4th year schedule without home program

[Ghostpepper]

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If I apply to PM&R from a school with no residency program, would it be a good idea to do a Neuro rotation before I do away rotations (I would probably do 2 aways)? Otherwise I'd feel like I'd be going in to the first away kind of raw and not able to make as good of an impression. Any thoughts?

 

[Mog16]

If I apply to PM&R from a school with no residency program, would it be a good idea to do a Neuro rotation before I do away rotations (I would probably do 2 aways)? Otherwise I'd feel like I'd be going in to the first away kind of raw and not able to make as good of an impression. Any thoughts?

I applied from a school without a program and had a similar thought process. Turns out my neuro rotation had next to no overlap with information or skills I learned/used on my 4 PMR rotations. Look into what your school's neuro rotation looks like and decide if the skills/knowledge you could expect to pick up would have carry over. If it looks like it wouldn't be helpful just jump in and do an away rotation. From my experience on away rotations they didn't expect me to know a ton to start but I was expected to work hard and learn while I was there.

 

[j4pac]

Sports Med and Ortho are more relevant. Neuro is important but the MSK on most Neuro rotations is minimal. Lots of Neurologists don't even do EMG/NCS. You may be stuck learning about headaches and epilepsy all day.

 

[Baritonebass]

do inpatient Neuro it could be useful to Learn about stroke... Movement disorder clinic could help your learn about Neuro degenerative disorders... Sports med ortho or primary care is good... A short like week long selective in neurosurgery to understand what they treat(strokes, craniotomies, Peds spine stuff), the usual sub stuff prep for intern year, rhuematology is also good... I did all these thing in med school and it help me. It's also important to enjoy your self

 

[rehabjt]

I did a 3rd year outpatient rehab rotation, so I knew some stuff, but I didn't know anything about inpatient rehab. Most people I rotated with didn't have any PM&R rotations done by the time we got to the first 4th year away. No one knew anything, and the programs don't really expect you to know anything. They know we don't get exposed to PM&R in med school. I wouldn't sweat it. Just show up, work hard, ask questions, be interested, offer to help your residents with whatever and act like a normal human being.

 

[RangerBob]

I agree with the above--most attending will know you're doing your first rotation in rehab and not expect you to know much (especially on the MSK side of things). But you should definitely know how to do a comprehensive near exam--that's something that you will be expected to have learned already (but not necessarily be perfect at).

I'd highly recommend doing a neuro rotation at some point in medical school--after a medicine Sub-I (which is usually required), it'd be the rotation I recommend the most (assuming it's a good rotation). Ortho, neurosurgery, and sports could also be really helpful/interesting. So will things like cardiology, palliative care, rheum. I wish I'd done a rotation in ID.

Unfortunately you only have so many electives you can take--make sure you also rotate through things that will help you for intern year. I'd try and balance having more fun electives (like sports) that may not help you much/at all intern year, with ones that will help a lot (cards, ID, neuro, palliative care, critical care--all rotations that will help for inpatient rehab as well). Don't forget to do a lazy elective or two (rads)--it is 4th year and you should have some time off/light rotations in there! (Especially during interview season).

And your most important rotation: vacation. Make sure to take a fun one before you start intern year if possible. I went camping for 5 weeks--best trip of my life.

 

[Ghostpepper]

This is great info in here. Thanks a lot everybody.