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Everything you’ve heard about residency is true. It’s intense, exhausting, and, at times, very rewarding.
In your new reality of 80+ hour work weeks and high levels of clinical responsibility, all of the hypotheticals you studied in medical school become real. You’ll witness the full spectrum of life and death, laughter and tears, and struggle to find your focus in your fatigue.
Fortunately, many have come before you and not only survived their training, but thrived along the way.
As you head into your new program, here are ten quick tips to help you deliver top-notch care for your patients AND keep your own well-being in check along the way!
See Also: Guide to Transitioning from Medical School to Residency
1. Focus On The Horizon
Residency is a marathon, not a sprint – so pace yourself. When you start your program, take the pressure off yourself by remembering that this is a years-long process, and you don’t have to have everything figured out on day one.
It’s completely normal to spend the first few months just learning the layout of the hospital, matching names to faces, and figuring out how to navigate the system. Feeling at home will come with time, and that’s okay!
Remind yourself that every day you show up, you are actively living your dream, and that now you’re the one helping patients.
You’re the face of America’s medical future and remember: futures are built one day at a time.
2. Take Your Own Pulse
As a resident, you will have very little control over what happens around you. Instead, you’ll be constantly adapting to relentless demands, new tasks, and a seemingly endless list of responsibilities.
Though a hurricane is swirling around you, you still have your own locus of control. You’ll hear this over and over again in your training: the most important first step when you run into a code is to take your own pulse.
Stress reactions are real. With a mounting workload and countless hours spent indoors, it can be all too easy for this to get exaggerated. That’s especially true when you’re tired—and you will be tired.
Taking a moment to check your own pulse – emotionally, mentally, and physically – can center you in the midst of chaos. It reinforces that you can’t pour from an empty cup and helps you reconnect with the calm, focused mindset required to deliver the high-quality care you’ve been trained to provide.
3. Be Prepared
Successful residents walk the line between being humble and confident. They can freely admit when they don’t know the answer to something and yet remain confident they’ll soon learn it.
Preparation goes a long way toward enhancing that kind of grounded humility.
While not knowing what’s coming next, residents must stand ready to adapt and learn to face tasks head-on.
As such, the demands on your preparation have escalated. When you were an M4, your focus was largely academic—impressing your attending and scoring well on exams.
Your responsibilities to your patients are now much more tangible. Attendings will start to trust your assessments and analyses.
Additionally, being prepared isn’t just about having a strong knowledge base – or even knowing how to find the answers. It’s also about how you show up. That means being on time, staying engaged, asking questions, and being ready to think things through even when you don’t have all the answers. Reliability, curiosity, and presence are just as important as clinical expertise.
Preparation doesn’t just apply to medicine. You’ll need to get your financial life in order too – from understanding your salary and benefits to planning for student loans and unexpected expenses.
The habits you establish both at home and at the program will directly affect your preparation on the frontline.
4. Prioritize Your Self-Care
Your self-care has a direct correlation to your patient care. We understand that your sleep schedule is outside of your control, so it’s even more important to focus on eating well and exercising.
This all sounds nice in theory (and probably annoyingly obvious). So, how do you actually take care of yourself when your residency becomes a black hole of responsibility and time?
You do it by intentionally carving out space for it (however small) and protecting it like you would a consult or procedure.
When it comes to food, preparing meals at home can be seen as a time-sink. Instead, you can explore some of the many healthy meal delivery services available online, or you can look into doing your own food-prep so you have healthy options available.
When it comes to exercising, you can maximize efficiency by looking at close-to-home options. Many condo and housing complexes have gyms that you can access for free. Some hospitals also have equipment rooms or discount deals with nearby gyms. Look at your employee benefits to see if there is a health stipend to help you offset costs.
And if you don’t have easy access to a gym, that’s okay; just look for ways to move your body. Go for walks outside, take a stroll with co-residents after a long shift, or find a local affinity group like a kickball league, running club, basketball, etc. Many hospitals and communities have resident wellness groups or intramural teams that make staying active feel more like fun and less like a chore. It’s a great way to take care of your health while also building a sense of connection and belonging.
(Side note: As many residents will tell you, it’s imperative you take care of your feet. You’ll be walking and standing on them all day long, so be sure to invest in comfortable shoes that will go the distance.)
5. Lean On Your Listening
A resident’s job is to listen. As you’ll soon discover, your program affords you the opportunity to cultivate unparalleled listening skills. You’ll be taking in new information around the clock from your patients, colleagues, attendings, and support staff. Most of the people you’ll be listening to have years (if not decades) of practical, hands-on experience.
And while listening is critical for making accurate clinical decisions, it’s also foundational for building relationships. When you truly listen, people feel seen. Patients and families are more likely to trust you. Colleagues are more likely to collaborate with you. And attendings are more likely to invest in you.
Listening is also an essential skill for working in teams. In the high-pressure environment of residency, being someone who listens (not just someone who talks) can make you a more effective and respected member of the care team.
Listening also goes hand-in-hand with notetaking. You’ll be bombarded with new information daily, and much of it will slip through the cracks unless you write it down. Notes aren’t just for the moment; they become a personal archive you can revisit weeks or even years later.
