3rd Year Clerkship Order

[mymembernames]

We have a lottery system and get to rank which rotations we want to do and in which order. I was wondering what order it's better to do them in? Does it matter as far as step 2, etc? TIA!

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[ewax]

take medicine before surgery. Your surgery shelf score will thank you.

 

[Mountaineer12]

I also wouldn't take family medicine first. It's just very broad and I think it would be overwhelming first block. Other than that and medicine before surgery, it's up to you. I've staggered mine so I have one "hard" one, then an "easy" one and so forth. It's been okay so far, but I don't think it's necessary to do it that way.

 

[aim-agm]

Other than the general suggestions (Med b/f Surg and Fam not first), would you make any suggestions for people interested in particular fields/residencies? For example, I've heard cautions against starting with the one relevant to the residency your are interested in (eg. if you want EM avoid having EM as your first rotation).

Also, which one's would you consider "hard" or "easy"?

 

[padfoot777]

Hard and easy are pretty much entirely determined based on your attending and the site you're at. If you're interested in something I wouldn't have it FIRST but other than that just the same suggestions everyone else is echoing (especially medicine before surgery) is pretty much all you need. I wouldn't be too worried about anything else pertaining to specific residencies now because you might change your mind a few times throughout third year. I know people who were 100% set on a specific specialty until they spent 8 weeks in it and decided they didn't want to go that route.

 

[Ace Khalifa]

Yo what's the specific reason for taking medicine before surgery? I'm just a lowly MS1, but I'd like to know.

 

[mymembernames]

Thanks everyone! Does it make a difference as far as Step 2 is concerned? I've heard it's better to take medicine or family med last so the material is fresh for step 2 which has a lot of medicine on it?

 

[ortnakas]

take medicine before surgery. Your surgery shelf score will thank you.

Anyone have advice for MS-2s this isn't going to pan out for? I'm going to end up having surgery first, before FM, and FM before IM.

If it's relevant, I'm not interested in surgery anyway.

 

[Mountaineer12]

Other than the general suggestions (Med b/f Surg and Fam not first), would you make any suggestions for people interested in particular fields/residencies? For example, I've heard cautions against starting with the one relevant to the residency your are interested in (eg. if you want EM avoid having EM as your first rotation).

Also, which one's would you consider "hard" or "easy"?

I've heard this as well and it's probably good advice because by block 3 and on you'll be much better than block 1, but I don't think this is a deal breaker. And like someone said you may change your mind. I did peds first because it was "easy" and now I want to be a pediatrician. It wasn't my best rotation since it was first, but I think it'll be fine.

At my school, FM, peds, and psych/neuro are easy and the IM, ob/gyn, and surgery are hard (for different reasons though). Like someone said, that's different everywhere though.

Yo what's the specific reason for taking medicine before surgery? I'm just a lowly MS1, but I'd like to know.

I haven't had surgery yet (I have it after christmas), but I've heard the shelf is very medicine based as there's a limited number of straight surgery questions they can ask you so having a strong medicine foundation is really helpful.

Thanks everyone! Does it make a difference as far as Step 2 is concerned? I've heard it's better to take medicine or family med last so the material is fresh for step 2 which has a lot of medicine on it?

I've heard this as well and regret it a bit (IM and FM are 2nd and 3rd for me). I wouldn't put IM last because of the surgery thing, but maybe in the second half of the year would be okay. Putting a light rotation last would be good so you can start to study for step. I think psych is universally an easy one.

 

[Mountaineer12]

Anyone have advice for MS-2s this isn't going to pan out for? I'm going to end up having surgery first, before FM, and FM before IM.

If it's relevant, I'm not interested in surgery anyway.

This is inevitably happens for lots of people every year and they do fine. By the time you get to IM the studying may be a little easier because you learned a good bit of medicine on FM and surgery. So it works both ways. You'll be fine!

 

[PL198]

Anyone have advice for MS-2s this isn't going to pan out for? I'm going to end up having surgery first, before FM, and FM before IM.

If it's relevant, I'm not interested in surgery anyway.

it doesn't actually make that big of a difference. do the uworld GI and endocrine + surgery and you'll be fine.

there's a lot of medicine on the surgery shelf, but it's not random medicine, it's pretty basic stuff. I guess people just find it hard if they haven't thought about it at all in the previous couple months

 

[Gator7]

Yo what's the specific reason for taking medicine before surgery? I'm just a lowly MS1, but I'd like to know.

