Congratulations! You are officially a doctor now.

Are you nervous? Excited? You want to do a good job^[1]. Your first day in the hospital is the culmination of so many years of study and training. And you aren't alone. You are one of the approximately 30,000 first year residents starting their medical careers this summer^[2].

Beginning your residency isn't an easy transition. There are the challenges that you and your new peers are facing^[3]:

And the influx of new medical professionals can pose a number of challenges for your hospital as well -from administration to interactions with other physicians to IT. Technology may not be the only answer, but it may be part of a solution. It can help ease onboarding, strengthen care-team communication, improve knowledge transfer, and scale training efforts.

Improving how clinicians deliver care in a way that is secure, in compliance with regulations, and easy to manage is not a unique challenge. For example, Virtua, a non-profit health system in New Jersey, needed a communication platform to improve workflow, enhance patient services, and set the stage for new revenue streams. Using Cisco Collaboration, staff can now easily check their colleague's availability and include them in an on-demand video call or an instant messaging session -from their laptops, mobile phones, or tablets. With better, faster communication, better patient care and faster resolution of internal issues is possible.

It all comes down to the patient and the quality of care being delivered. Using all the tools in your hospital's arsenal for training, clinical communication, workflow improvement is going to going to be the best bet for enhancing the lives and preserving the health of your patients.

Explore the solutions that can support every member of the care team -from the newest to seasoned veterans -in our virtual tour of a clinic.

Interested in more ways to improve the delivery of quality, affordable care? Check out cisco.com/go/healthcare.

[1] Medical Resident Perspectives: Here we go!, American College of Physicians, 2015

[2] Results and Data: 2018 Main Residency Match, National Residency Match Program, 2018

[3] 7 biggest challenges medical residents face, Becker's Hospital Review, 2015