4th Year Electives - Infectious Disease vs Radiology?

[CypherA]

I'm currently planning my 4th year schedule and can't decide between taking ID or Rads as a 3wk elective. Any insight?

Currently scheduled to take
- Inpatient IM subi
- Outpatient FM subi
- Emergency Medicine
- Cardiac ICU (required)
- Adolescent Medicine
- Dermatology (last elective of the year)
- Pain Management (procedure heavy + pain control for multiple conditions)
- 8wks block Research Elective

Any additional thoughts on the electives I've chosen? Thanks a lot

CA

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[SXMMD]

I think that you will see a decent amount of imaging studies in your upcoming electives and can practice the basics on your own (here is a website I like: http://www.learningradiology.com/). On the other hand 4th year is largely pressure free and I found it a great time to pursue electives that I might not have time for during residency or might not prioritize due to limited elective space.

Ultimately you should pick whichever one will make you happy, it's 4th year, have a good time and enjoy your rotations!

 

[CypherA]

I think that you will see a decent amount of imaging studies in your upcoming electives and can practice the basics on your own (here is a website I like: http://www.learningradiology.com/). On the other hand 4th year is largely pressure free and I found it a great time to pursue electives that I might not have time for during residency or might not prioritize due to limited elective space.

Ultimately you should pick whichever one will make you happy, it's 4th year, have a good time and enjoy your rotations!

You know, that actually sounds like a good idea to study it on my own. At my school a few of the rotations are known to be relaxed and no-stress, so it might actually be a waste of time for me to take a Rads for 3 weeks

Anyone think Infectious Disease would be helpful for FM? I am taking an ICU rotation as well as inpatient IM so I would think I'd get some good exposures to immunology and treatments. Now I feel like I've talked myself out of both electives and should set my sights on something else.

What do you guys think?

 

[hsmooth]

Do the easiest rotation you can find.

 

[icd22]

I would take rads... chances are you won't study on your own and it's quite a useful rotation. Plus, at least at my school, it's a chill rotation.

 

[cabinbuilder]

I would take all the radiology I could get my hands on, that includes CT, MRI, and US if you can get it. I cannot tell you how often (like every day) I do not get immediate radiology reports and have to make treatment, referral decisions in clinic based on what I see on the xray. In practice there is no guarantee that you will have a radiology report in your hand before the patient leaves. This is especially true if you work out in the rural areas where what you see on CT may determine whether you keep or ship a patient. Many times you can call for consultation but many times you can't.

 

[CypherA]

Do the easiest rotation you can find.

I would take rads... chances are you won't study on your own and it's quite a useful rotation. Plus, at least at my school, it's a chill rotation.

I would take all the radiology I could get my hands on, that includes CT, MRI, and US if you can get it. I cannot tell you how often (like every day) I do not get immediate radiology reports and have to make treatment, referral decisions in clinic based on what I see on the xray. In practice there is no guarantee that you will have a radiology report in your hand before the patient leaves. This is especially true if you work out in the rural areas where what you see on CT may determine whether you keep or ship a patient. Many times you can call for consultation but many times you can't.

thank you all for the insight!