For starters, the best tip I heard before residency was to expect the worst (as far as how busy residency will be) and no matter what, it’ll be better than that! It definitely was. I also think the thing that helped make residency go smoothly was a positive attitude. As tired as my hubby was, no matter what, when he came home he was still ready to be daddy/spouse and leave work behind. We made the best of the time together, even though it was brief at times. For me, it also really helped to get involved in Medical Partners. I had 1 child at the start of residency and 3 by the time we left, and I loved all of the mom’s groups. They gave me things to look forward to during the week and also provided me with support by talking to the other wives. It was great to hear from other women and talk to other people that understood our lifestyle.
When we were looking towards the finish line, we started looking for jobs that suited my husband’s and family’s interests. We started talking with clinics/hospitals a little over a year and a half before the end of residency. We weren’t set on a specific place so we just contacted various clinics in MN/ND that we were interested in. We made initial visits to a variety of them, then we narrowed it down to our top 3 and visited them all again for a second time before making our final decision.
Now for the good part! We we’ve been out of residency for 1 year now! Wahoo! It is true, it gets better! For starters, my husband’s schedule has gotten much better! He works Monday thru Thursday. He starts at 8am and is usually home by 5:30pm. He also comes home almost every day for lunch! He is on call one week in every 8 weeks and for call it mostly entails phone call. On call he rarely has to go in to the hospital for admits (only when it’s pediatric). He rarely, if ever brings home any work to do like notes, etc. He’s able to get those things done during the day. So, it definitely got better! We love all of the time we have as a family now.
When we were looking towards the finish line, we started looking for jobs that suited my husband’s and family’s interests. We started talking with clinics/hospitals a little over a year and a half before the end of residency. We weren’t set on a specific place so we just contacted various clinics in MN/ND that we were interested in. We made initial visits to a variety of them, then we narrowed it down to our top 3 and visited them all again for a second time before making our final decision.
Now for the good part! We we’ve been out of residency for 1 year now! Wahoo! It is true, it gets better! For starters, my husband’s schedule has gotten much better! He works Monday thru Thursday. He starts at 8am and is usually home by 5:30pm. He also comes home almost every day for lunch! He is on call one week in every 8 weeks and for call it mostly entails phone call. On call he rarely has to go in to the hospital for admits (only when it’s pediatric). He rarely, if ever brings home any work to do like notes, etc. He’s able to get those things done during the day. So, it definitely got better! We love all of the time we have as a family now.
Molly Elkin is a Medical Partners Alumni. Her husband is in Family Medicine and finished his residency in 2013.
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