3rd and 4th years of medical school

[267028]

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[Dirt]

For example, for clinical rotations are your hours pretty much fixed, say like from 6am-4pm, or is it a lot more variable? Do you have weekends off or do you do weekend rotations? Are there night shifts? After being in the hospital all day do you go home and study books or other information? I apologize in advance if this information is in another thread, I tried looking but didn't find much. Any insight would be appreciated, thanks!!!

1. No, not fixed, more variable.
2. You get some weekends off and work others.
3. Yes there are night shifts.
4. Sometimes you study.

 

[FSU2013]

School, rotation and attending variable. I worked crazy hours on surgery - q4 call, LONG hours, weekends (note: I'm not complaining, it was awesome - just a lot).
But I only worked 8-4 M-F for psych.

Either way, don't worry - you should have enough stuff coming up in your first semester to worry about. Take one step at a time. Good luck!

 

[Morzh]

Not trying to hijack (although it's still on theme with the OP)... but what are the most useful things one can do during MS1/2 to be as ready as possible to be successful during MS3/4 (other than studying hard/doing well on step one, which is obviously the top priority)? You can volunteer at the free clinic, do a research project all summer long after MS1, do some foreign medical mission during the summer, join lots of specialty interest clubs and go to all the seminars (or even be a club officer), find lots of attendings who will let you shadow/do a little during weekends/evenings, etc. etc...

It would be real tough to do all of that and still do well in classes/step1. Which ones are most worth it, both for MS3 readiness and residency competitiveness?

 

[TAWS]

Not trying to hijack (although it's still on theme with the OP)... but what are the most useful things one can do during MS1/2 to be as ready as possible to be successful during MS3/4 (other than studying hard/doing well on step one, which is obviously the top priority)? You can volunteer at the free clinic, do a research project all summer long after MS1, do some foreign medical mission during the summer, join lots of specialty interest clubs and go to all the seminars (or even be a club officer), find lots of attendings who will let you shadow/do a little during weekends/evenings, etc. etc...

It would be real tough to do all of that and still do well in their classes/step1. Which ones are most worth it, both for MS3 readiness and residency competitiveness?

I know a lot of people doing that. I don't think it's that tough if you don't have mandatory classes.

Fall/Spring: free clinic (2hrs/wk), clubs (1hr/wk), shadowing (2hrs/wk) = only 5 hours out of your week
Summer (M1/M2): 10 weeks of research, 2 week mission trip

Do you have to do all of this to get into residency? I don't think so but it can't hurt.

 

[Valadi]

Not trying to hijack (although it's still on theme with the OP)... but what are the most useful things one can do during MS1/2 to be as ready as possible to be successful during MS3/4 (other than studying hard/doing well on step one, which is obviously the top priority)? You can volunteer at the free clinic, do a research project all summer long after MS1, do some foreign medical mission during the summer, join lots of specialty interest clubs and go to all the seminars (or even be a club officer), find lots of attendings who will let you shadow/do a little during weekends/evenings, etc. etc...

It would be real tough to do all of that and still do well in classes/step1. Which ones are most worth it, both for MS3 readiness and residency competitiveness?

Dude don't bother if you're doing it to try and prepare for MS3. One week of third year will cover all the "prep" you do for 2 years beforehand. If that stuff is your bag, go for it, but it's not going to give you more stamina or prepare you for left-field pimp questions.

I was in the student clinic because I wanted to try it, and though it was great for getting my feet wet for third year. That being said, we are all at the same level after the first week or two.

 

[DrYoda]

Not trying to hijack (although it's still on theme with the OP)... but what are the most useful things one can do during MS1/2 to be as ready as possible to be successful during MS3/4 (other than studying hard/doing well on step one, which is obviously the top priority)? You can volunteer at the free clinic, do a research project all summer long after MS1, do some foreign medical mission during the summer, join lots of specialty interest clubs and go to all the seminars (or even be a club officer), find lots of attendings who will let you shadow/do a little during weekends/evenings, etc. etc...

It would be real tough to do all of that and still do well in classes/step1. Which ones are most worth it, both for MS3 readiness and residency competitiveness?

Clinic volunteering, shadowing and clubs aren't going to help you much. Use your free time for something fun.

 

[FSU2013]

Not trying to hijack (although it's still on theme with the OP)... but what are the most useful things one can do during MS1/2 to be as ready as possible to be successful during MS3/4 (other than studying hard/doing well on step one, which is obviously the top priority)? You can volunteer at the free clinic, do a research project all summer long after MS1, do some foreign medical mission during the summer, join lots of specialty interest clubs and go to all the seminars (or even be a club officer), find lots of attendings who will let you shadow/do a little during weekends/evenings, etc. etc...

It would be real tough to do all of that and still do well in classes/step1. Which ones are most worth it, both for MS3 readiness and residency competitiveness?

