There are over 250 surgical residencies in the United States. Most residents experience some degree of shock once they start on the very first day, and the demands of residency are high. The current overall dropout rate is 16%, and there is evidence for higher burnout rates, suicide rates, addiction rates and divorce rates among all surgeons compared to other careers. There is therefore a critical need for the education of resiliency during surgical residency and guidance on surviving this challenging portion of their career. Unfortunately, the experiences of trial and error are the basis for survival, and resiliency training is often overlooked as part of the traditional surgical training. This practical guide is founded on many conversations with struggling general surgery residents and will have wide appeal, utilizing these experiences via interviews with current residents at different residency programs and covering an even wider variety of topics, with variable experiences based on differing ages, races, sexes, and marital statuses. Each chapter begins with a topic and a brief introduction, expansion on the topic based on their unique experiences, and then a concluding list of pearls to remember and use in daily residency. The topics are broken down thematically into five main sections, covering the breadth of residency experience and work/life balance: academics, clinical duties, life outside of work, leadership and ethics, and basic survival skills and self-care. Written by current residents for current residents, General Surgery Residency Survival Guide will be a valuable resource for everyone navigating this challenging portion of their medical career.

Are you a medical student on the cusp of graduation from medical school who is soon to embark upon a journey through residency training? Are you an intern or junior resident muscling through the early years of your formative residency training? If so, this book was written exclusively for you. The transition from medical school to residency training is a challenging and transformative experience that will come rushing toward you like a run‐away freight train. Life as a resident physician is drastically different to what most experience during their clinical rotations in medical school. Medical school can sometimes feel like an extension of your undergraduate college experience; however, residency is an entirely different animal. You will undoubtedly approach this transition into residency with a combination of raw emotion to include enthusiasm and eagerness but also trepidation and apprehension. This survival guide will serve to temper these emotions and transform them into a sense of confidence as you progress forward. This book is a focused, honest, and straightforward text that addresses the unique challenges encountered in residency training and more importantly discusses a number of strategies to facilitate tactful navigation of these challenging waters. It has been crafted into an easily digestible volume which concisely outlines a combination of principles that will inevitably produce a winning strategy to be a highly motivated, readily adaptable, and successful trainee. The thoughts expressed in this book will spur invaluable self‐reflection and enable the reader to fabricate an armamentarium of weaponry that can be tactically applied in the trenches of clinical warfare as well as to develop the strength, perseverance, and endurance to surge forward when the going gets tough. Some of this advice is frank, blunt, and brutally honest, but will be instrumental in maintaining an even keel throughout the grueling training process and prevent the reader from making some of the same mistakes that the author himself naively committed. Despite the differences that distinguish the numerous specialties of medicine and surgery, each chapter of this book contains valuable insight that all trainees can draw from regardless of specialty. By utilizing and employing the tools discussed, opportunities presented throughout the course of your residency training and beyond can be translated into successes that you will continually be able to build upon, hone, and polish throughout your career as a respected and well-rounded physician and professional.

This survival guide provides all the information that is essential for a surgical internship, including daily routine, rounds, chart reviews, preoperative and postoperative care, operating room conduct, radiology, critical care, and interaction with families, colleagues, and allied health professionals. Comprehensive sections on common problems in general surgery, neurosurgery, orthopaedic surgery, urology, and plastic surgery present evaluation, diagnostic testing, and treatment in an easy-to-follow format. Other chapters cover crashing patients, tubes and drains, bleeding, codes, and nutrition.

ix Preface Smart surgeons learn from their own mistakes, smarter surgeons learn from mistakes of others, some never learn . . . You are a resident, overworked and constantly tired; sitting down with your mentor for a brief tutorial. What do you want to get out of these few minutes? To organize your thoughts and approaches to the particular problem; to learn how he -the weathered surgeon -"tackles it"; to grasp a few practical "recipes" or "goodies" and take home a message or two; to laugh a bit and unwind. This is also our goal in this book. We hope that you are not repelled or offended by the non-formal character of this book. This is how emergency abdominal surgery is taught best, by trial and error and repetitions, with emphasis on basics. This is not a "complete" textbook, nor is it a cookbook type manual or discussion of case studies; neither is it a collection of detailed lecture notes or exhaustive lists. Instead, it consists of a series of informal, uncensored, chats between experienced surgeons and their trainees. No percentages, series, elaborated figures or complicated algorithms are included; only a surgeon's narrative, explaining how "he does it" -based on his experience and state of the art knowledge of the literature. No references are included as it was our aim to put down nothing which has not been experienced, confirmed and practiced in our own hands.

Are you a medical student about to graduate from medical school, an intern or junior resident muscling through the early years of your formative residency training? If so, this book was written for you. The transition from medical school to residency training is a challenging and transformative experience; life as a resident physician is drastically different to what most experience during their clinical rotations in medical school. You will undoubtedly approach the transition with a combination of emotions including enthusiasm and eagerness but also trepidation and apprehension. This survival guide will serve to temper these emotions and transform them into a sense of confidence as you progress. The book’s focused, honest, and straightforward approach addresses the unique challenges encountered in residency training and discusses a number of strategies to facilitate tactful navigation of these challenging waters. This easily digestible volume concisely outlines a combination of principles that will help you become a highly motivated, adaptable, and successful trainee. The book spurs self-reflection that can be applied to develop the strength, perseverance, and endurance to succeed when the going gets tough. Each chapter contains valuable insight that trainees can draw from regardless of specialty. By utilizing and employing the tools discussed, opportunities presented throughout the course of your residency training and beyond can be translated into successes that you will continually be able to build upon, hone, and polish throughout your career as a respected and well-rounded physician and professional.

The first medical specialty selection guide written by residents for students! Provides an inside look at the issues surrounding medical specialty selection, blending first-hand knowledge with useful facts and statistics, such as salary information, employment data, and match statistics. Focuses on all the major specialties and features firsthand portrayals of each by current residents. Also includes a guide to personality characteristics that are predominate with practitioners of each specialty. “A terrific mixture of objective information as well as factual data make this book an easy, informative, and interesting read.” --Review from a 4th year Medical Student

Surviving Neurosurgery: Vignettes of Resilience is a practical guide to the inner workings of the lives of neurosurgeons, healthcare partners, and patients. To this end, this text serves as a first-hand documentary of the unique challenges faced as one progresses through their career. It is a snapshot in time capturing the experiences of both patients and providers. The text is divided into seven parts that run the gamut of a neurosurgeon’s career symbolic of the seven years of neurosurgical training. These narratives include, but are not limited to, residency challenges, surgical nuances, research and funding, embracing humanity, patient experiences, and overcoming hurdles along the journey. Chapters share the wisdom and experiences of over 100 authors consisting of patients, trainees, advanced practice providers, and attending neurosurgeons.