3rd year clerkships order?

[docren004]

Do you have any advice on which order to do 3rd year clerkships in, both in order to prepare optimally for Step 2?

P.S. I'm mainly interested in doing IM in case that makes a difference.

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[deleted1139416]

IM or FM first - sets the foundation for every other rotation

 

[M&L]

i had FM first - felt like a "softer IM"- felt like a good start. General rule - wait 2-3 blocks till you do the specialty you are interested in. So, if you like IM - wait till block 3 or 4 to do it, because you will probably be pretty bad the first block or 2. Waiting till 3rd of 4th block will help you get better in rounds, in notes, etc. You will end up getting better grade on that rotation and get better letters.

my personal preference is to do surgery either as first rotation (when no one expects anything from you yet because you suck), or last, because you already know a lot of clinical stuff from other rotations so studying is easier.

 

[deleted1079620]

i had FM first - felt like a "softer IM"- felt like a good start. General rule - wait 2-3 blocks till you do the specialty you are interested in. So, if you like IM - wait till block 3 or 4 to do it, because you will probably be pretty bad the first block or 2. Waiting till 3rd of 4th block will help you get better in rounds, in notes, etc. You will end up getting better grade on that rotation and get better letters.

my personal preference is to do surgery either as first rotation (when no one expects anything from you yet because you suck), or last, because you already know a lot of clinical stuff from other rotations so studying is easier.

I agree with this, I saved my “favorite” block for number 5, so I would have time to feel comfortable doing histories & physical exams, writing notes, getting pumped, etc.

 

[Freshley Snipes]

Doesn't really matter, IM last can help with step 2. I would say surgery last could hurt you with step studying, since the hours are worse.

 

[M&L]

Doesn't really matter, IM last can help with step 2. I would say surgery last could hurt you with step studying, since the hours are worse.

I liked surgery last because it was all fresh in my head for step 2. Plus you still have dedicated

 

[Chelseadagger]

2/3 of the way through, I had IM and surgery in the first half of the year which are the more time intensive ones, at least at my school but probably at most places. I liked having them early when burnout was lowest. Now I'm "chilling", with some more relaxed, relatively, rotations. As someone said above, IM is also a good foundational rotation.

 

[Billiam95]

I liked having surgery first b/c it set a high bar for how hard and long I expected to work. Now, every other rotation feels pretty chill by comparison.

 

[deleted1139416]

Eh, I disagree with the IM thing. If anything you can do an additional IM elective or specialty rotation and get a rec letter from there.

i had FM first - felt like a "softer IM"- felt like a good start. General rule - wait 2-3 blocks till you do the specialty you are interested in. So, if you like IM - wait till block 3 or 4 to do it, because you will probably be pretty bad the first block or 2. Waiting till 3rd of 4th block will help you get better in rounds, in notes, etc. You will end up getting better grade on that rotation and get better letters.

my personal preference is to do surgery either as first rotation (when no one expects anything from you yet because you suck), or last, because you already know a lot of clinical stuff from other rotations so studying is easier.

 

[docren004]

Please do not quote this post so that I can delete it later.

*deleted*

 

[mrbreakfast]

1) The order essentially doesn't matter. You're over-thinking this. The general advice though the ages is to put what you're interested in the middle, and start (and end) on things you aren't interested in.

2) The only way this might matter is for personal reasons, i.e. your wife giving birth, as you may want to avoid the more brutal rotations. Surgery (and inpatient OBGYN) are busier than IM and Peds, which are busier than FM and psych. Alternatively, you could think in terms of how hard the shelf exams are: this is subjective and may have changed since I was a med student, but I think it was generally agreed, in terms of difficulty (i.e. the volume of material, not the amount of time you have to study), FM (by far the hardest shelf) > peds > IM = surgery > obgyn > psych.

3) Your school spends 2 months each on FM and psych? Seems like a lot.

 

[AnonymousDoctorGuyPerson]

I liked having surgery first b/c it set a high bar for how hard and long I expected to work. Now, every other rotation feels pretty chill by comparison.

this is the only correct answer imo for rotation order - Surgery first, all else doesnt matter

 

[docb2]

My order:
IM > Peds > OBGYN > Surgery > EM > Family Med > Neuro > Psych
LOVED this order. IM set a great foundation for peds and honestly everything else. OB set a good surgical foundation for Surgery so I wasn’t a stranger to the OR. Second half of the year was light when I started to burn out. Worked out super well!

