The year has started…and we’re starting too!

Residency has its own culture.

In most places and spaces, January 1 is the start of the new year. In academic medicine, it’s July 1 — that’s when newly graduated medical students become interns, everyone (hopefully) goes up one PGY, and new graduates break free. And so, for all of us…happy new year!

The start of the new year can come with a great range of emotions.

For new interns, there can be excitement at becoming a real doctor and putting in orders for the first time. There can also be apprehension from not knowing the system or your seniors, and a good bit of anxiety from looking up at the learning curve and realizing just how steep it truly is.

For newly minted attendings, there’s a sense of relief, but also perhaps a sense of wondering what’s next. You spent all of your life pushing towards this goal, to be a full board-certified doctor, and now you are, and you realize that you have your whole career ahead of you and your journey has only just begun. That also can be scary.

For residents in the thick of their training (PGY-2 through 7 depending on the residency, and also fellows), very often there is almost no emotion at all. Another year, another set of rotations to pull through. Another ITE to pass. More sleepless nights, more weekends missed. It can be very hard to notice how much progress you’re making as the fatigue and burnout set in. It can be especially hard when you’ve “fallen behind”, and you just want to be making progress again.

For us at CCRP, July is not only the start of a new year, but also the month of a new beginning for this great organization. We are officially launching at the end of July, and I cannot wait for this organization to begin its existence.

For too long, residents have had to find their way through with almost no resources dedicated specifically to their well-being. We’re expected to just grin and bear it, and then finally become human again when we leave residency. The effects of this are obvious — a system where hurt people hurt people, and pain is passed down through generations of practicing physicians.

The hope is that CCRP can be one of many resources in the future that help make residency a far healthier and more supportive experience.

We are a Christian fellowship, yes. That is what we’ve started out as, and that is what we will continue to be. The hope is to do and be even more. I want residents to be able to come to this website, or our Instagram or TikTok page, or to show up at one of our live events, and find real help for what they’re facing. That’s why our resource page is full of practical, specific resources for growing your faith, finding community, and getting help when you need it. The hope is that this blog will also turn into a resource itself — provisionally, we plan to have some posts here with advice on how to excel in residency and how to manage burnout, fatigue, anger, and all of the other parts of the resident experience.

In all of this, we are guided by the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our resources are meant for any resident, regardless of whether you’re Christian or not, and the hope is that our resources will be useful for you regardless of your faith or lack thereof. But for us, all of the inspiration behind this organization (as well as our will to even continue residency, quite frankly) comes from our relationship with Jesus Christ and our basis in Christian morals and values. Those morals and values include loving people and coming alongside them in their place of struggle. We consider ourselves a ministry — the root of the word ministry means “minor”, or “servant”. Our goal is to serve residents in every way possible!

And so, along with the residency new year, CCRP will officially launch this month on July 25 at Taqueria Los Comales in Pilsen at 6pm.

Cheers to new beginnings!

“Behold, I am doing a new thing;
    now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
I will make a way in the wilderness
    and rivers in the desert.”

Isaiah 43:19 ESV