As far as I can tell, being a resident is like constantly getting punched in the face except for sometimes you get kicked in the kidneys instead.
Some specialties are inherently more or less hard for the residents (surgery = you get called in at 2 am ALL THE TIME vs derm = not so many derm emergencies), but they all seem to have several things in common:
1. You are on call all the time.
2. You are also working all the time.
3. When you're not working or on call, you're supposed to use your free time (hee hee!) to prepare for topic rounds, case rounds, book rounds, +/- do your research for your required publication, annnnnnd....study for your giant awful exams.
(sometimes the exam pass rates are less than 50%)
Anyways!
This week, one of the residents had an especially hard day. He came in early to examine the case that got transferred to him overnight, and the first thing he did was spill his blue Powerade all over his white coat and nice clothes.
Then he bent down to examine the dog, stood up to check the record, and hit his head on the fluid pump.
When he crouched down again, I said,
"Dude, I hate to have to say this given how your day is going, but you have a giant hole in the crotch of your pants."
(an orange could have fallen out of his pants through this hole. it was not small)
Then! Oh, it gets better! Then...he went to get a particularly aggressive dog out of the kennels, and as he exited the ward, a most unfortunate thing happened. He stepped on a patch of wet concrete floor, cartwheeled forward, and slammed his knee on the ground as the dog tore off down the hallway.