by Matthew Demarco, MD
As we come to the end of residency it is easy to immediately start looking forward to the next stage of life. It is so easy to be excited about what is to come including a new job, a new start, new opportunities. However, when we sprint into the next stage of life reflection is often missed out on, and valuable lessons from the past three years are lost. What allows us to continue to grow, not repeat mistakes, and learn from the hardships of residency is stopping and taking some time to dig into what we just experienced for the past three years.
Reflection is easiest done in close proximity to the event that is being reflected upon. It takes intentionality, time, and willingness to be vulnerable to glean the most important lessons that our experience in residency can teach us. Similar to so many areas of life we chose not to engage in the hard work of self-improvement because in the moment it is easier to ignore those currents of uneasiness in our hearts. It is hard to imagine setting apart multiple hours, sitting in our own emotions, and relieving some hard moments to learn important lessons that will carry us forward for years to come.
Looking back over these past three years three big lessons stick out to me. First, it is easy to lose yourself in your work. I remember my intern year getting off multiple consecutive months of inpatient and realizing I had not listened to a podcast or read a book in almost a year. The very thing that used to bring me so much joy had become an afterthought during intern year. You can work so much and pour so much of yourself into your work that you lose the things that make you. I began to make reading and listening to things that brought me joy a priority again, and this was an important part of improving my mental health going into second year. Second, losing your sense of autonomy and control leads to disengagement in your work. One of the hardest parts of residency is having so little control over so many aspects of your life. This led me to prioritize finding a job that gives me control again. This helps me find more joy in my work, my family, and my hobbies. The last lesson is to have people around you that genuinely care about you. The thing that carried me through residency more than anything else was the real friendships that you can turn to in your hardest moments. Residency is a long, winding road with many difficulties, but these three lessons are things I will carry with me into the next season of life.
Dr. DeMarco is from Charleston, SC. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of South Carolina in exercise science. He completed his medical education at the Medical University of South Carolina. His medical interests include lifestyle medicine, sports medicine, underserved populations, mindfulness and tropical medicine. In his free time, he enjoys running, hiking, skiing, spikeball, soccer, and exploring national parks with his wife. He chose the University of Utah because of the unique blend of university and community hospital training, amazing faculty, and world-class opportunities to pursue passions within medicine while also enjoying some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.
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