Navigating the first year of residency 

Nick Cronin

The beginning of residency is full of excitement. There are many highs and even more lows. School is finally over, and I am looking forward to starting professional life. The first year is when there is a feeling of imposter syndrome initially. Nobody tells you how to find a balance in your life—becoming efficient needs to be figured out many times. The first year is not easy, but plenty of strategies will make it manageable. After initially learning your responsibilities and managing the whirlwind of changes that come with it, the first step is finding stability in your work life. Getting paid a salary for the first time takes some getting used to after years of being a student. Buying that cafeteria lunch or going out to eat may seem more tempting than ever after getting paid. Packing a lunch can provide stability to your intern year in both a financial and routine sense, as attractive as buying or even skipping lunch, maybe.

Returning to previous routines or creating new practices help provide that stability. Finding some small recreational activity outside of the hospital is a great way to maintain mental health during a stressful filled intern year. Sometimes it will seem like there is no time for anything but work. Getting to the gym, playing a pick-up game of basketball or whatever sport you like, picking up an old hobby or new are all great ways to break up the pressure of a busy week. Relationships are a crucial part of the first year. Depending on your program, you may get to know internal medicine residents that start with you. Those connections are things not to take for granted, as those people can blossom into friends and people you have in your corner. It certainly helps when you have patients in common with those residents with who you’ve formed relationships. Having a support system is integral in dealing with the inevitable stress of the first year, and it can be easy to feel isolated. It’s essential to have a more senior resident to talk to. They can often help you deal with that stress and specific situations at work, teaching you some tricks to become more efficient. The first year of residency teaches you an abundance of lessons about becoming a podiatric surgeon, but it also grows you as a working professional. New experiences, people, and responsibilities tend to initially upset the balance in life. The important thing is to focus and get that balance back through a good routine, support system, and work ethic.