I am on surgery now so I haven't taken the shelf yet but I took medicine first. The consensus seems to be that the surgery shelf is mostly medicine. The surgery clerkship is typically long hours and frequent weekends so it would be difficult to try and find the time to not only learn medicine, but also study for your surgery cases and potential pimp questions in order to try and honor the rotation. By taking medicine first you can just focus on the surgery aspect and brush up on some pertinent medicine uworld questions at the end (GI, electrolytes, etc).

However, a certain proportion of every med school class has to take surgery first and they do just fine. And you are scored against people taking surgery at the same time as you.

 

[Tots]

I did surgery first, medicine second. Mostly because I just wanted to be done with surgery. If you are interested in surgery I definitely think medicine first is a smart plan. That shelf was weird and I definitely would have done better if I had medicine first. But who cares because in 4 days I will be done with surgery and medicine

 

[Psai]

peds first to transition nicely into third year
medicine before surgery
family medicine towards the end
end with psych because it's easy and you can study for step 2

 

[Flamen04]

Every school does it differently but I recommend:
Obgyn first to get it out of the way asap
Psych second
Family medicine --> internal medicine --> surgery
End with peds since its easy

Best schedule ever. You're welcome.

 

[Shipping News]

It completely does not matter whatsoever. Anybody who tells you otherwise is making crap up. Every shelf exam helps for the next one, so there is no magic order that maximizes your scores. But med students have to micromanage every tiny decision and believe that they are in control of what happens to them, but it's simply not the case. 3rd year is a random mess of chaos and no planning or meticulous ordering of your rotations is going to lighten the awfulness.

 

[ortnakas]

This is inevitably happens for lots of people every year and they do fine. By the time you get to IM the studying may be a little easier because you learned a good bit of medicine on FM and surgery. So it works both ways. You'll be fine!

it doesn't actually make that big of a difference. do the uworld GI and endocrine + surgery and you'll be fine.

there's a lot of medicine on the surgery shelf, but it's not random medicine, it's pretty basic stuff. I guess people just find it hard if they haven't thought about it at all in the previous couple months

Good to hear-- I picked location over schedule, and ended up with a schedule that's pretty much the opposite of general SDN advice, so I'm glad to hear it's not really going to make or break me!

 

[mvenus929]

Thanks everyone! Does it make a difference as far as Step 2 is concerned? I've heard it's better to take medicine or family med last so the material is fresh for step 2 which has a lot of medicine on it?

Doesn't make much of a difference. You have to restudy something. Family med last is nice because you already are studying most things, but most people take some dedicated time for step 2 anyway.

peds first to transition nicely into third year
medicine before surgery
family medicine towards the end
end with psych because it's easy and you can study for step 2

School dependent. Our med students tell us that Peds is the hardest block. But we have a very strong and very busy Peds program and everyone rotates with us (in other clerkships, they get broken up into several sites).

I personally did Psych first, and ended with surgery because it was right after a break (so I could come in relatively fresh, rather than already burned out), and I knew I didn't want to do it.

 

[Rvb1609]

I am an unlucky one who has surgery before medicine, but I want to go into surgery. I have an idea of my study plan already, but any particular sources I should use to study for my rotation? I am planning on using my winter break to get a leg up before my rotation starts in Jan.

 

[Psai]

Doesn't make much of a difference. You have to restudy something. Family med last is nice because you already are studying most things, but most people take some dedicated time for step 2 anyway.



School dependent. Our med students tell us that Peds is the hardest block. But we have a very strong and very busy Peds program and everyone rotates with us (in other clerkships, they get broken up into several sites).

I personally did Psych first, and ended with surgery because it was right after a break (so I could come in relatively fresh, rather than already burned out), and I knew I didn't want to do it.

Yeah but they're nice. And our peds residents are very good looking

 

[Shipping News]

I am an unlucky one who has surgery before medicine, but I want to go into surgery. I have an idea of my study plan already, but any particular sources I should use to study for my rotation? I am planning on using my winter break to get a leg up before my rotation starts in Jan.

You're not unlucky. You'll have a leg up on the medicine shelf if you study properly for the surgery shelf. I did surgery first and medicine last, and my world didn't come crashing down and I honored both rotations.

Do what everyone else does for the surgery shelf: Pestana notes, +/- NMS casebook (I recommend it), and UWorld surgery questions (+/- a sampling of medicine GI, fluid/electrolyte questions). If you want to "study up" ahead of time, the Pestana audio lectures are very helpful.

People talk a lot about the surgery shelf being a medicine shelf in disguise, but that's simply because surgery has a lot of medicine in it. The surgery shelf is about evaluating and treating surgical patients, which involves a good deal of medicine. So don't muscle your way through all the medicine UWorld questions...be smart about it. Look for the areas of overlap like GI, fluids/electrolytes, emergency medicine, and presurgical evaluation.