3rd year elective rotation advice

[marke]

Hi!

I am currently a third year medical student and have 1 elective rotation that needs to be filled.

I'm seeking advice from 4th/ 3rd year students as to what elective rotation did you enjoy the most or think are most beneficial in your medical career so far.

Since I just started my third year I don't really have enough exposure to commit to any particular field yet.

I already tried searching this topic on this forum and didn't find any info. If this is a duplicate thread, I apologize in advance and would greatly appreciate if you can direct me to the existing thread.

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

-Marke

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[Brachyury]

Hi!

I am currently a third year medical student and have 1 elective rotation that needs to be filled.

I'm seeking advice from 4th/ 3rd year students as to what elective rotation did you enjoy the most or think are most beneficial in your medical career so far.

Since I just started my third year I don't really have enough exposure to commit to any particular field yet.

I already tried searching this topic on this forum and didn't find any info. If this is a duplicate thread, I apologize in advance and would greatly appreciate if you can direct me to the existing thread.

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

-Marke

Are you evenly remotely considering any of the competitive specialties? If so, do that

 

[greatnt249]

Hi!

I am currently a third year medical student and have 1 elective rotation that needs to be filled.

I'm seeking advice from 4th/ 3rd year students as to what elective rotation did you enjoy the most or think are most beneficial in your medical career so far.

Since I just started my third year I don't really have enough exposure to commit to any particular field yet.

I already tried searching this topic on this forum and didn't find any info. If this is a duplicate thread, I apologize in advance and would greatly appreciate if you can direct me to the existing thread.

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

-Marke

If not required by your school, do radiology. Chances are you'll have to look at films/CTs at some point during your rotations/career, and it never hurts to learn from those who do it all day, every day. Plus, the hours are usually pretty good.

 

[cabinbuilder]

If you plan to do primary care: Ortho clinic, derm, RADIOLOGY, GI, Gen surg for suturing skills, abcesses, wound care, podiatry (DM foot care, corns, infected nails)

If you plan to do primary care with OB/newborn: NICU, neonatology, RADIOLOGY on kids, surgical OB

If you plan to do primary care with ER: anesthesia, RADIOLOGY, trauma, cardiology (be able to stablize an MI)


If you do rural medicine or inner city medicine where most of the population are poor and have no money for medications you will soon realize that you cannot refer anyone to a specialist for non-life treatening issues. So if you can cut it out, splint it, cast it, sew it up, fix a rash, and just deal with it yourself, it makes life a whole lot easier for everyone.

 

[Carlin]

It's not a bad idea to pick a completely random rotation-- something that may be kind of a mystery to you (maybe something like rad onc or PM&R). Depending on what your school requires as cores, there are some rotations that you'll never get exposure to unless you seek it out, and you might discover it's the absolute perfect fit for you! Also, if you have even the tiniest little voice in the back of your mind saying you might want to be a dermatologist, ENT, plastic surgeon or something else competitive, absolutely try it out now, get to know the faculty and see if there is research you can get involved in. 3rd year is going to go by FAST, and it's a really good idea to get a jump on this stuff (plus it won't hurt you if you decide you want to be a pediatrician, internist, obgyn, etc).

 

[ArcGurren]

If not required by your school, do radiology. Chances are you'll have to look at films/CTs at some point during your rotations/career, and it never hurts to learn from those who do it all day, every day. Plus, the hours are usually pretty good.

I dunno from what I've heard unless you WANT to go into radiology, the rotation tends to be something of a joke one you take so that you can have a couple weeks of vacation (I've seen this in at least 3 different schools).

 

[dally1025]

If you think you might be interested in a specialty outside the cores do that. If you have to do away rotations for that specialty you'll end up applying for them without doing the rotation first which is weird. You'll have more electives during 4th year to do radiology, derm, optho (the stuff you need to see a lot of in most specialties) so save those for later unless you're considering them for residency.

 

[cabinbuilder]

I dunno from what I've heard unless you WANT to go into radiology, the rotation tends to be something of a joke one you take so that you can have a couple weeks of vacation (I've seen this in at least 3 different schools).

I suppose this is true for any rotation. However, if you plan to do rural medicine it can sometimes take many hours or days to get an official report on a CT or plain film. You shoulld at least be proficient enough to know what is an emergency or not so you can take care of the problem without having to rely on the radiologist on the other side of the country.

Yes, rads is usualy deemed a vacation rotation it up to the individual to see the value in the knowledge and being self sufficient in reading in your own films.

You would be surprised at how many errors I have caught (reports come back neg with an obvious fracture) that I have called the rad and had them re-look at the film and change the report. I look at EVERY SINGLE FILM I ORDER, because I'm not trusting anymore.

Makes you a better doctor being able to read your own films.

 

[ArcGurren]

I suppose this is true for any rotation. However, if you plan to do rural medicine it can sometimes take many hours or days to get an official report on a CT or plain film. You shoulld at least be proficient enough to know what is an emergency or not so you can take care of the problem without having to rely on the radiologist on the other side of the country.

Yes, rads is usualy deemed a vacation rotation it up to the individual to see the value in the knowledge and being self sufficient in reading in your own films.

You would be surprised at how many errors I have caught (reports come back neg with an obvious fracture) that I have called the rad and had them re-look at the film and change the report. I look at EVERY SINGLE FILM I ORDER, because I'm not trusting anymore.

Makes you a better doctor being able to read your own films.

That's fine, I agree with you on all your points - in fact one of the biggest things I got out of every rotation I did was to be able to read films (case in point, I can now read echocardiograms pretty well after a month of doing so).

I didn't mean anything insulting - like it or not as 4th years (and sometimes as 3rd years) we take rotations because it provides adequate free time to study for Step 2 CK or because we just matched and want a break before intern year, etc.

 

[da8s0859q]

Hi!

I am currently a third year medical student and have 1 elective rotation that needs to be filled.

I'm seeking advice from 4th/ 3rd year students as to what elective rotation did you enjoy the most or think are most beneficial in your medical career so far.

Since I just started my third year I don't really have enough exposure to commit to any particular field yet.

I already tried searching this topic on this forum and didn't find any info. If this is a duplicate thread, I apologize in advance and would greatly appreciate if you can direct me to the existing thread.

Thanks in advance for all of your help!

-Marke

If there are any specialties you think you may be interested in but don't get to rotate through in the core M3 rotations, do those. Much better to have a clear idea of specialty choice than to worry about an M3 rotation being particularly beneficial, imo.

 

[fmorenoa]

hi everybody. Im looking for an elective rotation in an english spoken country.
I would like to do it in summer time if its possible. Does anyone know hospitals where I can apply?
beacause I know in the US is required to be in the 4th or higher year... but I'm sure there has to be a place where we are allowed to do it. Can you help me with that?? thanks!!

 

[Happy Kitten]

If you plan on doing primary care, derm would be helpful. You see tons of it, and half the time you're not sure what it is. Several pediatricians and a couple family med/IM docs have told me they wish they had done a derm rotation and recommended it to me.