More Relaxed Residency Programs

[Guest]

I am a third-year US MD student and am committed to applying neurosurgery. I will preface my question by saying that I am not asking this because I am lazy or don't like to work. I believe am in fact the opposite, and have been grinding hard since MS-1 year to develop a competitive CV and have done so quite successfully.

That said, I was diagnosed and treated for cancer in 2019. 80% of recurrence of my cancer occurs within 3 years and the 5-year survival rate is around 65%. I've been in the clear so far and I'll be at the 5-year mark this November. I saw my oncologist recently for my routine monitoring and when I said I was applying neurosurgery, she was very opposed to the idea. She wanted me to "choose the least competitive program in the least competitive specialty" (i.e. the polar opposite of neurosurgery) because supposedly the stress will make my cancer recur, and the 5-year survival of my cancer recurrence is something like 12%.

At this point, I'm not going to not pursue neurosurgery because of my history of illness, but I don't think I should wantonly ignore my unique health situation and risk. As such, what are some residency programs that are known for being more relaxed/less stressful (e.g. good culture, not malignant, greater APP support, more relaxed call schedule, no post-call, unionized, etc)?

[Guest]

Univ. Of Nebraska

[Guest]

Nebraska’s got it good? Not a name I typically hear in these discussions.

OP, hats off to you for doing what you feel is important and making the most of your situation. A lot of people would have failed or chosen differently. My observation has been that night float relieves a significant background physiological stress. If you can get a program with that and good 24 hour APP support, I think you can manage yourself fairly well. There is always the chief years that will be challenging but it seems that having the junior as a buffer is different or at least not as consistently stressful as the 24s of junior years where you’re getting called all night by the floor, ICU, and ED.

[Guest]

I’m not sure that any of them are “stress free” enough to achieve what ur describing. Some are def more Cush than others, but none are easy. If it was me, and I had potentially limited time left, I would prob make my decision based more around being near family/friends that I would want to spend my free time around, or a location that held particular allure. I really enjoyed my residency program, but before I met my wife I def had several very lonely and depressing holidays, particularly as a junior resident (I was quite far from any family or close friends)

[Guest]

What is your step 2? Sorry to say but this sounds like a made up story to hear about weak programs for a subpar applicant

[Guest]

OP here.

#3: Thank you for your kind words and advice taken, I'll keep an eye out for night float programs.

#4: Like I said I'm not looking for "stress free" since I know that doesn't exist, I'm just looking to mitigate unnecessary stress to maximize my chances of survival. Thanks for that insight, I'll look into the programs in my hometown more closely.

#5: Still in clinical rotations so haven't taken Step 2 yet. I'm not worried about getting a good score or my competitiveness. Thank you for your opinion.

[Guest]

Why not general surgery?

[Guest]

are you insane?

[Guest]

I’m not sure about where you guys train but the gen surg residents seem to have it worse than we do, albeit not for as many years. Personally wouldn’t recommend gen surg as a less stressful alternative

[Guest]

What is the average day in the life of a junior resident in neurosurgery who is not on call?