People who are now attendings - how do your residency evals compare to your work as a fully fledged physician?

[IonClaws]

Hey everyone,

I'm a PGY-1 almost done with Intern year, and overall it's been a very difficult transition for me, even more than it is for most. I wasn't put on formal probation or made to repeat anything, and I passed Step 3 on the first try, but in general I had more difficulty getting organized, learned processes slower, and worked more slowly than my peers. Basically difficulty with applying knowledge, i.e. more "book smart" and socially awkward. Overall I'm probably the worst performing resident out of my class (I have a small class because I'm not IM).

So, what bearing does this have for being an attending? I'd imagine the evaluation process is obviously not very formal and kind of made "on the fly" and of course always subjective. I guess I'm looking for there to be some sort of rainbow because, while residency is definitely better than medical school, it's still a struggle.

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[Merely]

What field r u

 

[killdevil]

Residency is about getting your ego destroyed. Provided you graduate, your evals don't have much bearing on how you'll do once you graduate.

 

[IonClaws]

What field r u

Neurology

 

[Merely]

Neurology

You’ll be fine bro just know people much worse than you have passed and graduated residency to be great physicians. Residency evals are not indicative of how you’ll do as an attending, your personal motivation and dedication to your patients is the primary factor. Keep the patient first and you’ll be a successful doc that is loved by his patients. Good luck.

 

[thenerveofu]

Hey everyone,

I'm a PGY-1 almost done with Intern year, and overall it's been a very difficult transition for me, even more than it is for most. I wasn't put on formal probation or made to repeat anything, and I passed Step 3 on the first try, but in general I had more difficulty getting organized, learned processes slower, and worked more slowly than my peers. Basically difficulty with applying knowledge, i.e. more "book smart" and socially awkward. Overall I'm probably the worst performing resident out of my class (I have a small class because I'm not IM).

So, what bearing does this have for being an attending? I'd imagine the evaluation process is obviously not very formal and kind of made "on the fly" and of course always subjective. I guess I'm looking for there to be some sort of rainbow because, while residency is definitely better than medical school, it's still a struggle.

Residency is about getting better constantly everyday. It's meant to be a humbling process. As far as evals of course so many are subjective.. but some can be insightful and help you look in the mirror from perspective of an attending so take feedback, but sometimes take it needs to be taken with a grain of salt. You ultimately will be the biggest factor in determining your ceiling.

 

[gutonc]

People actually read their residency evals? Huh...crazy.

Seriously though, I got both written and in-person evals for most core (inpatient and continuity clinic) rotations and I honestly only paid any attention to the in-person ones.

If people have honest (even if harsh) feedback for me that they're willing to give to my face, I will sit up and listen (and change my behavior). If they blow smoke up my ass in person and savage me in writing? F*** them. That's somebody who's opinion is irrelevant.

 

[deathmerchant]

Hey everyone,

I'm a PGY-1 almost done with Intern year, and overall it's been a very difficult transition for me, even more than it is for most. I wasn't put on formal probation or made to repeat anything, and I passed Step 3 on the first try, but in general I had more difficulty getting organized, learned processes slower, and worked more slowly than my peers. Basically difficulty with applying knowledge, i.e. more "book smart" and socially awkward. Overall I'm probably the worst performing resident out of my class (I have a small class because I'm not IM).

So, what bearing does this have for being an attending? I'd imagine the evaluation process is obviously not very formal and kind of made "on the fly" and of course always subjective. I guess I'm looking for there to be some sort of rainbow because, while residency is definitely better than medical school, it's still a struggle.

Also, if you are neurology, that is a very different field than IM. The approach is different. Socially awkward might be more acceptable in Neuro than IM!!
Plus, you might be more interested and hopefully have better basic knowledge of neuro once you get into PG2. I have personally worked with people who hated and had hard time in IM intern year and flourished once they were back in Neuro.

 

[Gastrapathy]

People actually read their residency evals? Huh...crazy.

We switched to a computer based system for evals when I was an intern. They entered my email address incorrectly so I never received an eval. The PC figured it out when I had 3 months left and I had to “acknowledge” all the prior evals that had existed in the ether.

 

[Jerryscalpel]

You should be fine. I’m not sure why you are slower than your classmates and the worst out of your residency class. In my experience those things clear up just fine after a while.

 

[mvenus929]

Some of the residents I mentored as a chief resident had really bad evaluations. But knowing them, I would absolutely take my child to them (if said child existed) over some of the other residents who received 'stellar' evals. There were also residents I would be leery of taking care of my child who had less than good evaluations. Some of it was because I knew the residents had certain strengths and weaknesses--if they were in another field, I might reconsider my opinion of them. Someone who would be an excellent PICU doc may not be such a great PCP, etc. There's a certain amount of subjectivity, and the important part is that you are willing to accept the feedback and make efforts to improve.

 

[Crayola227]

Keep in mind that just because you might be the "weakest" resident, doesn't mean you aren't competent. With the peer group you find in medicine, it's impossible to always be at the top.

It's not an excuse to slack off, but take it easy on yourself.

 

[Apollyon]

When I was in college, my roommate was computer science. His grades weren't the best in the department, but he was the best programmer.

Always remember about academic medicine - "some animals have to live in the zoo, because they couldn't survive in the wild". The immoral, no-class, cowardly, snide, weak stuff that happens in residency would never, ever cut it in "the real world" ("What? Like Reseda?" Props if you get that).

In practice, it doesn't matter if you do the scientific method, or spin around 3 times and bark at the moon. It's results.

 

[Jimmy B]

I'll just say that I wasn't picked to be a chief resident but I'm the only one in my class who went into academics and I've been told I'm a good doctor when I was a fellow and now attending. I just show up to work and do my job.

 

[NuttyEngDude]

After speaking with other interns, I concluded after midyear that everyone in my program is told at some point they are "below average" It can be a dirty motivational tool. If you care too much what other people think, so long as you aren't hurting patients or really getting into trouble, you are going to have a tough residency. Keep on doing, learning and progressing and you will be fine.

 

[akwho]

We had an attending who one year wrote in his evals for the R4 class that 9 out of the 10 of them were "below average." The 10th was listed as... "far below average." Haha.