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I'm in my 3rd year of fellowship and I still feel like there's a big gap endoscopy-wise between where the new attendings are and where I am currently, is this normal to feel at this stage? I'm at a large academic center that is high volume. I felt that my endoscopy learning was somewhat delayed during my first year due to covid (basically all our outpatient centers were shut down and I did not scope consistently for 2-3 months; a problem that I'm sure all fellows had at that time), but even during my 2nd year when we electively pursue outpatient endoscopy, I definitely did not do as much because again I was pretty concerned about COVID, especially with having kids at home.
I've currently done a hair over 500 colos (not too concerned about EGD), and I feel confident getting to cecum, doing polypectomy, and intervening, etc. BUT I feel that I am slow and somewhat "streaky". I'll have great days where I can knock out 15 colos and finish on time, but other days where I spend 15min getting to cecum on a difficult intubation and another 30min withdrawing due to marginal prep and a high number of polyps that need to be removed. Basically, there are some days where, if it weren't for the attending taking over halfway through to do a quick withdrawal), I may easily run 1-2 hours behind, which I know just can't happen. I've tried to solicit feedback, but in general just get the usual "you're doing great" or "efficiency will come with time". Some of the younger attendings I've talked to have also said that the first year after fellowship is where you really perfect your endoscopic skills.
Anyway, my questions are:
- as a third year fellow, is anyone else feeling this struggle?
- for recent grads, when does it get better?
- what are some of the things that helped you get more efficient at withdrawing? (again some of this may just be me being detail oriented and spending too much time or not trusting myself enough that I saw something clearly). Any resources? any helpful tips?
I've currently done a hair over 500 colos (not too concerned about EGD), and I feel confident getting to cecum, doing polypectomy, and intervening, etc. BUT I feel that I am slow and somewhat "streaky". I'll have great days where I can knock out 15 colos and finish on time, but other days where I spend 15min getting to cecum on a difficult intubation and another 30min withdrawing due to marginal prep and a high number of polyps that need to be removed. Basically, there are some days where, if it weren't for the attending taking over halfway through to do a quick withdrawal), I may easily run 1-2 hours behind, which I know just can't happen. I've tried to solicit feedback, but in general just get the usual "you're doing great" or "efficiency will come with time". Some of the younger attendings I've talked to have also said that the first year after fellowship is where you really perfect your endoscopic skills.
Anyway, my questions are:
- as a third year fellow, is anyone else feeling this struggle?
- for recent grads, when does it get better?
- what are some of the things that helped you get more efficient at withdrawing? (again some of this may just be me being detail oriented and spending too much time or not trusting myself enough that I saw something clearly). Any resources? any helpful tips?
