2 EM electives in 3rd year

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neurodjent

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I’m a 3rd year DO student pretty set on going into EM and I’m not sure with how to proceed with scheduling my electives. I am allowed 3 electives, one of which is going to be EM. Not many of the other electives available interest me but there are some (cards, GI, ophtho, etc) that I am considering over another EM rotation as rotating in that specialty may help me in EM.

How would it look if I did two EM rotations in 3rd year? Would it be more advantageous to rotate in another specialty in which I could apply the information learned to EM?

I am planning on doing 3-4 EM aways in 4th year.

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Depends on when the electives are. If they are late in 3rd year (May/June) they essentially become equivalent to a 4th year AI, and if you get a SLOE from one, you'll be lumped into that July-Sept crowd. If they are earlier in 3rd year, then you probably don't want to get a SLOE from them anyways, especially if they aren't at a residency site (assuming you can get at least 2 early 4th year EM rotations). I don't see any downside in doing 2 EM rotations in 3rd year though.
 
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Just my two cents as a current MS4...

I had about 10 weeks of pure elective time and then another ~4 weeks of subspecialty stuff. I obviously had a great time on EM, but I'm not sure doing 3 electives of EM would be worth it (especially if they're earlier and can't get SLOE like gamer said ^^).

On my other rotations I had a chance to learn form experts in cardiology, Hepatology, gastroenterology, general surgery, trauma surgery, critical care etc. This was especially beneficial when on consults services because you see a lot of things that end up coming through the ED. I learned a lot of very practical things from other services (lots of nosebleeds on ENT, fast neuro exams on stroke service) and how to speak intelligently about conditions when you consult specialists. It's not the end of the world, but its nice to be able to talk to them, and give them the hx, presentation and workup that is relevant to them.

The nice thing about EM is that most things you learn on any rotation can be applicable to emergency medicine in some way or another. Pick something you're interested in, or feel weak in, or something that most residencies don't rotate through and enjoy the ride, knowing that you will inevitably get sick of rounding/OR/clinic and it will confirm that EM is the right choice for you
 
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Depends on when the electives are. If they are late in 3rd year (May/June) they essentially become equivalent to a 4th year AI, and if you get a SLOE from one, you'll be lumped into that July-Sept crowd. If they are earlier in 3rd year, then you probably don't want to get a SLOE from them anyways, especially if they aren't at a residency site (assuming you can get at least 2 early 4th year EM rotations). I don't see any downside in doing 2 EM rotations in 3rd year though.

One is this fall and the other would be early next spring and neither are associated with a residency program so I won’t be able to get SLOEs from them, maybe a LOR. I will be doing 3-4 audition rotations early 4th year to get my SLOEs. Thank you for your help, I am glad to know that two ER electives wouldn’t be looked down on in any way.

Just my two cents as a current MS4...

I had about 10 weeks of pure elective time and then another ~4 weeks of subspecialty stuff. I obviously had a great time on EM, but I'm not sure doing 3 electives of EM would be worth it (especially if they're earlier and can't get SLOE like gamer said ^^).

On my other rotations I had a chance to learn form experts in cardiology, Hepatology, gastroenterology, general surgery, trauma surgery, critical care etc. This was especially beneficial when on consults services because you see a lot of things that end up coming through the ED. I learned a lot of very practical things from other services (lots of nosebleeds on ENT, fast neuro exams on stroke service) and how to speak intelligently about conditions when you consult specialists. It's not the end of the world, but its nice to be able to talk to them, and give them the hx, presentation and workup that is relevant to them.

The nice thing about EM is that most things you learn on any rotation can be applicable to emergency medicine in some way or another. Pick something you're interested in, or feel weak in, or something that most residencies don't rotate through and enjoy the ride, knowing that you will inevitably get sick of rounding/OR/clinic and it will confirm that EM is the right choice for you

Thank you for your advice! I was thinking along the same lines since EM covers practically everything and I could learn a lot from other specialties and apply it to EM.
 
Depends on when the electives are. If they are late in 3rd year (May/June) they essentially become equivalent to a 4th year AI, and if you get a SLOE from one, you'll be lumped into that July-Sept crowd. If they are earlier in 3rd year, then you probably don't want to get a SLOE from them anyways, especially if they aren't at a residency site (assuming you can get at least 2 early 4th year EM rotations). I don't see any downside in doing 2 EM rotations in 3rd year though.

If you're going to do this, make sure the rotation allows M3s to acquire SLOEs. I had an elective EM rotation as my last rotation of M3, planning to get my first SLOE. I was told that they don't do that for M3s and that I had to request a separate, M4 rotation to be evaluated for one. Meanwhile, students in my cohort with 10mos-long M3s were rotating on their first EM rotation as an away Sub-I. Those students frequently got procedure preference and I was regularly told to report to them or compared to them. The entire experience was infuriating for myself and another student on the rotation. One of the sub-I's even cornered me in the rec room and said "does it bother you when they talk to you like that? It'd be bother me".
 
I have 2 EM elective 3rd year. DO school with no home program so I'm basically just using them as some way to get ER experience prior to stepping into a residency program. Wanted to do more than one bc the quality of the rotations can vary at my school.
 
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