an intern. get comfortable. improve your efficiency. know your patients. and rest, when you have time for rest so you're refreshed for work the next day.
I agree with the post just above, "learning" or teaching is more on the job, and that accumulates definitely over time. commonest things are after all commonest. for instance, you get asked to review a patient, overtime you learn how to be more confident with doing reviews, and being faster and more efficient. you learn by doing admissions. it taps into what you learned as a student, but you learn to be faster and integrate more. you look things up less. it becomes second nature.
i used to get told to not memorize doses as a student, now I tell students that. because you end up writing the doses of some medications a few thousand times over as a resident. it's just pointless. i still carry around a small cheat sheet or cheat card that's pocket sized, with things like..warfarin reversal guidelines. but I don't really use it anymore.
whether someone will sit down and tell you about things, it's team and program dependent. what's invaluable as a resident is learning the practical side, learning to troubleshoot, working well on the teams, interdisciplinary relationships etc. It's just this whole other dynamic and shift.
if some lab value is very abnormal, you can always ask if your senior or supervisor is aware. usually they'll explain (in 1-2 lines) why they're not concerned, or give you some justification to put in the summary. sometimes, they may have missed it too. you're part of the safety net too, prior to a patient getting discharged back into the community.
TL;DR - you are not alone
internship can be mind numbing at first.
as the posts state above, it is indeed, learning about how to work as a resident.
and all it's joys. less about formalized teaching.