Published
Sep 21, 2023

What to Expect From Your First Day of Residency

Residency

Congratulations! You’ve completed medical school and now you’re on your way to becoming a full-fledged doctor. The next stage in your medical career begins. It’s exciting, exhilarating, and something to be proud of. It’s your first day of medical school residency and you're officially a doctor — the title you worked hard for years to attain, and so your new life starts. What should you expect from your first day of residency? We’ve got a list to help you prepare.

What to Expect on Your First Day of Residency

You Probably Won’t Be Able to Sleep Before Your First Day

You know you’ll need plenty of rest to perform at your best on your first day of residency, but that might be difficult to do. There’ll be feelings of excitement and nervousness. There’ll be pessimistic thoughts about not doing well. Scenarios about what might happen tomorrow may flash through your mind. And these things can prevent you from getting the sleep you need.

Give yourself plenty of time and space to unwind and get to sleep. You're going to need it.

You’ll Have to Look Sharp

You’re a doctor now, and you have to look the part. No sloppy outfits, keep your appearance neat and tidy, be on time, and be polite.

You’ll Get Flustered During the Day

During med school residency, there’ll be a lot of names to remember, you’ll be bombarded with plenty of reminders, rules to follow, and directions to where all the important places are. You might get flustered because of information overload, so it helps to keep a notebook with you to jot down these things.

Remember that everyone goes through this during physician residency. Stay calm and take it one thing at a time.

You’ll Feel Pressured to Say "Yes"

People will be asking you to handle various things during your physician residency, and you might want to comply every time, consumed by thoughts of wanting to look good.

Remember to not take on too many tasks. Do the things you can and try not to commit to too many responsibilities that might prevent you from performing at your best. If you think you can’t handle it, then learn to say no nicely.

We all need to establish limits and boundaries. Otherwise, you risk heading toward burnout.

There’ll Be Times When You’ll Feel Low

Physician residency is a whole new stage in your life, and you’re just starting out, so there’ll be moments when you might mess up or do a sloppy job that’ll make you feel low.

Don't let these moments consume you or make you doubt the path you took in life.

And Times That Make You Think Everything You’ve Worked Hard For is Totally Worth It

There’ll also be moments when you do a fantastic job, which will help you feel fulfilled and make you realize that you made the right choice of going to medical school.

If you need help managing your physician residency interview or another part of your clinical experience fill out the form below to begin your new life adventure!

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