There are basically 4 things that impress attending:
1 - caring about your patients
2 - being super hard working - this involves reading everything you can get your hands on, showing up and staying late.
3 - taking a really good history & physical
4 - knowing the zebras - study hard; you'll impress attending by knowing weird factoids about disease.

There isn't much you can do to be a 'better MS3' than learn as much as possible first two years - concerning making yourself a better applicant to residency, probably research - but that's field dependent. talk to some residents in the field you want to get into - they can better address that.

 

[mmmcdowe]

There are basically 4 things that impress attending:
1 - caring about your patients
2 - being super hard working - this involves reading everything you can get your hands on, showing up and staying late.
3 - taking a really good history & physical
4 - knowing the zebras - study hard; you'll impress attending by knowing weird factoids about disease.

There isn't much you can do to be a 'better MS3' than learn as much as possible first two years - concerning making yourself a better applicant to residency, probably research - but that's field dependent. talk to some residents in the field you want to get into - they can better address that.

Of the four the one you can most alter is your ability to take a decent h and p. If your curriculum teaches it prior to your clinicals, by all means throw tour back into it. A good h an p requires lots of repititions, and having a senior clinician wAtching you over and over is a rare opportunity to improve exponentially. Sure, you will pick it up on the wards and improve with time, but it is way less stressful if you have a decent handle on it when you start your first rotation. I found that a well ingrained h a p allowed me to think more clinically and in a more organzed fashion as well.

 

[da8s0859q]

Hey all, I've recently been accepted into a U.S. MD school and will be starting in the fall and I had a couple of general questions. I pretty much know what the 1st 2 years of school is going to entail but I'm just trying to get an idea of what the 3rd and 4th years are like. For example, for clinical rotations are your hours pretty much fixed, say like from 6am-4pm, or is it a lot more variable? Do you have weekends off or do you do weekend rotations? Are there night shifts? After being in the hospital all day do you go home and study books or other information? I apologize in advance if this information is in another thread, I tried looking but didn't find much. Any insight would be appreciated, thanks!!!

Bet you that the first two years will not be quite what you're expecting.

My two cents about third and fourth year:

1. Hours vary widely. For me at my institution, anywhere from ~6:30am-4pm (medicine) to 8am-4pm (medicine outpatient) to ~7am-9pm (medicine, evening admissions), to 4am-6pm+ (surgery), to 6am-8am the next day (surgery call), to... you get the idea.

2. Many rotations require some weekend days spent in the hospital in some way. My medicine rotation required only a handful out of 12 weeks, but were full days; my surgery rotation, many, but were frequently shorter than weekdays; other rotations, some or none or almost none. Depends on the school/hospital, the clerkship, and whether your residents tell you to stay home or not.

3. We have night shifts in OB/Gyn and overnight call on surgery, with "late call" (think ~16+ hour days) on several rotations to varying degrees.

4. I personally am usually too worn out to give a damn about studying, at least on the more demanding rotations. If you're efficient with your time in the hospital, you may be able to get away with this most of the time. Especially now that USMLEWorld has an iPhone app.

In short... don't sweat M3/M4. Nothing you do or find out will help you prepare for it or change anything. Just gotta jump in.

Not trying to hijack (although it's still on theme with the OP)... but what are the most useful things one can do during MS1/2 to be as ready as possible to be successful during MS3/4 (other than studying hard/doing well on step one, which is obviously the top priority)? You can volunteer at the free clinic, do a research project all summer long after MS1, do some foreign medical mission during the summer, join lots of specialty interest clubs and go to all the seminars (or even be a club officer), find lots of attendings who will let you shadow/do a little during weekends/evenings, etc. etc...

It would be real tough to do all of that and still do well in classes/step1. Which ones are most worth it, both for MS3 readiness and residency competitiveness?

1. Learn as much as you can. And -- you said it -- know enough to do well on Step 1. The rest was already posted and comes with getting used to M3 (looking up labs, study results, understanding the plan for your patient, being engaged and/or proactive without being an obnoxious douche, etc.). And don't be an assh*le. Even a smart assh*le is still an assh*le that nobody wants to be around, and who will be given no quarter when it comes time for your staff and residents to grade you.

2. Do what you want without thinking about clinical years so much. It won't matter nearly as much for that as you think it might.

 

[searun]

Hey all, I've recently been accepted into a U.S. MD school and will be starting in the fall and I had a couple of general questions. I pretty much know what the 1st 2 years of school is going to entail but I'm just trying to get an idea of what the 3rd and 4th years are like. For example, for clinical rotations are your hours pretty much fixed, say like from 6am-4pm, or is it a lot more variable? Do you have weekends off or do you do weekend rotations? Are there night shifts? After being in the hospital all day do you go home and study books or other information? I apologize in advance if this information is in another thread, I tried looking but didn't find much. Any insight would be appreciated, thanks!!!

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