4th year electives questions

[jd star]

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Two questions for today...

When a program says "we don't require our DO applicants to take the USMLE, but it is encouraged" - does this mean I really have to take it? 🙁

When scheduling electives at a place that you REALLY want to go for residency, is it better to do an "acting internship" or just do an elective like neuro or PICU or something like that? My guess is that unless I feel super-confident that I would do great on an AI, that I should do a specialty elective instead...

Any thoughts???


Thanks!!

-j

 

[14022]

this is how it was explained to me....doing a general peds inpatient AI can be dangerous for several reasons...you are much more strictly critiqued and compared to residents...this is difficult anywehre, let alone a new hospital at which you are not even familiar with the location of the bathrooms...second, anything can walk in the door at any time...it is difficult to prepare your reading to be able to demonstrate your aptitude for your patients' problems...on the other hand, doing a subspecialty elective is better because you can focus on a certain subset of problems and have a lot of repetition working up common complaints...it is easier to prepare and learn in this setting, thus easier to impress attendings....

i did 2 subspecialty rotations for away electives and i did not think that the visiting students who did AI's had any advantage when it came to interview season

just a thought, but i would think picu would NOT be "just an elective"...everywhere i have seen that has a picu rotation has Q4 call with lots of responsibilities and very sick kids

in terms of the whole DO thing, the way it was worded i would interpret as such...i would think that if it came down to 2 applicants, both being very similar, the one who took the USMLE would get ranked higher...also keep in mind, that the MD applicants are far more prevalent than DO applicants...the USMLE is one of the only objective measures of performance...therefore, comparing 2 students taking the USMLE is simple, while comaring a USMLE score to a COMLEX score is much more difficult...that being said, you do not have to take it, but it will help you IF YOU DO WELL...just like the AI thing, if you think you will tank the USMLE, i wouldnt rush off to take it

 

[StringBean]

Two questions for today...

When a program says "we don't require our DO applicants to take the USMLE, but it is encouraged" - does this mean I really have to take it? 🙁

You will hear a million different thoughts on this... my suggestion... just take it to cover all your bases. It's not that bad to take both & then you have no worries rather than always wondering "should I have".

When scheduling electives at a place that you REALLY want to go for residency, is it better to do an "acting internship" or just do an elective like neuro or PICU or something like that? My guess is that unless I feel super-confident that I would do great on an AI, that I should do a specialty elective instead...

In addition to what scholes says about this... doing a subspecialty at one of your top choices can give you the opportunity to work one-on-one with one or two particular attendings. This can be a hauge advantage because they can really get to know you... and if they like you and you can manage to impress them you can get amazing LORs and have someone who knows you well enough to go to bat for you during match meetings! IMHO it's the best way to get a big fat foot in the door at a top choice.

 

[jd star]

I agree with you guys on both accounts... As much as I don't want to take USMLE (let's just say I "just passed" step 1), I know I probably should.

I think subspecialty rotations are a good choice too... I've been in hospital rotations where I've only worked with interns and residents and have gotten lost and never seen by an attending who could write me a letter (or just recognize me being there).

Thanks for helping me realize what I knew all along... isn't it funny how things work like that?

-j