Another year down

July 1 marked the first day of Garrett's 4th year of residency. (!!!)

PGY-3 was a tough year (PGY = post grad year).  With more experience comes more responsibility, and this last year was pretty much the first year ever that Garrett wasn't near (or at) the bottom of the totem pole (medical student - pretty much the lowest spot.  Intern year - pretty darn low also.  Lowest, if there are no med students around :) .  First year radiology resident - you're pretty much at the bottom again.  PGY-3 - finally there is a class "below" you so now there is lot more that is expected of you!  This is all from what I gather, anyway).

So, Garrett's first year of radiology was pretty awesome and he had most weekends off, and only worked late maybe twice a month (they can't really work alone yet since they are so inexperienced).  This last year was pretty much the opposite and it feels like Garrett was working all the time!  Since last September, Garrett has worked a total of 16 weeks of night shifts or late shifts (late = around midnight or 2 a.m., depending on the rotation).  Not to mention all the weekends, at least one per month (weekend = 13 hours on Saturday and 13 hours on Sunday) and extra studying he has to do each night (he usually studies a couple of hours each evening).

So yes, last year was tough.  PGY-4 is shaping up to be even more tough, though.  For one thing, Garrett's very first rotation was.... nights!  The shift was Sunday night through Friday night, from 8pm - 8am technically, although he usually doesn't get home until around 9am.

He also does a month of nights later on in the year, plus has a month-long review course that he has to take in Washington D.C.  When he gets home from that, he works every other weekend for the next 4 months straight.

Also, some things in radiology have changed since he started the residency.  For one, he no longer has boards at the end of residency.  Nope, now it's at the end of PGY-4 instead.  Just a week or two ago, Garrett said to me, "You know, I have to take my boards in one year.  I know that seems like a long time away, but it's really not.  I have really got to start studying... a lot."  Sounds like this year is going to be a fun time!

And finally, he's applying to fellowships right now, so somewhere in there he's going to need to go to a few interviews and hopefully accept a position somewhere by the end of this summer.

It's not all rough.  He has Thanksgiving off this year, and will hopefully have Christmas off too. Also, I'm planning to join him in D.C. for a few days (all by myself!) so I'm looking forward to that.

We are so proud of Garrett and all of his hard work.  He is one of the smartest people I know and from what I have heard, he is a great doctor.  The career path he has chosen has not been easy but he has wanted to be a doctor from the time he was small, so it looks like he is living his dream (although I'm pretty sure 8-year-old Garrett didn't imagine it quite like this).

I can't believe that residency is halfway done.  Three years down, three more to go!  Here we go, PGY-4!