Why Finishing Residency Doesn’t Fix You: The Burnout, Identity Loss, and Recovery That Comes After Training
Finishing residency doesn’t automatically restore wellbeing—survival habits formed during training become entrenched, identity tied to being a trainee dissolves, and anticipated relief often arrives as emptiness. Recovery requires intentional intervention: rebuilding physical health, reconnecting with pre-medicine identity, and recognizing when post-residency malaise crosses into clinical depression.
Immigration Policy Now Shapes Physician Supply
A new JAMA study reveals 47.2% of U.S. internal medicine physicians were born abroad, with even higher concentrations in geriatrics, nephrology, and sleep medicine. As visa policies tighten and match rates for international graduates hit five-year lows, healthcare systems face a structural workforce vulnerability that compensation strategies alone cannot address.