The transition medical student to resident was a bumpy road at first. I even committed the "key" error that I always laughed that I would never do - I asked my senior resident if it was ok to give Tylenol to a patient. I try to rationalize my error by thinking to myself - Did the patient have liver failure? Were there potential drug-drug interactions that I was forgetting? However, in reality, it was my first verbal order to a nurse since becoming an official doctor. I had never done this before, because all medications ordered by a medical student required co-signature by a resident or an attending.

My productivity decreased dramatically from when I was a medical student, because all of a sudden I was second-guessing all of my decisions. I had watched those in the class above me when they were interns and I was a 4th year medical student and vowed that I would not act the same way. Nevertheless, it still happened...and I just couldn't help myself.

I was grateful though, that among the things to get used to as an intern, a new hospital system was not one of them. I stayed at the same hospital system I rotated through as a medical student, so at the very least, I knew how to look up results, how to put orders in the computer, and most importantly, where the bathrooms, call rooms, and cafeteria were. I respect my fellow interns who not only had to transition to being an intern but also had to learn a new hospital system and a new city.

As I am finishing my fifth month of residency, I look back and realize how much I have learned in such a short period. I do not worry as much when the nurses page me, because the majority of time it is for something that I have handled before. If I haven't, then I am not as stressed when I tell the nurse I will call them back and either look up the answer or ask my senior resident. I am getting better at trusting my instinct and not second guessing myself anymore, because I have found that the majority of the time, my instinct is correct. Every day is a learning experience, and I realize that I still have a lot of learning to do, but that is the nature of being an intern.