Wow - I'm sorry to hear about your crappy residency experiences. To give those P-4s some hope, my residency is actually (kind of) fun as far as work goes. There are 5 of us, and we have gotten along great so far. We have 10 rotations that are 4 weeks each, and a ton of different preceptors and rotations to choose from. So far I have enjoyed my rotations, with the exception of one - which is about how my rotations went as a P-4. But I feel like I've been pretty lucky as far as programs go. I have 6 rotations left, plus my regular staffing requirement. As far as feeling humble all the time, unfortnately I think we always feel that way. There is so much that is thrown in front of us, and once you feel like you are getting the hang of it, you get a totally new problem and you feel like you have no idea what you are doing again. I will admit that I question my decision to be a pharmacist numerous times each week. But hopefullly over the next few years I'll get the hang of it.
My work day consists of getting to the hospital between 7:30 and 8:30, depending on what service I'm with and what time rounds start. I look through the profiles and see what has changed overnight, including labs and cultures. After rounds we usually break for lunch, then we meet with our preceptor in the afternoon to discuss readings, patients, and any assignments we might be working on. If there is nothing else going on that afternoon, I'm usually free to go home and read, or work on my projects. Each rotation is a little different. But with the exception of staffing, my days usually run about 8-9 hours.
To give a little advice to those going through the match, look for programs with a lot of different rotations that you are interested in, ask the current residents if they are happy with the level of support they get from their director and preceptors, and if you are a structured person, don't apply to an "unstructured" residency program. I personally like to have a well-laid out plan for the year, and my program has really gone out of its way to do that.
Honestlly, after talking with residents from other programs at Midyear, don't just apply somewhere because you really think you need to do a residency no matter what program it is. You really need to do the research and find what is best for you. If you are limited geographically, don't feel like not doing a residency is going to ruin your career - it's not. This is an experience that does last a whole year (which can seem like forever if you don't like where you are), and requires a significant pay sacrifice. So do your research, and find a program you think you can be happy with!
I wouldn't let that steer you away from choosing a residency, but if everything else was equal, I don't know that I'd want to be the only one. I guess I don't have to look stupid compared to another resident, that's an advantage. Which is good because I am already humbled on a daily basis. A lot of the people I work with are my age so they feel a little less like preceptors, but not quite co-workers and I learn a lot from them. Overall, I consider myself an independent worker, but it would be nice to have someone to bounce ideas off of and to commiserate at times.Marry me, D
