What's it like being a surgical intern?

Question

I am a femal thiniknig about becoming a surgeon and I was wondering specifically what it is like to be surgical intern? Do you have enough time for personal relationships? What are daily living conditions like? Is it worth all the sacrifice? Also, do you form friendships with the other interns?

Thank you. I would really appreciate it if you could give me a detailed, honest answer.

Answer 1

1) personal relationships? Not the intern year hon. Basically there are VOLUNTARY guidelines that supposedly limit resident work hours to 80 per week, but that's pretty laughable. Most programs don't follow that restriction, or they pretend to,but you always end up going over.

2) Mostly you get there around 5:30 AM and get crapped on all day by the higher ups until they finally let you go home around 6:30. You are lucky if you manage to make dinner before going to bed let alone kiss your husband or call your mom. Several nights per week you will not in fact leave the hospital until noon the next day where you will be kept up all night by inane patient requests and the occasional patient trying to die on you.

3) Certainly you form friendships with the other interns. You're all in it together, and for that first year, it's you guys versus EVERYONE else (patients, other residents, attending surgeons). It's a battlefield mentality, and those in the trenches with you are your best friends


Most surgery residencies pretty much suck, but the first year is the worst, and it does tend to get better with each passing year. The upside is the money and the joy of performing surgery. It's possible for women to do it, but it is hard, and you will need lots of support.

You can put up with anything for just one year, right? ;)

Answer 2

Try a paperback available from Amazon, "Not an Entirely Benign Procedure," by Perri Klass. This is a female who describes her years in medical school. She eventually became a pediatrician.