Ooookay, folks. Once April 1st hit, I started to get nervous thinking that I’m supposed to know all this crazy medical stuff before starting residency. I know, I know…most people go through this before July 1st, but since I’m here with nothing much else to do (except trying to figure out how to move, buy a home and manage to still feed myself and my two dogs in the process), I thought I’d start a thread… Any advice for incoming interns? Any recommended books for the old white coat pockets? Any suggestions on good things to brush up on/good books to read before starting? Any advice would be appreciated! Thanks in advance. 
Jane
RUN AWAY!
Hah! If only! Another OTHER advice? 
Hey Jane,
Now remember that I was a general surgery intern so be kind to me here. I kept the General Surgery Intern Survival Manual in my pocket. It cost about $7 and there is one for Medicine too. These small books contain most of the meat for everything that you will have to learn to do quickly.
I also kept the Mont Reid Handbook in my pocket. There must be something comparable for Family Medicine so check out what’s out there. This book contained most of the surgical procedures that I had to learn to become proficient at: chest tubes, central lines, cut-downs, difficult uretheral catheterizatons (you will be able to consult surgery for this stuff so you probably don’t need to learn this).
Learning to dictate was the thing that took the most time for me to learn. The good thing is that you will do so much dictating that you will become good at this very quickly.
I kept an index card with all of my important numbers and pagers. I kept things like all of the lab sections, the pathology desk and the main radiology numbers. When you really need stuff, it was great to have all of the numbers handy. Maybe your residency will give you these numbers.
Other than the above, most of my work was getting all of my stuff moved from Arlington, Va to Charlottesville, Va. It worked out great though. Moving is such a pain and I am about to move again.
Natalie 
Great advice! Thanks, Natalie. And a big AMEN to the moving bit! I really, really, really hate moving, but it will be worth it to get to where I’m going. I just wish it was all over and done with and I was sitting in front of a fireplace in my new home in Grand Junction with a big glass of Two Rivers Cabernet in my hand. Did I mention that GJ is like the northern California wine country? Yep, lots of local vineyards, lots of good fresh fruit, etc. I can’t wait!
Jane
Jane,
I know exactly how you feel! It really hit me yesterday when I got an email from my program, telling us that if we want vacation in July or August (if we are on rotations from which you can take vacation), then we need to put it in now, as they are scheduling our patient panels four months out. Which made me realize that right now, unsuspecting people are being scheduled to see ME as their doctor!
Rotation wise, I get an easy start with Allergy and Community Internal Medicine the first month, but of course that made me realize that I seemed to have forgotten most of what I know about Allergy (which wasn’t a whole lot to start with).
I’m going house hunting in May, and can’t wait to be settled in, and laying by the pool with a good, non-medical book. There is just so much to be done first. Graduation, convocation, packing, moving…
Epi
(BTW, if I’d gone into Family Med, there is no place I’d rather be than Grand Junction).
Yep, I got my schedule yesterday and had to put in vacation requests as well. I start with OB, then Ortho, then Medicine. Scary, scary, scary! They already requested my white coat size, how I want my name to appear on it, what my favorite foods are, etc. It’s real now! I’m so excited to be doing my residency in GJ. There’s no other place on earth I’d rather be. Good luck, Epidoc. I’m sure we’ll both be fine!
Jane
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Great advice! Thanks, Natalie. And a big AMEN to the moving bit! I really, really, really hate moving, but it will be worth it to get to where I’m going. I just wish it was all over and done with and I was sitting in front of a fireplace in my new home in Grand Junction with a big glass of Two Rivers Cabernet in my hand. Did I mention that GJ is like the northern California wine country? Yep, lots of local vineyards, lots of good fresh fruit, etc. I can’t wait!
Jane
It just hit me, a friend & classmate of mine - Jill [cant-think-of-her-last-name] - is one of the graduating seniors from the GJ FP program! They are from that area - have the cutest little girl! Her hubby is a professional whitewater rafting guide. Very crunchy, outdoorsy sorta folks!
I know Jill!!! I met her when I was out there, and she is setting up a practice with Angie, who is one of my best friend’s really good friends. They’re both awesome people. I’ll be going to her graduation on the 30th of June. What a small world! If you want to see her and the other residents in the program, you can check out this link: http://www.stmarygj.com/careers/family_res_program/faculty/default.htm .
She’s in a photo on the main page, but then you can go to the “Faculty and Current Residents” link on the right side and check out the bios/photos of everyone in the program. My photo will be up there soon!
Jane