Mia Levine, DO

A day in my life as a PGY-2 psychiatry resident.

6:40 a.m. Snooze.

6:49 a.m. Snooze.

6:58 a.m. Get out of bed and pick up scrubs from the pile. They’re all navy blue except the set the program gave me, which is black. Play podcasts or YouTube in the background while I get ready. If I’m tired, I pick something inflammatory to give me energy.

7:06 a.m. Eggs and bread for breakfast. If I want caffeine, I have a half-serving of pre-workout, which is more cost-effective than coffee.

7:22 a.m. Talk to wife for up to five minutes and then depart. I live four minutes from work.

7:30 a.m. Arrive in the resident office, fill up water bottles while the computer turns on.

7:36 a.m. Log in to Epic and check my patient list for time-sensitive or collaborative tasks. Assign patients to the medical student via TigerText. Set alarms on my phone for collaborative rounds, family meetings, rounds and group therapy. Turn up phone volume.

7:40 a.m. Chart-review to figure out how everyone fared overnight. For new patients, I’m gathering their psychiatric history and history of present illness. We carry 5-8 patients and see up to three new patients per day. The resident lounge has psychiatry residents from PGY-1, 2 and 4 classes, so there’s always someone to discuss cases with.

8:35 a.m. Walk down to the behavioral health unit to pre-round on patients. Check in with the nurses, especially on patients with behavioral issues. Sometimes I pre-round together with the medical students. If there’s more time, I have them see patients on their own and present to me. Common diagnoses are schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, bipolar disorder and major depressive disorder. Some patients have substance use disorders, and, more rarely, patients have severe anxiety or obsessive-compulsive disorder. I make plans to present to attendings.

10:15 a.m. Collaborative rounds: Nurses, therapists, advanced practice clinicians and physicians discuss patients together.

11 a.m. Round with attending and medical students. Implement plan changes.

Noon. Break for lunch. I alternate between protein bars from home and sushi from the hospital cafeteria. The Resident Association topped off our office with snacks, which are a good supplement on the protein bar days.

12:25 p.m. Call patient families to verify history and discuss treatment plans. Write notes. I’ve made templates, dot phrases and lists in Epic so I can document full encounters with just a few keystrokes. I dictate anything that can’t be templated with Dragon.

1:30 p.m. Resident-led group therapy to discuss diagnosis and medication with patients in a group setting. Residents alternate leading the group, so I lead every week or two.

2:30 p.m. Finalize the next day’s discharge plans with the attending and case managers. Resume writing notes.

3:45 p.m. Ideally, notes are done. Read medical student notes and offer feedback. Chip away at low-concentration tasks like clearing my inbox, logging hours or watching required training modules. Find an equally unoccupied co-worker to distract.

4:30 p.m. Double check orders and labs. Confirm with attending. Head home.

4:39 p.m. Arrive home. Wife, who works in human resources, and I talk about our days at work.

5:15 p.m. Free time. I have a squat rack and a jury-rigged cable pulley on my porch and work on squats, deadlifts, bench press, overhead press and accessory movements like planks or rows. Other days I watch TV or a movie with my wife. Our favorite genres to watch together are horror and reality TV.

7:30 p.m. One or both of us prepare a simple dinner, often pasta during the week.

9 p.m. Shower.

9:45 p.m. Play video games until sleep takes me. Baldur’s Gate 3 and Hades are my favorites now.

11 p.m. If I haven’t fallen asleep yet, I stop playing games.

Midnight. If I’m still awake, I read a textbook.