Your first year as an attending

No one checks your plans anymore. That is the freedom and the weight of the first year. A few habits make it much easier.

• Introduce yourself. Meet the primary care doctors, surgeons, radiation oncologists and hospitalists who will send you patients. Answer their calls quickly. Referrals follow reliability.
• Keep asking for help. Curbside your partners and your fellowship mentors. Asking is a sign of a careful doctor, not a weak one.
• Build templates and systems. Order sets, note templates, a way to track pending results and scans. They save you hours every week.
• Set boundaries early. Decide when you answer messages after hours and how your team triages them. It is much harder to change expectations later.
• Keep learning on purpose. Block time every week to read, and go to at least one major meeting a year.
• Look after your finances and your health. Get advice from someone who works with physicians, and keep your own doctor's appointments.

And take care of yourself

The first year is the hardest. Oncology is a long career, and the people who last are the ones who protect time for their families, their health and the things that made them want to do this work.