Part 4: Advice from the experts: Helpful information for current residents

In this series, experts in the field advise current residents and offer insight into how they can make the most of their time and experience moving forward with their careers.

Video Transcript:

Editor's note: The below transcript has been lightly edited for clarity.

Constance Okeke, MD:

The advice that I would give a resident is to take some time and find out what really gets you excited about any particular field of Ophthalmology. I would say that one of the things that I've always felt that has kind of pushed me is matching up my interests with things related to ophthalmology. Whether that's creative in writing, whether that's creative in creating videos, or whether that's creative in collaborative projects with industry. I think that it's important for one to maximize your level of ability to do multiple things within your field, and so still think about those things, what makes you really excited and then pursue those.

Brent Kramer, MD:

Yeah, I think residency today, you're kind of used to. I mean, you've done this for 12 plus years of just, you know, jumping through the hoops and doing what's asked of you and all of that stuff. And I think the transition from residency or fellowship into practice is probably one of the biggest life transitions you're gonna have. And just be ready to start calling the shots a little bit and start taking the reins of your career and steering it in a direction you want it to go. Of course, you want to be a good partner, a good team player and all of that. But, you know, start steering your ship and guiding it to where you want it to go and be ready for that. Because you haven't been doing that probably as much as you're going to have to now.

John Josephson, MD:

So the advice I would give to a resident today is; Congratulations, you've entered a wonderful, wonderful field and just an improving and constantly evolving practice. My advice would be to try to really figure out what your your needs are for the practice that you enter. Is it academia? Is it private practice? Try to find what really excites you, because you're going to be in this for the long haul. And you know, it's okay to kind of figure out things that you like and don't like, and to kind of steer your practice in that direction, but try new things. Don't just stick to one type of surgery, because that's what you learned in residency. Most of the things that I do now in my surgical practice are things I didn't learn in residency. Obviously, the foundation was there, but there's a lot more that that I've learned outside of residency, which I do you know often nowadays. So keep on learning, keep on trying new things. Get great, great mentors who can steer you in the right direction, and you continue to succeed.