What I Didn’t Learn as a Resident and Why That Matters More Than You Think
There are things residency teaches exceptionally well.
You learn how to manage patients.
You learn how to function under pressure.
You learn how to survive long hours, steep learning curves, and constant evaluation.
But there are critical skills most residents are never formally taught skills that quietly shape how attendings perceive you, trust you, and advocate for you.
I didn’t learn these as a resident.
I learned them later as an attending, a leader, and a mentor.
And once I recognized the pattern, I realized something important
Residents shouldn’t have to wait years to learn this.
What Residency Doesn’t Explicitly Teach
During training, I was never taught:
How attendings actually decide who they trust
How to receive feedback without spiraling or shutting down
How to communicate clearly when I wasn’t 100% sure
How to stop replaying every interaction after the fact
None of this was written into the curriculum.
Instead, residents are left to infer expectations, decode subtle cues, and assume that confidence and trust are personality traits you either have or don’t.
They aren’t.
The Pattern I Saw Later
As my role shifted, I began to see residency from the other side.
Attendings don’t primarily evaluate residents based on perfection.
They assess reliability, clarity, and regulation under uncertainty.
Trust is not built by knowing everything.
It’s built by how you show up when you don’t.
Once I saw this pattern clearly, it became obvious:
These are learnable skills.
They are behavioral, not innate.
And they do not require a title.
Why Waiting Until After Residency Is Too Late
Many residents assume confidence and trust will come after graduation.
But by then, habits are already set:
Second-guessing becomes automatic
Feedback triggers self-doubt instead of growth
Communication becomes overly cautious or defensive
Residency is not just clinical training.
It’s identity formation.
And the sooner residents understand how trust actually works, the steadier and more secure training becomes.
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Residents don’t need more pressure.
They need clarity.
And clarity changes everything.
