Rotation order when you have no idea??

[swoopyswoop]

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I'm interested in the following things:

-Int Med
-Peds
-Ob/gyn
-EM
-Fam

I'm not interested in:
-Derm
-Ortho, or generally poor lifestyle surgery subspecialties
-Radiology
-Psych
-Anesthesia
-Path (lol)

Most people put their top choice in the 2nd or 3rd rotation spot... but I have no idea which of the 5 I listed above are right for me!

Any advice on an order to choose?

 

[purphant]

Other than trying not to have what you're interested in first, the order of your rotations really doesn't matter. If it's first you might not be comfortable in the hospital yet and really nervous. I remember before third year, my classmates were obsessing over their "perfect schedule" as we have a lottery system. Getting all worked up just makes you really upset when you get your final schedule. And that's only because you get attached to this ideal. In the end most people are fine. As the year progresses, you rule out or in the specialties you come across. Good luck

 

[JJMrK]

Doesn't matter.

 

[HarryPlopper]

EM rotations are generally audition rotations. Do your best during those rotations because the LORs from those auditions, called SLOEs, are the most important part of your application. Of the ones you mentioned above EM is arguably the most competitive. Thus if you are interested in EM, I would consider doing it after a couple of the rotations you mentioned above so you are accustomed to rotations. You also don't want to take it too late because if you end up doing EM, you'll need to prep early.

 

[swoopyswoop]

Isn't EM a 4th yr rotation though? So you can't really do it until June-July of the summer before 4th year

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

I'm interested in the following things:

-Int Med
-Peds
-Ob/gyn
-EM
-Fam

I'm not interested in:
-Derm
-Ortho, or generally poor lifestyle surgery subspecialties
-Radiology
-Psych
-Anesthesia
-Path (lol)

Most people put their top choice in the 2nd or 3rd rotation spot... but I have no idea which of the 5 I listed above are right for me!

Any advice on an order to choose?

Are those all rotations you have to take (rads? ortho? path?)

How about you list the required core clerkships and 1 or 2 electives you might be interested in, then we can give tips for arranging the schedule.

I think the schedule actually does matter, as I have no doubt that I would not have honored medicine or surgery had I taken them early rather than late in 3rd year. Other than the subspecialty clerkship/elective (e.g. derm if you're going into derm), those two cores are the most important to do well on and are a foundation for any residency you choose to go into. And take IM before surgery.

 

[Lavan]

Ordering for career is highly overrated imho. My caveats are the following:

In some intuitions, you will compete with interns etc for procedures and deliveries on surgery and ob/gyn more in the beginning of the year. It doesn't matter so much for the future for most people, but you can tailor your experience a bit by doing these rotations early or later accordingly.

Peds in the winter is much much less fun than peds in the summer/late spring/fall. The peds residents have more time and are happier when it isn't RSV/Flu season.

Doing Family Medicine towards the end will make the shelf exam much more doable. The FM shelf as a first rotation is less than ideal.

 

[evilbooyaa]

Recommendations (none of these are that big of a deal):

Agree with doing FM last (or close to it) as the FM shelf covers IM, Peds, and OB/Gyn. I definitely studied the least for FM and scored the best on it out of all my shelves (had it last in M3).

Having medicine before surgery will make the surgery shelf easier. The alternative (surgery --> medicine) is also true, but to a lesser extent.

Having oB/Gyn before surgery will make scrubbing in/tying/general OR knowledge easier (vice-versa also true).

Peds in non-winter months will be less work than peds in winter months.

Whatever rotation you do first, you will lose procedures to the new interns, be it surgery, ob/gyn, or even placing lines in IM.

It really doesn't matter, but if you want something to shoot for, here's my recommendation based on what you're interested in:

Psych (enjoy the summer months) - Peds (before the winter hits) - Surgery (winter so it won't be only you not seeing the sun for a couple months) - Ob/Gyn (same as surgery) - Internal Medicine - Family.

The rotations you have mentioned you don't like (besides psych) are all 4th year electives that can be completely skipped at my school. That being said, most people do a radiology and ER rotation. Most people also do an anesthesia block, but if you're not going into anesthesia, it's generally no different than a vacation block.

 

[Top Gun]

Some of the specialties you're interested in are core rotations. If I were you, I would try to do those cores that you're most interested in in the middle, when you'll be more comfortable in the hospital, but not drained from third year yet. You didn't mention being interested in psych. I would start out with that one as that is easier than most other core rotations, and psych attendings/residents tend to be more forgiving of third-year students starting their rotations.