Training as an Internee: The 5 Crucial Skills in Medicine

No other specialist training is more popular with doctors than internal medicine training or house job. But “popular” does not mean “easy”. Some internees only realize after years of further training that they may not be suitable for internal medicine after all. With this valuable article, that won’t happen to you.

Professor Braun, chief internee and author of the “Clinic Guide for Internal Medicine”, reveals how you can successfully complete your internship. He explains how and with which decisive technical and mental skills you can become a happy internee. You will also find out why choosing the right employer should play an important role in your specialist training.

Training as an internee – a decision “based on reason”

Internal medicine is the most frequently completed specialist training (external link) within the German medical profession – even before general medicine. The choice of internal medicine seems to be less of a passionate decision; rather, young doctors would opt for internal medicine “for reasons of reason”, observes Professor Braun. “On the one hand, a basic understanding of internal medicine is helpful in almost all medical disciplines; on the other hand, many colleagues want to learn to master critical situations, especially at the start of their careers.”

However, dealing with critical situations and emergencies also creates a certain amount of situational pressure. Internal medicine and its services by no means have the reputation of being a family-friendly discipline. In addition, the internee is traditionally not considered to be a relaxed specialist with little stress. 

The sheer size of the field also causes discomfort for many medical professionals, as university lecturer Braun reports. In his life he has accompanied and trained many internee career starters. ” At the same time, there is always awe and admiration for the vast region, as well as concerns about your ability to comprehend it all.” It is therefore “sensible and satisfactory” to undertake a further specialization – such as gastroenterology or cardiology.

Between fulfillment and disappointment – how do you become a happy internee?

University graduates start their internee training with certain expectations. In particular, the work close to the patient and the diversity of the professional profile are very attractive. But the claim is quickly compared with the reality; and the answer to the question “Which specialist is the right one for me?” Is open again.

Internal medicine can be frustrating. Training assistants also notice this quickly. “Internee rarely heal and will be frustrated again and again by the unwillingness of their patients to lead a reasonably healthy lifestyle”, clarifies the chief internee Braun. Some young doctors fail because of this fact.

The threat of excessive technical demands is also a constant companion during specialist training. “In fact, in contrast to my apprenticeship, you can hardly keep an overview of all internal departments today,” says the university lecturer, describing the development of the past decades. As a result, many an assistant doctor resigns himself to the mountain of knowledge that needs to be acquired during specialist training. For this reason, by the way, Professor Braun invented the “Clinic Guide for Internal Medicine” in 1988. He wanted to give internee quick and easy access to the necessary knowledge in the field of medicine in their everyday work. Besides, Medicmind Australia is also on the same path, penetrating through the medicine tutoring and teaching individuals for medicine interview. 

The 5 crucial skills for internee

Are you about to begin your specialist training in internal medicine? Then you will certainly be interested in which skills are decisive for becoming a successful internee. Are you already in the middle of further training? In this case, you should definitely compare which skills you already master and where you may have some catching up to do.

The crucial skills for internee are:

 

• Stress tolerance

 

Admittedly, stress tolerance is appropriate in every medical specialty. However, this applies in particular to internal medicine with its emergencies and critical situations.

 

• Tolerance of Frustration

 

Accept that many of your patients are harming themselves by their lifestyle. You should also acknowledge that internee rarely heal.

 

• Clarity in personality

 

Since the requirement profiles of the internal departments differ greatly from one another, you should define your personal strengths and weaknesses. Are you striving for long-term relationships with patients? Would you like to get to the bottom of an illness? Are you interested in intellectual activity? Depending on your preference, you should specialize further.

 

• Curiosity and willingness to change

 

“In view of the disruptive technologies (biotechnology and IT with AI), developments will continue to be breathtakingly fast in the next few years,” predicts Professor Braun. Against this background, he advises curiosity and willingness to change, in order to “remain humble and constantly put diagnoses and therapies to the test”. It’s worth it: “In sum, rare diseases are quite common”.

 

• Perseverance

 

Training to become internee and subsequent work as such requires perseverance. ” Internal medicine is mostly a marathon and not a sprint, ” says chief physician Braun. So make sure you also take care of your own health.

Find the perfect training facility

Despite the challenges, Professor Braun has never regretted his training as internee and the subsequent work as a specialist: “The intellectual challenge of keeping pace with dynamic development – coupled with the need to bring this knowledge to the patient – continues to fascinate me on the first day on the ward. “Do you feel this fascination too? Do you already have the skills mentioned? Perfect, then internal medicine is possibly the best specialist training for you.

The next step is to find the perfect employer for your specialist training. There is no magic bullet here; because the quality of training to become an internee depends on many factors – for example the working atmosphere, the chief physician or the specialist focus of the clinic. But one thing is certain: there are sometimes large differences in the level of satisfaction among young interns with training in the field of internal medicine.

We want you to love your medical profession and successfully complete your specialist training. Feel free to contact us. We’ll show you where happy internal medicine specialists are trained.