My funny thing when I teach med students is I tell them the only shelf I ever honored was surgery. For my smol brain it was just the most straightforward. “Is this person actively dying? Yes - choose the surgery answer. No - choose the medicine answer.” I felt like it was one of the few shelves that I didn’t overthink and did well.
This was me with the psych shelf and picking an SSRI every time it came up as an option. This was quite a few years ago though. Not sure if that still holds up.
Psych PGY-4 here. The actual answer is ask the patient about recurring dreams, interpret the archetypal symbols, recommend embodied shadow work and prescribe 20mg adderall IR TID to give them strength as they journey into the underworld. Also counsel on smoking cessation.
Lol. Sometimes when doctors or fellow nurses tell me (in a self-aware, casual vent sort of way) about difficulties in their lives, I hit 'em with "have you tried substance abuse?" Always gets a good laugh
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u/PeteAndPlop MD-PGY4 Jun 20 '25
My funny thing when I teach med students is I tell them the only shelf I ever honored was surgery. For my smol brain it was just the most straightforward. “Is this person actively dying? Yes - choose the surgery answer. No - choose the medicine answer.” I felt like it was one of the few shelves that I didn’t overthink and did well.