In short, listen to learn, but also listen to connect. It’s one of the most powerful tools you’ll carry through residency and beyond.
6. Focus On Your Patients
It may sound like a paradox, but when your world feels like it’s imploding, you can help calm things down by focusing on your patients.
Interpersonal disagreements happen in high-stress environments. It’s part of being in medicine. When you focus your attention on the needs of your patients, you get out of the argument and center on someone you can help. Focusing your attention on your patients can bring clarity and purpose and helps you step away from the noise and reconnect with why you chose this path in the first place.
Empathy in a therapeutic relationship has been shown to improve patient outcomes, satisfaction, and adherence to care. However, like many skills, it can also fade, as demonstrated in this study on surgical residents.
Focusing on your patients keeps that empathy muscle strong. It reorients your priorities, diffuses tension, and reminds you that even on the hardest days, you have something meaningful to offer: your presence, your compassion, and your care.
7. Ask For Help
Closed mouths don’t get fed. It’s okay to say “I don’t know.” You’re a resident, not a veteran doctor thirty years into their career.
Rather than wasting your time and energy trying to appear confident, embrace your role and ask for help. Don’t be afraid to ask the “dumb” questions. You can bet if you have a question, your fellow residents do, too. The purpose of residency isn’t to know the answer to every possible question, but instead, it’s about learning to find out the answers. The phrase “I don’t know but let me find out and get back to you,” is very useful.
And when it comes to more sobering matters, like a patient death, don’t try to play the stoic hero. Losing a patient can be truly disorienting, and you owe it to yourself to let your emotions pass through you however they come. Grief doesn’t make you weak; it makes you human. And remembering the human side of medicine is what allows you to show up with empathy, compassion, and clarity, even when things are hard.
Remember that you’re part of a larger team. No resident is an island. Use all of your available resources, and don’t hesitate to talk to your program’s leadership – they’re there for you.
8. Challenge Yourself
With med school behind you, you are now very much in charge of your pedagogy.
In other words, you can find and create opportunities to continue learning outside the parameters of your program’s didactics.
Go to the front lines and learn as much as possible. Ask for opportunities that excite and intimidate you. Look for opportunities to expand yourself as a physician. And if you can’t find them at your own institution, ask to take an away month and go to an institution that can.
But don’t limit the challenge to medicine. Push yourself to engage with people from different backgrounds, beliefs, and experiences. Spend time outside your usual circles. Building relationships with people whose worldviews differ from your own strengthens your cultural humility and makes you a better, more empathetic physician.
Also, let this be a time of learning about yourself. Try new things, pick up new skills, and allow yourself to grow in ways that aren’t just tied to your specialty.
Your residency won’t last forever. Get the most out of it in order to explore as many potential facets of your future as possible.
9. Automate, Automate, Automate
Today, you can automate key parts of your life and save serious time and sweat in the process. When your brain is already juggling clinical tasks, notes, and call schedules, the last thing you need is to be overwhelmed by errands or to-do lists that could have handled themselves. Here are some of the things you should consider outsourcing before starting your residency program:
- Groceries – Instacart, Amazon Fresh, Walmart Grocery Delivery, Shipt, FreshDirect, Thrive Market, Hungryroot, Peapod, and Gopuff are among the top online grocery services that will bring groceries to your front door.
- Housecleaning – The Maids, Molly Maid, Taskrabbit, and Handy are great options available nationwide.
- Ready-made meals – Factor, CookUnity, Sunbasket, Blue Apron, and Home Chef all offer ready-to-eat or minimal-prep meals delivered straight to you!
- Pet care: Use apps like Rover or Wag! to schedule recurring dog walks or pet sitting.
- Financial – Use your digital bank to automate your bill payments. If financial stress is a concern, consider a PRN Personal Loan.
Also check if your hospital offers concierge or employee support services. Some institutions provide help with personal errands (like scheduling an oil change or picking up packages) while you’re on shift. Others offer wellness stipends or discounts on food, cleaning, and fitness memberships. Even if automation stretches your budget, the expense may well be worth it in terms of time saved and peace of mind.
10. Protect Your People and Your Peace
It’s all too easy for your world to feel small in residency. As your responsibilities increase, your availability to see or talk with family and friends can diminish.
However challenging it may be, do your best to maintain your life outside of residency. Invest in and protect your relationships, whether they’re near or far. That way, when your residency program ends, you’ll have a socially rich and vibrant life waiting for you on the other side.
Equally important: don’t let go of the things that make you happy. Whether it’s reading, painting, running, gardening, or playing an instrument – your hobbies are important and protective. They remind you of who you are outside of medicine and help preserve your identity through the ups and downs.
And when the opportunity comes, take every vacation day that comes across your desk. You won’t regret it.
Conclusion
Settling into residency takes time. While these tips helped our team of physicians thrive in residency, they’re merely suggestions to help you get started. After a few months in your program, you’ll quickly establish the habits you need to maximize your quality of life.
For more tips and practical recommendations, check out some of our other blog posts on preparing for medical residency, as well as all of our residency-related articles:
