Sep 24, 2020
Dr. Andrew Tisser talks about communicating with teammates in a clinical setting, selecting a specialty, and how to match into a good residency program.
- [02:14] Teamwork in a Clinical Rotation
- [04:31] How to Choose a Specialty
- [09:42] Tips for Residency Applications
- [12:41] Goal-Setting Strategies
- [16:57] Financial Tips for Medical Residents
- [22:32] Tips to Prepare for a Career in Academic Medicine
- [24:38] How to Contact Dr. Tisser
Dr. Andrew Tisser, an emergency physician and the host of the podcast Talk2MeDoc, and offers physician coaching and career consultation.
Teamwork in a Clinical Rotation
Dr. Tisser encourages medical students on a clinical rotation to involve everyone on the team, not just doctors. For example, nurses are often better than doctors at tasks such as putting in IVs. If medical students have a free moment during a shift, they should ask the nurses to teach them a skill. This makes nurses feel empowered, and improves the skills of the medical student. Dr. Tisser warns that if you enrage one senior nurse, you are in a lot of trouble because they strongly influence physician opinions.
How to Choose a Specialty
In choosing a specialty, Dr. Tisser encourages medical students to maintain an open mind. Medical students should have a comprehensive list of all possible specialties, and then cross things off, always noting the reason that they have excluded a given specialty. It is easy to decide against a specialty based on a bad experience with the attending preceptor, or other coincidental reasons. Instead, exclude specialties based on inherent traits of the specialty that are incompatible with your preferences. For example, if you strongly dislike being in an operating room (OR), then you can exclude a large chunk of specialties, including obstetrics-gynaecology (OB-GYN), and all the surgical subspecialties.
Tips for Residency Applications
Dr. Tisser offers two primary tips for how to be competitive for residency, namely 1. get strong letters of recommendation and 2. apply broadly. Regarding 1, be sure to ask your preceptor if he can write you a strong recommendation, rather than just a mediocre recommendation. If not, find someone else to write it. Regarding 2, be open to moving to new geographical locations for the sake of a good residency program.
Goal-Setting Strategies
Dr. Tisser advocates the SMART (specific-measurable-attainable-relevant-time bound) framework for setting goals and achieving them. He encourages medical students to look at their past experiences of success and failure. What were the beliefs which led them to successful outcomes? What were the beliefs that led them to disappointing outcomes? Then, attempt to replicate the beliefs from the successful outcomes to the current situation. In addition, Dr. Tisser recommends the technique of writing your goals down as if you had already achieved them (in the past or present tense). Doing this can help you to visualize success, a method which has often been used by successful athletes.
Financial Tips for Medical Residents
Dr. Tisser shares three key financial tips for residents: 1. get into a federal loan repayment plan, 2. avoid credit card debt, and 3. get disability insurance. Regarding 1, these federal plans will allocate your payment amount depending on your income. And although private loan refinancing options can be tempting, with all the uncertainty in the US at the moment, it is safer to stick with a federal loan. Regarding 2, it can be difficult, but it is good to avoid this for the sake of your attending years. Regarding 3, if anything were to happen to you, preventing you from practicing medicine, the $5000 a month would be invaluable.
Tips to Prepare for a Career in Academic Medicine
To prepare for a career in academic medicine, interested residents and medical students should participate in projects that deal with the science of learning and educating. If such programs do not exist at their institution, the interested student/resident should initiate a program.
Listen to Dr. Tisser’s podcast Talk2MeDoc. Learn more about Dr. Tisser Tisser on his website. Check out his LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter profiles.
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