PM&R News   •   July 13, 2021

You are done Residency! Some of you are done Fellowship! Part I is about to be completed! You may be done both board exams! Check….. Check…. Check….   Now this is the time you all have been anxiously awaiting… being a “real” doctor! Your first attending job!

However, this may be the toughest challenge yet! The transition from medical school to Internship was tiring! Internship to Rehab Residency… Hard! Residency to fellowship… what a change of pace! But now, it’s all on YOU!

I feel the biggest challenge is your first job! You are now finally developing how YOU will practice. There is nobody to lean on for questions or to help catch potential mistakes or to correct the billing/coding. All decisions come back to you! On top of this, you are learning how to fit into a new system, in a new role, as the doctor who has the least experience in the new community.

Although, all of this is a challenge and makes the transition difficult, you need to trust yourself. Remember, you may be the most knowledgeable physician of the team. After all those years of reading the most recent literature, getting lectured by some of the brightest, cramming for your boards, you may never know as much up to date information about Rehab as you do now.

For me, the biggest challenge was walking into a new system and feeling that some aspects of the approach could be optimized based on new guidelines. How does the new person on the block approach this? Should you not say anything out of fear of being a troublemaker…….or arrogant?

When you entered medicine, you took an oath to protect and do right by your patients! One should never be scared to attempt to improve the care of our patients by bringing up ideas or suggestions that improve the practice and patient care.  The key is to do it in a professional way. You must learn the personalities of your targets for the change and present it in a positive, non-judgmental way that may be received as opposed to shut down. One will never fault you for trying to improve team and the care a practice is providing.  If it does, maybe that’s not the right practice for you.

Be true to yourself! Be true to your oath! Stand for what you believe in! And lastly, do the right thing for your patients and the care of all those involved. Rock your first attending job!