As July looms, how to prep for your next stage of physician residency

While a resident physician’s improvement isn’t linear, the journey through training is. Each July brings a step to a new level of training. From the fast pace of intern year to the weight of senior-level decision-making, each transition brings a new set of expectations and responsibilities. 

John Andrews, MD, vice president of graduate medical education (GME) innovations at the AMA, has seen these shifts play out across specialties and institutions. Drawing on his insight—and guidance from The AMA’s Facilitating Effective Transitions Along the Medical Education Continuum handbook— here’s what every resident should know about three of the biggest transition points in training.

The shift: Medical student to intern

New resident physicians will have a volume of patients that is unlike what they experienced as medical students. Even if you did a subinternship rotation during medical school, your patient load as an intern is likely to double. The weighty role new residents take on—often the first decision-maker on a patient’s care plan—is also new.