3rd/4th year

[amikhchi]

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are the different 3rd/4th year rotations in medical school a good representation of what type of *life* you would have assuming you pursued a career in that specific field?

basically will doing a rotation in a field you're interested give you a good idea of what you would be doing on a daily basis, or are the hours/responsibilities/etc completely different?

 

[TexasPhysician]

I guess the answer kind of depends. Obviously you won't have lecture in real life like you will during rotations. Still, you do see patients on your own, write orders (signed by a physician), present patients, and help in pretty much everything. While you may work fewer hours sometimes because you have to study still, I think you get to experience the field pretty well.

 

[amikhchi]

so like the hours you spend throughout the day as a student (minus the lecturing/studying/and any other strictly *student* stuff) will that end up being equivalent to the hours you spend working after residency (in that given specialty)

 

[TexasPhysician]

so like the hours you spend throughout the day as a student (minus the lecturing/studying/and any other strictly *student* stuff) will that end up being equivalent to the hours you spend working after residency (in that given specialty)

Depends on the school. I'd say my surgery and ob/gyn rotations were pretty close. My peds rotation was too light on the hours to be like real life.

 

[amikhchi]

thanks a lot, just wondering because it'd be nice to have some sort of idea of what life would be like if that was the path I chose... i guess it's too early for me to worry about it
anyway

 

[Law2Doc]

Depends on the school. I'd say my surgery and ob/gyn rotations were pretty close. My peds rotation was too light on the hours to be like real life.

Yeah, at many schools, they expect you to keep similar hours as the residents in some rotations, so you get a sense of the hours. That means in a q4 rotation, you will be staying overnight in the hospital every fourth night, etc. You will generally be expected to preround on your patients in the morning before the senior resident gets there, which early on is going to take you a lot longer than it takes the typical intern, so you may actually find yourself getting in earlier than the residents in some rotations.

And there is no official 80 hour work week limitation on med students, so unless your med school has its own policy (most don't), there is nothing stopping you from being asked to come in earlier and finishing up things later than the residents.

 

[Law2Doc]

...
basically will doing a rotation in a field you're interested give you a good idea of what you would be doing on a daily basis, or are the hours/responsibilities/etc completely different?

It's not just about "fields you're interested" in. In 3rd year you will be doing the core rotations required for every med student, so you will be taking things you may have no interest in. You don't get to choose -- you will be taking OBGYN, Surgery, IM, Peds, Psych, and probably FM. These are courses required by the LCME, and tested on Step 2. You may not be interested in them, or more likely won't know if you are interested in them or not until you see them first hand. Most med students will change their mind at least once during rotations. But yes, you will get some sense of the hours and insight into the responsibilities (although you won't actually have the responsibilities of an intern until you are one, or do a sub-I. In 3rd year mostly you learn how to follow patients, and present them to the attending.

 

[amikhchi]

i don't know why, maybe it's just me... but as much as my other med-student friends tell me and scare me about what's coming up for me, for whatever reason i'm very excited about the *pressure* and the whole *under-the-gun* feeling...

in any case, thanks for the responses

 

[amikhchi]

i understand that as a med-student i'd need to do all the cores and some other rotations that i may not be interested in, i just don't want to come out of 3rd/4th year thinking "okay i really enjoyed everything about option A" and then it turns out the *lifestyle* of it was nothing like the rotation

 

[smq123]

i understand that as a med-student i'd need to do all the cores and some other rotations that i may not be interested in, i just don't want to come out of 3rd/4th year thinking "okay i really enjoyed everything about option A" and then it turns out the *lifestyle* of it was nothing like the rotation

Good for you to realize this early. Hopefully you'll remember that in a couple years, and push yourself hard to work the same number of hours as your resident.

What you described happens every year. People realize after intern year that their med school experience was very inaccurate.

 

[CCLCMer]

thanks a lot, just wondering because it'd be nice to have some sort of idea of what life would be like if that was the path I chose... i guess it's too early for me to worry about it
anyway

You could always do an acting internship in whatever field you think you might want to go into. On an AI, you are a fourth year med student who is supposed to be functioning more or less at the level of an intern. My school requires two AIs anyway, but it's probably a good idea to do at least one even if you don't have to. Another thing you could do is do an away rotation, which is basically like doing an AI but at a different school. Like you said, you don't have to worry about this stuff now, but it's good to at least find out about your options.

 

[Law2Doc]

You could always do an acting internship in whatever field you think you might want to go into. On an AI, you are a fourth year med student who is supposed to be functioning more or less at the level of an intern. My school requires two AIs anyway, but it's probably a good idea to do at least one even if you don't have to. Another thing you could do is do an away rotation, which is basically like doing an AI but at a different school. Like you said, you don't have to worry about this stuff now, but it's good to at least find out about your options.

Just for clarity for the premeds, AI is called a "Sub-I" at many schools. I agree that these are useful in simulating what life will be like on the other side (minus the paycheck).