Somehow I’ve played more video games throughout residency than any other period in my life.

[u/worst-EM-resident]

I always expected that residency would be when I finally set aside childish things and grow up, but I doubled down instead. It’s got to be a coping mechanism. The tougher the days the longer I stare at the screen mashing buttons later. It’s not the healthiest stress reaction. I wish I became a gym rat instead to blow off steam. My professional life is not spiraling out of control, either. The work is getting easier. Zeroing in on a well-paying job. The stars are starting to line up. And yet I’m grinding WoW like my life depended on it. I just think it’s kind of amusing and bizarre.

Anybody else experiencing this?

[u/NippleSlipNSlide]

I play more video games as an attending than any other time. Residency ranked probably #2 though.

[u/normasaline → u/NippleSlipNSlide]

Oh fuck yeah. Who plays rocket league

[u/NippleSlipNSlide → u/normasaline]

I’m hooked on Fortnite now. That and Minecraft. I blame my kids. But it’s cool once your kids get old enough to play video games with you.

[u/ayayaydismythrowaway → u/NippleSlipNSlide]

I'm a nocturnist, currently playing marvel rivals on my PS portal at work lmao

[u/NippleSlipNSlide → u/ayayaydismythrowaway]

Haha. Is that the one that just came out? I’ve been playing a little bit of Minecraft at work the last couple weeks too… easy to do stuff in between studies when things are slow.

[u/ayayaydismythrowaway → u/NippleSlipNSlide]

Lmfaoo yeah the new one. But till today I've been finding Lies of P.

I do love working nights lol

[u/x-Mowens-x → u/NippleSlipNSlide]

Soooo i’m 41. All I do is work, workout, and play video games.

I joke that I have to find a new group of 20 year old gamers every few years.

Nothing untoward! Just… reality. People grow up and have kids or get girlfriends.

I’m a gay dude who gave up on dating and the lgbt community as a whole. Video games are where it’s at! ☺️

[u/NippleSlipNSlide → u/x-Mowens-x]

haha. Same age here. "That's what I love about these high schoolers... I get older, they stay the same age." 20 is a bit generous... i sometimes talk on these online shooters (e.g. team based play) and it sounds like im playing with 10-15 year olds from their voice, although I never asked their age or any personal info, as that would prob come off as creepy since I'm 41.

I didn't play many video games in med school.... too busy studying or going to after exam parties... my girlfriend/wife did cut into some of that time. She only likes certain games. We did play through some classics like N64 mario kart , legend of zelda NES, super mario world, dance dance resolution though.

Now, as an attending I have so much more time for video games. My kids are old enough to play with me... and i can have meaningful games with them (as opposed to when they were 2-3 yo). It's been a great bonding activity... surprisingly (to me) not many of my kids friends parents game with them. My son is closing in on 8 and he's starting to give me a run for my money on fortnite (and also makes a good team mate on battle royal).

[u/AncefAbuser]

Through the end of residency I managed to be Top 200 in a couple Halo 5 ranked playlists.

Yea. Its me. The menace from Xbox Live.

Stress relief is stress relief. However it comes. Video games have always been a easily accessible way to detach from real life's problems. Moderation is always important. Those gym rats aren't that much happier with their lives either, they just get to cry about it onto massive pecs.

[u/jammin_jalapeno27 → u/AncefAbuser]

Hey bro I just want bigger muscles so I can hide my feelings in them better

[u/EnvironmentalLet4269]

just hit 6mo as an attending and built a PC to replace my xbox one

[u/Plane-Nail6037]

I know a vascular surgeon who swears video games helps him with his screen to hand coordination for endovascular procedures.

[u/znightmaree → u/Plane-Nail6037]

I was a professional halo 3 player in high school (sponsors, tournament placings, etc), and I am elite with the ultrasound. Attendings comment that I am better than they are regularly. I fully attribute it to gaming.

[u/epyon- → u/znightmaree]

What was your tag?

[u/znightmaree → u/epyon-]

znightmare. My highest team placing was at mlg 2010 washington dc national championships (10th). I won the ffa at that event too but it was open participation. I got 12th at orlando that year and had pro status at columbus but we got 17th so didnt end with a pro placement (top 16)

[u/epyon- → u/znightmaree]

That’s cool man. I was a big fan of the Halo 3 pro scene. Never competed but I considered myself pretty good online - 50’s in all playlists and multiple lone wolves 50 accounts (my favorite). Loved that game and still play MMC from time to time.

[u/znightmaree → u/epyon-]

DM me your GT let’s play sometime

[u/Bkelling92 → u/Plane-Nail6037]

I agree 100% that video games help with procedural techniques, especially ultrasound IVs and blocks (anesthesia)

[u/MazzyFo → u/Bkelling92]

I read somewhere that people who played a lot of video games outperformed those who didn’t in basically all on screen procedural tasks. Which made a ton of sense to me

I’m trash at US, but spent a lot of time with POCUS attendings in IM and felt like games helped me quickly get orientated with positioning and stuff

[u/Bkelling92 → u/MazzyFo]

Games and procedures help you understand visual spatial relationships and META.

