Why Do I Need a General Surgery Residency?

Written By: Rachael Kaine

Explaining a General Surgery Residency

After more than 10 years of medical school, more likely than not, you’re ready to get out there and work with patients on your own - at least in your own mind. Throughout your schooling, you’ve learned many things including how to work with others, how to interact with patients and what the signs and symptoms of specific conditions may be, but the residency is where you’ll put everything to the test and practice your skills on patients. For a general surgery residency, you’ll be given the opportunity to finish your studies under the guidance of senior residents, experienced medical professionals and a network of peers that will be able to answer questions when you have them, provide backup if you need it and even help to boost your confidence when the time comes. This surgery residency DC is not only mandated by law, but it is a necessary final step in your journey to becoming a general surgeon.

What to Expect During a General Surgery Residency

This multiple year program is offered by many facilities and organizations across the nation, and is designed to allow you to hone your skills while becoming more confident and capable with them. By the time you graduate, you’ll be legally allowed to practice on your own, and will hopefully have had more than enough hands on experience to feel capable of doing so. This type of program spans multiple years with a different focus throughout. Sometimes you’ll be working rotations in hospitals or clinics, others you’ll be studying current medical trends and information - you’ll even have the opportunity during your general surgery residency to focus on an area of your choice, which allows you to look further into an area that you’re interested in.

You will be busy, and you will at times feel overtired and stressed out, but in the long run, these feelings and experiences are worth it because of the benefits. You’ll become someone capable of saving lives and providing hope for the future, so what are a few sleepless nights? This time is meant to prepare you for a career in medicine, and if it was easy, everyone would do it. It takes a special set of skills and abilities to complete a general surgery residency Georgetown and begin your own career, why not make the most of it? From doctors, nurses and other surgeons to the patients themselves, everyone that you come into contact with will have something to teach you - utilize them!

Ways to Excel in an Internal Medicine Residency Interview

Written By: Rachael Kaine

Preparing for an Internal Medicine Residency

During the fourth and final year of medical school, many students focus on the future of their careers: beginning with the residency interview and ending with a final graduation and the ability to practice on their own. There are many different fields of medicine that students may choose to practice, but one of the most popular (and necessary!) is that of internal medicine or one of the many, many sub-specialty branches that can be pursued. After applications to residency programs are mailed out, students will play the waiting game before being contacted to schedule these interviews and get accepted into their internal medicine residency program of choice. This time period can be just as stressful as the waiting that was done before their acceptance into medical school, but the time can be used wisely to prepare for the forthcoming interviews.

Internal Medicine Residency Interview Tips

Be prepared. This means being ready for anything. Having transcripts and letters of recommendation are not the only things you need to take into an interview with you; your attitude and personal appearance will also play a large part in the process. You will become a direct reflection of the program after acceptance, so looking professional, having a good attitude and being open and honest are just as imperative as having good grades and a positive academic reputation.

The interview process is not only lengthy, but can be exhausting. This isn’t speaking about individual interviews, but more about all of the interviews that you will complete. The vast majority of students are not accepted into the first school that they interview with, so going through the process many times is just another thing that prospective residents must prepare for. Multiple interviews are common, and you’ll need to plan them out so that they don’t overlap and you have adequate time to prepare for each. Be prepared to visit many facilities and answer the same questions repeatedly. This is just a normal part of the matching process.

Be ready to ask questions of your own. These questions do not always have to be related to the internal medicine residency program Baltimore (or other location), but inquiring about the surrounding areas, the population and the things you can expect during your residential years are important, too. Not only do you need to match with the program itself, but choosing an area you will be comfortable and confident in is necessary at the same time.

The interview process is a formal occasion, but you should always be yourself. Your personality needs to fit in with those you’ll be working with, and while the interview isn’t the best time to ask about “silly” things, or to be casual, letting those you’d be working and studying with know who you are and what you expect will help them make a decision as to whether or not you’ll fit into the internal medicine residency program that they offer, and have the chance to flourish.

Completing a General Surgery Residency

Written By: Rachael Kaine

What Does a General Surgery Residency Cover?

In order to become a licensed and practicing surgeon, it is necessary to complete a general surgery residency, which will provide you with the knowledge and ability to diagnose, prepare, operate on, care for post-op and potentially manage any complications for patients. This residency is an opportunity to focus on understanding and embracing the physiology and anatomy of the human body, plus wound healing, intensive care and immunology, among other things. This type of program is the final step into obtaining the license to perform surgical procedures of many types, and a surgery residency DC is highly recommended by many different currently licensed professionals.

