Daniel Hernandez.
Daniel Hernández realized following finishing his last year of residency MIR that the medical specialty in which he had invested the last years of his life did not make him happy. For this reason, four years following his entrance exam for a resident doctor, in 2022 he made the decision to take the MIR exam once more.
“In the third year as a resident of Psychiatry I began to realize that I didn’t want to continue in it”, admits Hernández to Medical Writing, who admits that from that moment he realized what the work of a psychiatrist really consisted of. “There were a lot of things I liked, like feeling a real connection with a patient, helping explore the meaning of depression, or finding the combination of antidepressants that would get a patient back on track,” he relates.
“One day I realized that I was more interested in my patient’s electrocardiogram than the story of his childhood”, he confesses, admitting that “there he understood that perhaps his place was in another place.” “Being a psychiatrist involves having very difficult conversations on a daily basis, where many emotions come to the surface that you have to know how to channel and temper in a time that always falls short,” he admits, assuring that “this meant emotional wear and tear that sometimes led him to have no patience with the problems of their loved ones.
Already in the 4th year of my career, I was very clear regarding what I was going to do: Psychiatry. Everything fascinated me: hallucinations, hysteria, suicide, the psychosocial… During the first years of residence everything seemed wonderful to me
– DaniMIR_ (@DaniMIR_) February 7, 2022
“I was running out of energy and empathy for other patients and ultimately for my friends and family. Then I started to ask myself: Can I see myself doing this at 50?, tells the resident to this newspaper. However, even so, he admits that “Psychiatry is no more difficult to reconcile with personal life than any other specialty”, and although he admits that “following finishing the consultation he felt exhausted”, the vast majority of his colleagues would never change this specialty.
Regarding the reaction of his environment to the news, Hernández acknowledges that “for many it was a surprise.” “Psychiatry was my first option and I chose it with great enthusiasm, but my family, friends and my partner immediately supported me,” he says, admitting that “they were the first to help him weigh the pros and cons of this decision.”
“Repeating the MIR exam does not have to be anything dramatic”
But how do you approach the study once more following six years since the MIR test? Hernández assures that following making the decision he signed up for an academy. “The academies have a way of teaching that makes the process much easier, which helped me to enjoy relearning what was forgotten, except for the last few months, where anxiety prevails more than anything else,” he confesses, before stating “waiting of the official results, the academy estimates a result that would allow him to choose between several options, but if this is not the case and if he does not obtain the desired grade, he would be presented once more next year”. “I will prepare it once more like this year: reconciling my work as a psychiatrist and studying,” he emphasizes.
Finally, regarding which specialty he would like to access, he confesses that he does not have a single option. “I would like a clinical specialty where I can use the skills learned, but on the other hand, I am terrified that the same thing will happen to me as with Psychiatry,” he says, adding that “he would like a specialty that he not only likes in theory, but that can enjoy at least 60 percent of the day to day.
Furthermore, it ensures that “repeating the MIR is not something dramatic”. “It is impossible to know the usual clinical practice of the 44 medical specialties, and even less so as soon as they finish their degree”, admits Hernández, stating that “the vast majority choose a little by eye and, one way or another, they end up getting it right, but others They need another chance.”
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