Residency is a full-time job and then some. No matter what field or institution you choose, you are going to spend a lot of time away from home. In our program, we regularly organize special events for residents, their immediate families and significant others. It gives a chance for the most important people in our lives to be included in our residency family. We also foster relationships through regular individual resident meetings with a faculty mentor and Big Brother/Big Sister program as well as general residency meetings to address issues.
One of the built-in features of our program is to foster positive relationships between our residents and attendings. These interactions include one-to-one mentor meetings, social events and informal opportunities.
When considering a program, ask yourself: Do residents and attendings get along? Do they have a good time together? Am I going to enjoy working with these people for three years? At Good Sam, we often find the answer is yes to all of the above!