A Day in the Life of a Second-Year Resident
During the first year of psychiatry residency, half of our training is spent on off-service rotations, allowing us to build a strong foundation in specialties like internal medicine and neurology. Second-year is exciting because we transition to full-time psychiatry! We rotate through a variety of clinical psychiatry experiences, including consult-liaison, general adult inpatient, child and adolescent, geriatrics, and interventional. Our training takes place across multiple clinical settings, including UAMS, the VA, and Arkansas Children’s Hospital, providing broad exposure to diverse patient populations and psychiatric sub-specialties.
7AM – Beginning the Day
I am currently on the inpatient consult-liaison psychiatry rotation at UAMS. During this rotation, we work closely with primary medical teams to evaluate and provide assistance managing psychiatric concerns in hospitalized patients. We also evaluate patients in the Emergency Department to determine if they require psychiatric hospitalization.
I start the day by receiving handoff from the overnight psychiatry resident, reviewing any new admissions, urgent concerns, and changes in patients’ clinical status. Then, I chart review any follow-up or new patients waiting to be seen by our team. The medical students rotating with our service and I spend the morning seeing patients independently before joining the full team for rounds.
8:30 a.m. – Rounding
We then meet as a team to review all our patients. Our interdisciplinary team includes medical students, residents, attendings, and social workers. We table round first to discuss tentative plans for each patient, then bedside round with the attending. This rotation offers the chance to practice giving patient presentations, formulate plans and work with medically complex patients.
11 a.m. – Coordinating Care
We typically finish rounds in the mid-late morning. We then focus on updating primary teams, calling patients’ families and writing notes. We always make sure to eat lunch. My personal favorite is the sandwich station at the UAMS cafeteria!
Afternoon – Seeing New Patients
Throughout the day I have been receiving new consults for our team. We prioritize care for our follow up patients in the morning and focus on new patients in the afternoon. We triage new patients, prioritizing patients with the most urgent needs. All afternoon we are seeing new patients, discussing with the attending, and updating primary teams.
4:30 p.m. – Patient Handoff
When my workday ends, I hand off any patients that weren’t seen by our day team to the evening psychiatry residents on call. I’m lucky to be part of a program where residents consistently support one another and work together as a strong team!
After Work
In the evenings, I enjoy spending time with my husband and chilling at home with a good book or TV show. On the weekends, I love hanging out with friends, trying new restaurants in Little Rock, or visiting my family. I often spend time with my co-residents by going out to dinner to decompress after the workday or celebrating life milestones (like birthdays, weddings, baby showers). Right now, we’re planning our second annual trip to the lake together! I am grateful to be part of a program that genuinely prioritizes work-life balance, giving residents time to recharge and enjoy life outside of the hospital.