Guest Blog, Katherine

Hello!

I realize that it has been a while since I have written anything, and that’s not because of lack of content or ideas for what I want to talk about on my blog, but it’s more about the whole– starting residency thing.

I have really been trying to focus on starting residency with the right attitude and approach. I have friends that are burnt out and were burnt out from medical school before even starting residency who are miserable for lack of a better word. Residency is hard because it’s residency. And as a brand new PGY-1, I wanted to go into it knowing a few things: it’s hard, there are things that I need to do that I didn’t even realize I needed to do, I don’t know everything, it’s okay to be wrong but ask for help when I need it, and attitude is everything.

It has been an adjustment, to say the least. But an expected one.

So with that being said, I wanted to open up with something new…

I’m interviewing doctors of all kinds and asking them some questions.

My first interview is my good friend Kat (who I met on instagram)

Here is all about her and what she has to say…

Katherine

Kat1

I’m originally from Northern VA, the Washington DC area.

Fun Fact: I was always that girl in high school who loved to read. I constantly had a book on me, and I often spent my lunch breaks with my nose in a book. I don’t get to read as much anymore because of school, but it’s still my favorite pastime.

For FUN:

Read, exercise, cook, spend time with friends and my boyfriend, watch TV

Q: Where are you in your medical career?

My second year of medical school!

When did you know you wanted to be a doctor? What’s the story?

When I was 10 or 11 years old. I was watching an episode of House, MD and I thought it would be cool to be a doctor because it looked like fun. My interest only grew over the years as I took as many science classes as I could. My father’s health issues my junior year of high school solidified my path.

Q: What is your specialty/ interests? Why?

I definitely want a specialty with procedures. I can’t see myself as a generalist in primary care. Right now I am particularly interested in OBGYN because pregnancy and women’s health issues fascinate me. However, I do plan on keeping my eyes open if anything else catches my eyes.

Q: What are your favorite parts of medicine?

Having the privilege to be able to help people during their most vulnerable times in life and having the status in society to be able to have a voice to make a difference.

Q: What don’t you like about medicine?

Insurance companies, the courts enabling people to sue where negligence is not present, PAPERWORK, and the cost of medical school.

Q In 10 years, where do you see your career?

Hopefully working shift-work while trying to plan for a family. Spending a couple of days of week in the OR and some in clinic. I’m not sure yet what kind of practice I want to be a part of, but family-friendly workplaces and stable hours (which is actually possible despite popular belief) are important to me.

Burn out:

I became very burnt out after I took the MCAT. I didn’t take a break. To give you a good idea:

Fall Semester: Biochem w/ lab, Physics 2 w/ lab, Microbio w/ lab, Poetry, Field Hockey, Worked 10 hours/wk, dated someone, tried to socialize.

Winter Break: Studied 8-10 hrs/day every single day. Started spring semester right away.

Summer: applications and started working in a research lab right away. Ended up quitting and spending the rest of the summer doing nothing because I could not handle anything else at that point.

So ALWAYS take breaks. Always. Free day? Free weekend? Winter break? Go hiking, go shopping, do anything EXCEPT school. It’s so easy to corner ourselves into burnout by doing nothing for our mental health. School is NOT #1, you are. Take care of yourself. Take breaks, do things that relax you, sleep 8 hours a night, etc. Burnout is very hard to recover from, so doing what you can to minimize it as much as possible is probably the most important thing you will do.

Q: What do you do to make your health and wellness a priority?

I always allocate 8 hours of sleep for myself; exercise and eat healthy as much as possible; I will say this a million times: I ALWAYS TAKE BREAKS; I spend time with the people I love and call home several times a week.

I’ve created a mindset for myself that I am #1 and not school. School is important but not more than I am.

A patient encounter that rings a bell/ sticks with you.

Nothing too much to work with yet, but I shadowed on Labor and Delivery and I assisted the PGY-1 in a vaginal birth. There was nothing more amazing than a mother in pain delivering new life into the world despite feeling like she couldn’t. And then seeing dad so proud of his new baby. It gives me tingles thinking about it.

Favorite writing utensils/ paper products/ office supplies.

Staedtler or Stabilo fineliner pens

Pentel Energel 0.5mm black pens

Printer paper

HP 25” monitor (I hook up my laptop to increase the screen space)

Many colors of Highlighter

Final words/ thoughts for the general public/ medical community.

Every step ahead seems daunting and impossible, but many have come before us to succeed, and if you put your mind and the effort in, you will succeed. There is always a way.