Behind The Knife: The Surgery Podcast Intern Bootcamp: Medical Students
Jul 2, 2025
17:11
RE-RELEASE
This was first published in 2023 but it's so good we are running it back!
Buckle up, PGY-1’s! Intern year is starting whether you’re ready or not. Don’t fret, BTK has your back to make sure you dominate the first year of residency.
You’ve been a doctor for about 3.5 seconds, and suddenly that bright eyed, bushy-tailed medical student on service is looking to you for advice? Don’t fret, in this episode we’ll give you some tips for how to handle it.
Hosts: Shanaz Hossain, Nina Clark
Tips for new interns:
REMEMBER HOW INTERNS DO AND DO NOT TEACH
- Nobody, not even the med students, expect you to be an expert in everything or give a fully-planned formal lecture
- You WILL however spend a ton of time working with students on your team – and via modeling and teachable moments, you can help them learn how it’s done!
MODELING
- Remember how hard everything has been in the few days since you started residency? Think about all the information you’ve picked up, tips and tricks you’re developing for efficiency, and best practices you’re learning in the care of your patients. ALL of these are things you can pass on to students.
- Presentations, case prep, answering questions from senior members of the team are ALL excellent opportunities to teach (and show students how you learn yourself, so they can do it independently).
TEACHABLE MOMENTS
- Find small topics that you know or are getting to know well – things like looking at a CXR, CT scan, etc.
- Once you’re getting more comfortable caring for specific disease processes, think about high yield lessons for students:
- Acute trauma evaluation and management (ABCDE’s), appendicitis, diverticulitis, benign biliary disease all make great 5 minute chalk talks that you can have in your back pocket
IN THE OR
- Watch students practice skills, and try to give some feedback and tips that you use (you learned knot tying and suturing more recently than ANYONE else in the OR and probably have some tips that you’re still using to improve)
- If you’re not sure where or why the student is struggling with a particular skill (like tying a knot), model doing it yourself in slow motion while watching them do it – often the side by side comparison can help you identify where they’re going astray
BE THE RESIDENT YOU WISH YOU HAD
- Refer to EVERYONE with respect
- Model being a kind, conscientious, and curious physician
- Try to find universal lessons and crossover topics that non-surgeons need to know
- A great student makes their interns look even better – be explicit about how they can be successful, then advocate for them to have opportunities to show everything they’re learning!
Please visit https://behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.
If you liked this episode, check out our new how-to video series on suture and knot-tying skills – https://behindtheknife.org/video-playlists/btk-suture-practice-kit-knot-tying-simulator-how-to-videos/
This was first published in 2023 but it's so good we are running it back!
Buckle up, PGY-1’s! Intern year is starting whether you’re ready or not. Don’t fret, BTK has your back to make sure you dominate the first year of residency.
You’ve been a doctor for about 3.5 seconds, and suddenly that bright eyed, bushy-tailed medical student on service is looking to you for advice? Don’t fret, in this episode we’ll give you some tips for how to handle it.
Hosts: Shanaz Hossain, Nina Clark
Tips for new interns:
REMEMBER HOW INTERNS DO AND DO NOT TEACH
- Nobody, not even the med students, expect you to be an expert in everything or give a fully-planned formal lecture
- You WILL however spend a ton of time working with students on your team – and via modeling and teachable moments, you can help them learn how it’s done!
MODELING
- Remember how hard everything has been in the few days since you started residency? Think about all the information you’ve picked up, tips and tricks you’re developing for efficiency, and best practices you’re learning in the care of your patients. ALL of these are things you can pass on to students.
- Presentations, case prep, answering questions from senior members of the team are ALL excellent opportunities to teach (and show students how you learn yourself, so they can do it independently).
TEACHABLE MOMENTS
- Find small topics that you know or are getting to know well – things like looking at a CXR, CT scan, etc.
- Once you’re getting more comfortable caring for specific disease processes, think about high yield lessons for students:
- Acute trauma evaluation and management (ABCDE’s), appendicitis, diverticulitis, benign biliary disease all make great 5 minute chalk talks that you can have in your back pocket
IN THE OR
- Watch students practice skills, and try to give some feedback and tips that you use (you learned knot tying and suturing more recently than ANYONE else in the OR and probably have some tips that you’re still using to improve)
- If you’re not sure where or why the student is struggling with a particular skill (like tying a knot), model doing it yourself in slow motion while watching them do it – often the side by side comparison can help you identify where they’re going astray
BE THE RESIDENT YOU WISH YOU HAD
- Refer to EVERYONE with respect
- Model being a kind, conscientious, and curious physician
- Try to find universal lessons and crossover topics that non-surgeons need to know
- A great student makes their interns look even better – be explicit about how they can be successful, then advocate for them to have opportunities to show everything they’re learning!
Please visit https://behindtheknife.org to access other high-yield surgical education podcasts, videos and more.
If you liked this episode, check out our new how-to video series on suture and knot-tying skills – https://behindtheknife.org/video-playlists/btk-suture-practice-kit-knot-tying-simulator-how-to-videos/