Dr. Devesh Bhargude

The idea was simple, and it arrived the way most honest ideas do — not in a moment of inspiration, but in a moment of recognition.

I thought: why not share this journey with others? Why not help people get the best out of something that is quietly taking the worst from them?

When I began speaking about residency on social media, I was not prepared for what came back. Hundreds of messages. Residents from across the country, writing in with a candour they clearly could not afford in their wards or their departments — unburdening themselves to a stranger on a screen because there was, it seemed, nowhere else to put it. The volume was not surprising as much as it was clarifying. The problem was not isolated. It was not a matter of individual weakness or poor adjustment. It was systemic, widespread, and almost entirely unspoken.

I looked for material that addressed it honestly. Something written for residents, about residents, by someone who had lived it from the inside. I found very little. So I spoke to people. I listened carefully. And eventually, I built something of my own.

Because here is what the average residency actually looks like, beneath the white coat and the forced smile.

The body takes the first blow. Sleep deprivation becomes a baseline state rather than an exception. Immunity weakens quietly and persistently. Nearly seventy percent of residents report musculoskeletal pain. Weight is lost — the wrong kind — and then regained, also the wrong kind. Meals are incidental. Rest is rationed.

Then the mind follows.

Anxiety climbs without acknowledgement or outlet. The sense of reward — that fundamental human need to feel that effort means something — slowly erodes. Polysubstance abuse enters, often gradually, often socially, and then less so. Sleep architecture fractures. Emotional balance, once taken for granted, becomes difficult to locate. Some residents begin self-medicating — anxiolytics, antidepressants, painkillers — not out of recklessness but out of a quiet, desperate attempt to continue functioning.

The sense of purpose, which once felt iron-strong — strong enough to survive a drop year, strong enough to crack NEET — begins to dull at the edges. The future, which once seemed like something being actively built, starts to feel abstract, distant, and increasingly difficult to plan for.

Relationships fracture. Infidelity is more common than anyone discusses. Depersonalisation sets in — that strange, unsettling sensation of watching your own life from a slight distance, of going through the motions of caring without being able to fully feel the act of it. The academic spark — that original hunger that brought most of us here — dims. Not dramatically, not all at once, but steadily, in the way that neglected fires do.

And this, I want to be clear, is only what surfaces.

The rest stays buried. Pressed down beneath clinical responsibility and professional obligation and the unspoken agreement that residency is supposed to be hard and therefore its casualties are supposed to be silent.

This book refuses that agreement.

Dr. Devesh Bhargude
DM Cardiology "¢ MRCP UK "¢ DNB "¢ MD medicine, MBBS

I am a cardiologist in my final year of residency at the time of publishing this book and probably one of the most unconventional doctors you will encounter. Coming from a small town of barely 2000 people, I dreamt of building my ideal physique which took me a decade to carve. Training martial arts at 5 AM, 1000 pushups at 4 am and so on. Working out every damn day despite 36-hour ICU shifts.

I hold Top All India ranks, in NEET UG, PG and SS, I have presented at 10+ conferences, completed MRCP UK during residency, and actively share evidence-based knowledge on nutrition, fitness, and medicine on Instagram. Content creation is my investment in time and efforts for you all.

But beyond the credentials - I meditate deeply daily, nurture deep family and friends bonds, saved more than 7 digits in my bank and believe the real growth of residency is physical, mental, financial and spiritual, not just clinical.

"Coming from a small town of 2000 people and onto the journey of becoming the dream version of me that I always wanted to be — that is the real story residency made possible." It bridged a gap between the two cause I understood the fundamentals of optimisation, truly a blessing in disguise.
- Dr. Devesh Bhargude