Most effective tactics are a hugely underrated part of procedures that gamers are quicker to recognize imo.

[u/MazzyFo → u/Bkelling92]

me telling my mom at 13 that my GBA obsession would manifest to greater things🧠

[u/pinkdoornative → u/Plane-Nail6037]

There’s a paper floating around about how people who played more hours of video games growing up are quicker to be proficient at arthroscopic techniques or something like that.

I know for me personally scoping was not difficult to pick up because it literally feels like playing video games.

[u/headbanginggentleman → u/Plane-Nail6037]

I used to work with a colorectal surgeon who was a wizard on the daVinci and laparoscopic cases. I found out later that he was also a huge fan of WoW

[u/equinsoiocha → u/Plane-Nail6037]

Huh, I figured doing more endovascular procedures would be better suited!!!

[u/No-Function-8905]

I can only work on research if I'm AFKing on a video game lol

[u/rhinocodon_typus → u/No-Function-8905]

Oh my god I’ve never had an original experience

[u/ghostcar99 → u/rhinocodon_typus]

More positive way to look at it is that we are all very similar and together in this world 

[u/minh0 → u/No-Function-8905]

What’s your go to to AFK on?

[u/No-Function-8905 → u/minh0]

RS3 haha

[u/minh0 → u/No-Function-8905]

A classic

[u/Psice → u/No-Function-8905]

Loool that's amazing 😂😂😂

[u/_OccamsChainsaw]

Bro, it's almost 2025. Can we stop calling it a childish hobby? The boomers watching fox news 24/7 is more brainrot than games.

[u/Gorlox111 → u/_OccamsChainsaw]

There are so many games that a child would never be capable of playing, let alone actually want to play them. And even games that kids do play have sufficient depth and complexity to satisfy adult tastes

[u/Diagnosgeek]

poe2 team here. having my passion at home each night AND a fulfilling job is the best time of my life.

[u/cephal]

I sank a prodigious number of hours into Animal Crossing New Horizons in 2020 when I was a gas resident getting called in and out of COVID ICUs.

[u/redbrick → u/cephal]

Same but FF7 remake

[u/grodon909 → u/cephal]

I don't think I played as much video games as I did on night's at the start of Covid. The EMU was shut down, so dropped like 8 pts off the typical census, the functional patients didn't come to the hospital for a while, and probably some real sick patients too, the strokes were actually down for a few days (sometimes--though I also had like 4 strokes in an hour one of the nights).

I think I had like two nights where I had virtually no calls. Just watched anime, and played animal crossing and fire emblem after patients were tucked in. 

[u/bluepinkredgreen]

You’re under massive stress and it’s a good escape. Why not??

[u/dadrenergic]

Me grinding OSRS while studying to keep me motivated to read more (pathology), honestly it is working pretty good lol

[u/NeuroticBeforeMoving]

Same- intern year in psych and I have way more free time than MS1-3. Logged 45hours into 2K since I got it 2 weeks ago, and I play Runescape on the side haha

[u/Cuhhhhh → u/NeuroticBeforeMoving]

Which 2K do you have and is it worth? Haha I saw 2K25 on sale and was considering it but haven’t played one since 2K18

[u/NeuroticBeforeMoving → u/Cuhhhhh]

I have 2k25 (got it with my PS5). Honestly with the sale right now, its probably worth it. Just play through MyCareer once and then hit up MyTeam to collect some cards and play domination/breakout. It's pretty fun. Got my eyes on the new COD too, heard that one is pretty good.

[u/hurtybirdy1]

I played cod a ridiculous amount in medical school. Then residency hit and I got sick of the toxicity and chatter. Now I have a stupid amount of no man's sky. There's something about floating through space on my own agenda that's therapeutic. If anyone wants to team up for an expedition dm me and I'll shoot you my steam.

[u/hashim3976 → u/hurtybirdy1]

What games do u play?

[u/hurtybirdy1 → u/hashim3976]

No man's sky, flight sim, ready or not are the big ones now. Battlefield 2042 occasionally. I have Arma and squad as well.

[u/No-Function-8905]

Also night shifts are prime time for video games

[u/jvttlus]

Stardew valley was my antidepressant pgy2. currently playing stalker 2 and the outer worlds

[u/PeacemakersWings]

I've seen that a lot, I think it's a healthy way to help reduce stress, much healthier than stress eating or stress purchasing. I personally have stopped playing video games since residency because, well, I like puzzle and detective games, and my work sort of scratches that itch? Except the guides are incomplete, and there is no cheat code...

[u/Oryzanol]

Oh yeah, AFK Runescape leveling is my jam

[u/lethalred]

I take my steam deck with me everywhere. Low key don’t give a fuck. OR turnover? Let me boot up cyberpunk

[u/PRs__and__DR → u/[deleted]]

Classic anniversary servers baby!

[u/worst-EM-resident → u/PRs__and__DR]

WE GO AGAIN

[u/PRs__and__DR → u/worst-EM-resident]

I’m Horde on Dreamscythe, hmu

[u/worst-EM-resident → u/PRs__and__DR]

I’m on the PvP server

[u/Funny_Baseball_2431]

Which residency?

