Striking a healthy work-life balance is biggest challenge medical residents face, according to part two of Medscape's 2015 Residents Salary & Debt Report, which covers everything from lifestyle and spending plans to telehealth. The Medscape report includes data from more than 1,700 medical residents in 24 specialties who took part in an online survey from May 14 through June 22. All of the participants were enrolled in a U.S. medical resident program when they took the survey. Highlighted below are the biggest challenges medical residents face, divided by residency year. Work-life balance Years 1-4: 32 percent Years 5-8: 37 percent Dealing with time pressures/demands on time Years 1-4: 21 percent Years 5-8: 19 percent Developing a specialty's required clinical skills Years 1-4: 14 percent Years 5-8: 10 percent Other challenges Years 1-4: 3 percent Years 5-8: 4 percent Relationships with attending physicians Years 1-4: 2 percent Years 5-8: 2 percent Dealing with patient death or treating chronic/terminal patients Years 1-4: 2 percent Years 5-8: 2 percent Relationships with nurses and/or physician assistants Years 1-4: 2 percent Years 5-8: 1 percent Source
