Quote:
Originally Posted by Cdg02001
I found my clinical years to be the most rewarding. I agree that there is a degree of monotony on the wards, but on the average I liked finally feeling that everything I did was towards some end and that there was even something noble in scut work, as I was indirectly helping a patient.
If you honestly feel that the first two years were better than the second two, I might recommend rads or path (while fully admitting that this is a superficial insight, and that actual pathologists/radiologists may disagree with this characterization).
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For me, the fact that I worked a clinical job for several years (where i was drawing blood and starting IVs) before med school made the novelty of finally being allowed to carry a urine specimen to the lab for your resident slightly less special. I kid (sort of) about that example, but overall I did feel that a lot of very basic clinical things on the ward were not enough to cancel out the overall monotony. That said, M3/M4 were still exciting years for other reasons, like being able to now scientifically apply my M1/M2 knowledge instead of just going through the motions without understanding why I was doing certain blood tests or what have you, or getting to work side by side with classmates I didn't get to know before then bu who turned out to be great people.
I'm sure to some degree I'm currently viewing things with the rose colored 4th year glasses, and M3 especially can be a trying time. You just have to figure out what it is you hope to learn from the clinical years and try to do the best you can.