What to Expect from a General Surgery Residency

During a general surgery residency Georgetown, you’ll be prepared to deal with and contribute to many different medical situations. The entire program is created and run with the idea that every situation - from classes to procedures to patient interactions - is a learning experience for the residents, giving them a chance to improve their skills and abilities each moment that they are on campus or in a medical facility. This isn’t about simply producing surgeons with proven skills, but about creating confident leaders and reliable professionals with a great deal to give back to the medical community as well as the communities that they operate within.

The graduates of the general surgery residency Georgetown program are highly sought after in the medical field, partially due to the fact that the training is so extensive that many residents will have already completed work and procedures that are often designated for fellowship programs - meaning that graduates of this program are often capable of advanced diagnostic skills and procedural performance. Though this might seem daunting to those thinking of applying, this has the potential to cut back on additional learning time and trouble if the decision is made to pursue a fellowship either through the same organization or with a different one.

This is a highly competitive field, and the residency program only accepts five individuals each year, meaning that the groups will be small, with an emphasis placed on individual progress and learning. The ultimate goal is to train those who will be tasked with becoming the country’s future surgical leaders - in essence, producing graduates that other surgeons would feel comfortable allowing to perform procedures on their family and other loved ones. This level of trust and skill says a great deal about the general surgery residency program’s expectations, as well as the past success rate and participant quality.

Staying Focused During an Internal Medicine Residency

Written By: Rachael Kaine

Struggling Through Your Internal Medicine Residency?

Years of medical school should have prepared you for sleepless nights, heavy workloads and disgruntled or stubborn patients. Even though this is true, the time you spend in a residency is going to be unlike anything you’ve experienced before, as it is meant to be the final step before allowing you to practice on your own as a licensed medical professional. The stress, anxiety and desire to be done and free to practice are natural feelings, but there’s really nothing that can be done in order to make the time go by faster except to understand that your internal medicine residency will, in fact come to an end, leaving you with the experience and preparation that you need to be a successful medical practitioner.

Things to Remember During an Internal Medicine Residency

- Stay focused by allowing yourself some “me” time. This might sound like common sense, but many residents are consumed by the need to study and work so that they can stay ahead of their assignments, forgetting to take a necessary break. This break time can be something as simple as treating yourself to a nap in the middle of the day when possible, or taking yourself out for a nice meal - even buying yourself a small gift like a new pair of shoes or a coat that you’ve had your eye on. Appreciate the small things, and take some time to give yourself a breather in order to step away from your busy schedule.

- Make the most of your surroundings. Some people will be able to reset and recharge by giving themselves an hour or two a week to take in the city or area that their residency is located in. An internal medicine residency program Baltimore offers residents the chance to explore the coast, visit the nation’s capital and experience beautiful scenery and a plethora of different types of people. Since your residency program will take multiple years, becoming familiar and comfortable with your surroundings is a great way to relax and make the program feel less like a chore and more like actual life.

- It’s ok to ask questions; you’re never going to be truly on your own. During an internal medicine residency Baltimore, you’ll be given the opportunity to work on your own and make decisions,but there’s always going to be a senior resident or an actual hospital employee’s watchful eye on you. This gives you a chance to become confident in your skills, but at the same time, gives you a reference point if you need it. Asking questions is the only way to learn, and it’s better if you get clarification rather than make a mistake, which takes a great deal of pressure off of you.

Choosing a Cardiology Fellowship

Written By: Rachael Kaine

What is a Cardiology Fellowship?

The only difference between a cardiology fellowship and other fellowships is that cardiology focuses on the heart’s function within the body. Though many people think that a residency program is the final step in the medical school marathon, those who wish to continue on into a specialty field must complete a fellowship program after their residency. During this time spent in a fellowship, you’ll be acting as either an attending or consulting physician, but always under direct supervision. Treatments, appointments and, even in some cases, procedures will be performed, giving fellows more hands on experience in their specialty field, ensuring that they’re properly prepared to do the real thing without supervision once the fellowship has been completed. While this is truly the final step in becoming a cardiology specialist in a specific field of the profession, there are further learning possibilities if you choose to participate in them, as well as continued learning requirements that you must complete in order to stay on top of changes in the field, both in terms of knowledge and available options.

Why a Cardiology Fellowship?

Like with all fields of medicine, there are different specialty areas that can be focused on during a cardiology fellowship Georgetown. Each organization that offers a fellowship program places emphasis on different parts of the field, allowing participants to choose which areas they want to focus on. For a cardiology fellowship, many people choose to practice general cardiology, but there are other options like surgery, cardiovascular perfusion, transplant and anesthesia fellowships.

