For me, my sleep in medical school wasn’t too different from college. I’d cram before tests, sleeping less those nights leading up to exam week and afterwards would spend the weekend recuperating and catching up on some zzz’s. When I got to my intern year, I learned that would simply not cut it in residency. All of the long days, weekend shifts, 28 hour calls, night shifts added up QUICK.

I was tired AF.

I quickly realized that I would have to adjust my sleeping schedule to survive.

My intern year was full of 28 hour calls, and it took me most of my intern year to figure out a sleep schedule that worked for me. I encourage you to try out a bunch of different ways to do it. What worked best for me was coming home and taking a 2 or so hour nap. I would get up in the early afternoon, do some activities/errands for the week and go to bed early. If I slept too long into the afternoon, I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night and I would be screwed for the next day. Other friends I know needed the whole afternoon to sleep and were fine staying up a little later on those nights. Figure out what works for you and stick with it, you’ll need it.

We all know about sleep hygiene (and also had lectures in medical school about it which I find very funny) - it is so much harder to implement IRL. Here are sleep hygiene tips modified for the life of a resident:

1. No screens before bed. Okay so this is definitely going to be impossible in residency. What about those discharge summaries that need to be finished? Or those clinic notes? Or simply looking at your email for the first time all week because you’ve been running around the ICU like a crazy person? Evening shift in the Emergency Department? You’ll be using your computer at night, sorry.When you work as much as you do in residency, there are not enough hours in the day to have hours without screen time before bed. Focus instead on the quality of your screen time. Adjust your display - there are free apps that will do this for you. Block off social media (also apps to do this for you) and just get your work done before bed!

2. No caffeine after noon. So this is also not feasible for most residents. If you’re anything like me, you’ve definitely gotten caffeine-dependent during medical training. I also just low key love the taste of coffee so cutting it out was a no-go for me. My sleep got a million times better once I started using caffeine more strategically in residency. Having it later in the morning helped me get through rounds, going for a tea or matcha in the afternoon gave me a boost to finish the day without keeping me up all night. If I was on an evening ED shift, I would wait until the afternoon to have my first coffee. Use the caffeine boost when you need it the most, and try to cut out the rest. I used my tax return intern year to get an espresso machine (hello, this Breville here is incredible), and it was the best thing I could have done for my wallet. Well worth the upfront cost. I have recently been using these pods if I need to have my coffee at work, also great for the wallet.

3. Make your bed cozy. Okay so this one is totally do-able as a resident. Get some good sheets and a quality mattress (god knows those call rooms mattresses are not it, so make sure you have a good one at home). Make sure you have blackout curtains. Keep the clutter to a minimum, or at the very least throw that shit into your closet so you aren’t looking at it.

4. Have a consistent bedtime routine. This is my biggest piece of advice for any resident. Have a bedtime routine and use it regardless of when you are sleeping. For me, this is my skincare routine. I do this regardless if I’m going to bed at 8AM or 8PM. While it is sometimes temping to come home and crash after a night shift, I’ve found that my sleep is actually more restful if I take some time to do my bedtime routine.

Soon enough, you’ll be so tired you are sleeping anywhere and everywhere. Good luck ✌🏼