For some medical residents, time pressure, work-life balance, and more are some of the challenges they face while training. In comparison, the others worry about the traditional clinical matters like not developing the latest skills in their field and fear of making serious mistakes at work. Since residency is a unique mix of education and employment, a medical residency attorney has command of both principles/practices of GME and workplace laws. The attorney can help with medical residency problems like suspension, non-promotion, dismissal, remediation, non-renewal, etc. There are a few challenges in medical residency; let us see what they are.
Top 5 issues faced in medical residency
- Meeting expectations: Residents may feel they have stretched schedules that are directly proportional to their work and training demands. About half of residents who were asked whether the balance between their personal and professional lives was satisfactory answered, “it was neither better nor worse.” A quarter said the balance was “somewhat or much better” than what they expected.
- Work overload: Residents have to face a heavy workload and long working hours. Therefore, there is a significant rise in stress-related issues. They also have limited personal time to relax and do other activities. All of these limit their time, and they sacrifice their private life to some extent.
- Team dynamics: A good team may make or break your day. More often, residents are put in a team with supportive colleagues with whom they share the good and bad of the days. But sometimes they are in groups where they don’t gel that much, which decides how each day will be. Establishing healthy relationships is essential while working, making work a little less draining and helping reduce stress.
- Dealing with various patients: In medical school, patients given for cases to students were cherry-picked by either the students or their seniors. Students were protected from challenging patients who are hard to deal with, unsupportive, irritate the staff, or drive away with friends and family. But, in medical residency, getting a patient is a stroke of total luck with no one to shield you from those challenging patients who once were not handed to you. In residency, you work on a rotation basis. Even though it is hard to take care of these patients who are hard to deal with and you probably do not like them, in the end, dealing with all these is an important skill.