Each of these options give you a chance to choose your own path; the years of medical school before your fellowship will prepare you with all of the general skills you’ll need to become a successful medical professional, but the final years of the fellowship will solidify your skills and abilities. Cardiology is a respected and necessary field, and having as many qualified professionals as possible ready and willing to assist patients is absolutely necessary.

Cardiology fellowship DC programs are designed to give participants a chance to experience everything that they’ll have to deal with during their careers like lab work, hands on patient experiences, procedure completion, and patient consultation, just to name a few. These clinical rotations will take place over the course of just about two years, giving you ample time to become more comfortable with the procedures and practices you’ll be performing. The idea of this type of program is to provide you with all of the tools you’ll need to become the best you can be, providing quality and necessary health care to any patient that walks through the doors of your office, no matter what their condition or medical needs.

Advice for Emergency Medicine Residency Applicants

Written By: Rachael Kaine

Getting Into Emergency Medicine Residency Programs

The first step in completing an emergency medicine residency is finding out more about the programs that are offered at various facilities around the country. In order to do so, there are multiple places that you can look. Brochures, websites (http://www.medstarhealth.org/), visiting campuses - all of these are options, but one of the most useful is going online and finding reviews and experiences that have been shared by past participants on message boards, blogs and even in some cases medical professional networking sites. This will give you a better idea what you should prepare for before you begin your studies, and give you a chance to make as informed a decision as is possible.

After selecting the programs that you want to apply to, you should begin to get your application together. This includes getting a photograph taken to include with the packet, filling in all required information in an appropriate manner and writing a personal statement. This application is the first contact that you will have with your potential residency program, making it absolutely necessary to take a good amount of time ensuring that it is as perfect as it can be. With your application to an EM residency Washington DC, you’ll also need to include letters of recommendation from the faculty members that you have worked closely with in the past - an emphasis placed on using emergency medicine personnel if you have any.

Interviewing for an Emergency Medicine Residency Program

After you have chosen the programs and have been asked to interview with one or more of them, you’ll need to prepare for these first face to face encounters. Many people recommend scheduling the interview for the program that you’d like to get into the most last; this way, you’ll have the prior experience of interviewing out of the way and and be more prepared and comfortable with whatever it is that they will ask. This is useful, because despite interviewing in many different places, a lot of the questions will be similar, giving you time to carefully construct and think about your answers a little more each time they are asked.

Many applicants make a huge mistake and interview at too few locations. Not only does this limit the likelihood of getting into a program, but it also makes it more possible that you will make fewer initial connections. There is a huge difference between getting into a third or fourth choice program and not getting accepted at all, so that’s important to consider when thinking the application process through. This is an incredibly competitive field, so waiting a year and applying again is not always a viable option for an emergency medicine residency program Washington DC.

What is a Family Medicine Residency Like?

Written by: Rachael Kaine

Beginning a Family Medicine Residency

As it is the final step necessary in order to become a licensed medical practitioner, a family medicine residency will require you to choose this as a specialty area of focus. The residency programs involve learning various skills and abilities that will be necessary to treat people of all ages in an office environment for a variety of conditions. The time spent in a residency will include time spent actively working with and on patients as well as coming up with the best ways to interact with peers and superiors; it’s all about being well rounded and experienced. The first few weeks or months can be quite the adjustment period, but over time, you’ll settle into the perfect routine to get you through.

What You’ll Learn During a Family Medicine Residency

The most important thing to remember about this type of program is that for the most part, this field will simply treat an assortment of bodily conditions that can impact the lives of people throughout their life stages. Patients will range from children to the elderly, suffering from conditions as simple as an ear infection to things as complex as chronic and recurring pain. Not all family medicine practitioners will be required to do the same things as they practice, and much of the medical community is in agreement that this is a very regionally specific profession, and those practicing in Arkansas will be faced with different situations than a doctor in New York; it all depends on the surrounding population.

After Completing a Family Medicine Residency

A Franklin family medicine residency Baltimore will allow you the opportunity to choose the specifics of your practice, and focus on becoming the type of doctor you would like to be. As each family medicine doctor is slightly different in nature, this career is extremely flexible. Doctors can choose to work alone in a private practice or in a group setting, and even after that, there are many different choices to be made. This flexibility offers you the ability to model your practice as you see fit; outpatient or inpatient only, a mixture of both, working in an academic setting, treating military employees; the options are vast, and it’s up to you to pick the best one.

Your career is ultimately up to you, and it will be what you make of it. Though this field is not as exciting or unpredictable as that of an emergency medical doctor or a surgeon, it is just as fulfilling and necessary, and millions of people each year need the guidance, expertise and care of people like you that choose to complete a family medicine residency in order to follow their dream medical career path.