[u/ZeldaSand9]

Right there with you leveling once more in Azeroth. Also fulfilled with my daytime work and happy to have time to engage in my hobbies. No ragrets.

[u/Rhinologist]

Really getting into marvel rivals right now on pc

[u/Dr_never_give_up]

Em resident playing wow? Pm be your btag lol let’s go !

[u/Lispro4units]

I play about 25 hours of COD per week , mostly MW2019, BO3 and MWIII

[u/xindianx5]

Been playing video games since I was a kid. Legit hobby like anything else. Also the $/hour of entertainment you get is unmatched.

Playing video games also made me a much better surgeon especially in lap/robotic cases so it’s not without its advantages.

I’m about 6 months into attending life and I’ve found a good balance now between gym/home/games/work that would have been impossible in residency due to the time constraints. Things truly do get much better out of training

[u/MrHouseForever]

lol I’m watching all the shit anime now.. isekai etc. so yeah, different reactions than usual, but it’s fine, so long as you keep your health, mentally and physically

[u/Livedo_Retic]

100% in the same situation

[u/Fresh_Information_42]

Fatigue to do anything else. Sometimes more mental than physical

[u/Gaming_Surgeon_22]

Surgery resident, I wish I had more time for videogames, haha. I’m on vacation now and am going back and playing The Witcher 3. I just got an Xbox Series X so I’m ready for Gears of War E-Day. I still need to play Gears Tactics though, but The Witcher 3 is too much fun.

I also play some Nintendo Switch

[u/ThaMiAnDotas]

As long as you don't play while on call, you do you! Fr though we had one time a resident who was not answering three pages and they found the dude with pager turned off and headphones on grinding WoW...not cool.

[u/DrEffexor]

PS4 helped me much through the beginning of residency (hematology was a horror). I would come back home and just play until it was time to go to sleep. It was my escape from painful reality.

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[u/No-Feature2924]

That’s awesome

[u/McNulty22]

Same. Don’t play as much as an attending (Hospitalist), unless I’m off and not traveling.

[u/lilbios]

Maybe because you were stressed during residency, and video games were your comfort place where you had fun as a kid (and adult).

[u/nonam3r]

What do you play?

[u/TheRealMajour]

I played more games in medical school than residency simply due to having more free time. I had like 5 level 60s in classic wow. Now I’m stuck at 30 on fresh start because my play time is so variable. I expect I’ll have more time as an attending.

[u/EndlessCourage]

I stopped playing in residency and it was a mistake. I started again with Stardew Valley after a difficult event when I wasn't being a workaholic, and it was better than therapy ha ha.

[u/Lost_in_theSauce909]

Nah bro keep playing them

[u/mstpguy]

This tracks. During COVID I started playing the military flight sim DCS in VR and became pretty lethal at dogfighting in the F-5.

[u/Wrong_Gur_9226]

That was me in med school. Thousands of hours on FIFA. Was not healthy. In residency, switched to cycling. Got a Zwift setup. Much healthier.

[u/Puzzled-Science-1870]

Got me a steam deck a few months ago and really enjoying it. BG3 is really fun.

[u/Skoformet]

Hey, I’m jumping on this thread to ask: I want to make an interactive fiction video game about being a doctor, surgeon, or nurse and taking care of patients. Resembling the Legacy Interactive games or Life and Death (1988). Would you guys be interested in something like this? Whether you are or not, do you have any ideas for what you’d like to see in a game like this?

[u/Shenz0r]

I've played more games in residency than I have during med school, which was more then I played in undergrad, which was more than I played in high school. Steady upward trend since 2009-2012ish era.

Being able to reward myself with a new game to try is something to look forward to

[u/ayyy_muy_guapo]

5500 hours of game I'm too embarassed to name since starting MS3 year (currently a PGY7)

[u/worst-EM-resident → u/ayyy_muy_guapo]

Name it, coward!

[u/TheLetter_Y → u/ayyy_muy_guapo]

Dota?

[u/doctor_robert_chase → u/ayyy_muy_guapo]

Gotta be Oldschool RuneScape for that many hours

[u/Coeruleus_]

More as an attending

[u/MusicalScience]

Can relate! Played more videogames in residency and now fellowship than ever before (except maybe high school).

I think it's just good stress relief.

Playing marvel rivals, Warframe, and supervive right now!

Dm me if anyone wants to play together!

[u/Zukaim]

Hell yeah, WoW is where it’s at. I’ll be really impressed if you were raiding cause of the time commitment. Are you in retail or classic? I’m about to enter residency, but in medical school I did mythic + on my free time with my best friend

[u/Fadooshiary]

As you should. It makes you a better doctor

[u/equinsoiocha]

Reminiscing about life before starting a family…….

[u/BeerOfRoot]

Oh yeah. Got a prebis 60 warrior on the anniversary realm already. Studying has fallen by the wayside

[u/AttendingSoon]

I have gamed heavily all my life, including residency and now especially as an attending.

[u/NPC_MAGA]

My current reddit notifications are exclusively this sub and the Elden Ring sub