 

[bGMx]

I recommend surgery first if you're certain you don't want to go surgery. People don't expect anything of a newly minted M3 and that makes surgery more tolerable. Otherwise, get IM done in the first half as it makes everything else make sense. Otherwise it doesn't really matter a whole lot.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

It would seem you'd want to do the specialty you are leaning towards early on while you are fresh but not so early that you are a complete newbie.

But if you think you want to do Peds for example, is it helpful to do FM before Peds ? Is it helpful (and maybe more so than FM) to do IM before Peds ? Or, if leaning hard Peds, do you put the surgical ones up front, then Peds, and leave the harder FM / IM rotations for later when you are more seasoned ?

 

[Tarsal-Tunnel]

Would the order of rotations matter if the specialty you're interested in is not one of the "core rotations" (e.g., anesthesiology, radiology)?

 

[deleted1139416]

Would the order of rotations matter if the specialty you're interested in is not one of the "core rotations" (e.g., anesthesiology, radiology)?

Yes because experience in core rotations will help you perform better on those as well. For example, I saw many chest x-rays in IM and many abdominal CT scans in surgery. A friend of mine saw many head CTs and MRIs on neuro. Experience with all of those rotations will no doubt help you perform better on a radiology rotation. But I haven't done a radiology rotation yet so I can't say that with 100% positivity.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

The only way this might matter is for personal reasons, i.e. your wife giving birth, as you may want to avoid the more brutal rotations. Surgery (and inpatient OBGYN) are busier than IM and Peds, which are busier than FM and psych. Alternatively, you could think in terms of how hard the shelf exams are: this is subjective and may have changed since I was a med student, but I think it was generally agreed, in terms of difficulty (i.e. the volume of material, not the amount of time you have to study), FM (by far the hardest shelf) > peds > IM = surgery > obgyn > psych.

If you think you want to do Peds for example, is it helpful to do FM before Peds ?

Is it helpful (and maybe more so than FM) to do IM before Peds ?

Or, if leaning hard Peds, do you put the surgical ones up front, then Peds, and leave the harder FM / IM rotations for later when you are more seasoned ?

 

[deleted1079620]

Ff you think you want to do Peds for example, is it helpful to do FM before Peds ?

Is it helpful (and maybe more so than FM) to do IM before Peds ?

Or, if leaning hard Peds, do you put the surgical ones up front, then Peds, and leave the harder FM / IM rotations for later when you are more seasoned ?

If I were leaning heavily towards peds I would do FM before peds. I just came out of FM and saw lots of kids, did newborn exams, was expected to know vaccine schedules & milestones, did school/sports physicals, ADHD med management, etc.

 

[Putkernerinthehall]

If I were leaning heavily towards peds I would do FM before peds. I just came out of FM and saw lots of kids, did newborn exams, was expected to know vaccine schedules & milestones, did school/sports physicals, ADHD med management, etc.

Thanks. Have you done IM yet ? Wondering whether it makes sense to do that before Peds too? Might be worn out by the time Peds rotation rolls around.

 

[deleted1079620]

Thanks. Have you done IM yet ? Wondering whether it makes sense to do that before Peds too? Might be worn out by the time Peds rotation rolls around.

I have, I didn’t find it helpful for peds except for antibiotics.

 

[PathNeuroIMorFM]

Do you have any advice on which order to do 3rd year clerkships in, both in order to prepare optimally for Step 2?

P.S. I'm mainly interested in doing IM in case that makes a difference.

After consulting 20 friends/peers and a few YouTube gurus (Anking, MSI), almost everyone has said that rotation order doesn't *really* matter for Step 2 or Shelf performance, especially if you're keeping up with knowledge from previous blocks via Anking and UWorld. The only recommendation is don't do your specialty of choice until later in the year.

Rotation sites on the other hand... Seems to have a far greater impact on your experience and evaluations, if that's something you have the power to change.

 

[Freshley Snipes]

After consulting 20 friends/peers and a few YouTube gurus (Anking, MSI), almost everyone has said that rotation order doesn't *really* matter for Step 2 or Shelf performance, especially if you're keeping up with knowledge from previous blocks via Anking and UWorld. The only recommendation is don't do your specialty of choice until later in the year.

Rotation sites on the other hand... Seems to have a far greater impact on your experience and evaluations, if that's something you have the power to change.

I agree with this 100%. I did the majority of my rotations away from my mothership hospital (in more suburban/rural areas) and have done really well compared to my peers who did all of their rotations at our flagship hospital system. I think its a combination of the suburban/rural sites being less crowded (less med students) paired with the attendings/residents being more open to letting students try and help be a part of the team --> leading to better evals.

I don't know if anyone else has had this experience but I highly recommend doing as many rotations as you can away from big academia if you have the opportunity.