Can Patients Trust Medical Residents?
Sep 16, 2020
Published by Kathrin O'Neill
In a typical hospital setup, there are patients and companions who just don’t trust those young people wearing a white coat. It seems that they are hoping to find someone who is older. Sometimes, they ask the young resident, “Are you sure you know what you are doing?” Others even request for a more senior doctor.
Residents in the hospital are doctors too. They may be in their late 20’s to early 30’s but they have gone to med school and have been attending many trainings and seminars. It is true that attending physicians are older and wiser as they have completed all necessary training but the residents who they are overseeing and mentoring know what they are doing too.
A resident is a medical doctor who is undergoing actual training in a hospital. They have finished a four-year pre-med undergraduate degree, completed four years in medical school, passed the Medical Licensure Exam, and was accepted to train in the hospital where they work.
Residents are currently undergoing in-depth specialization in their field of interest. They must complete three to ten years of training depending on their specialization. The resident who will attend to you in the hospital may be a fresh graduate from medical school or may have already about ten years of experience as a doctor.
Considering alone the time it took for them to be a resident, you can see how committed and dedicated they are as a doctor. They have gone many hardships in passing their subjects in medical school, acquire a license, and even applying for residency in the hospital. Along the way, many of their classmates quit because they lack the means, aptitude, and determination to undergo those trials to be a doctor. They studied hard and learned all the competencies required to become a capable doctor. Training to become a doctor is very rigid.
Hospitals will never accept doctors who do not have all necessary qualifications. They cannot afford to stain their reputation with a malpractice case. Those chosen are extraordinarily intelligent, knowledgeable, and well-trained in medical school. Even in the workplace, the competition is very stiff. Once they finish their residency, they will be fighting for a position in the hospital.
Residents are already experts in treating people. They can handle patient admissions, history-taking process, triage a large influx of patients, perform necessary routine procedures, reading test results, and many other duties and responsibilities of a doctor.
Medical residency was designed to train doctors who just graduated to be more competent in their actual practice. They are carefully overseen and mentored by attending physicians and other senior doctors. The hospital has strict rules and guidelines on what residents can and cannot do. At the end of the day, the senior physicians have the final say on how to care for the patient.
Medical care is always more effective when delivered by a team. Aside from the guidance of senior physicians, residents help each other to care for the patient. Other healthcare workers like nurses also assist them in their work. Even if the attending physician cannot be there to treat everyone every second of the day, residents are very much capable of attending to patients. As residents help in caring for patients, senior doctors are given the chance to focus their time and energy where they are most needed.
Medical technology was invented to assist health care workers like doctors. Even residents have access to these machines so that their work can be easier and be more precise.
This may be one of the reasons that residents are less preferred by patients and guardians but being young is actually an advantage. Starting from med school, all kinds of materials were available to them because they were born in the age of modern technology. With this, they are well-informed and updated of new studies, medical technology, drugs, and trends. In addition to this, they are more agile, stronger, and have the stamina to last longer during long shifts. It is important for health worker to be healthy and fit so that they can cater to the patients’ needs more diligently.
New doctors tend to be very meticulous and perfectionists. They double-check everything because they do not want commit malpractice especially that they are still in the early stage in their career. Just one mistake can be the end for them. Becoming a doctor is their life-long dream and they have worked and are still working very hard to attain it. They would never let incompetence crash them.
Residents also know that there is no room for mistakes in being a doctor. They are aware that they can never gamble over a person’s life. That is why they are very responsible in all their actions.
Next time you come across a resident in the hospital, do not look down on them because of their age or because they are still residents. Many residents have already saved many lives. Moreover, take into account how much training they have undergone. After all, the residency training program was created to make sure that you and your loved ones get the best health care. For all doctors, whether they are newbies or seasoned, being a physician is more than just a profession. It is their calling and the definition of who they are. That is why they will always do their best to treat their patients. Don’t worry because you are in good hands with a resident.
