4th year scheduling

[NDESTRUKT]

What classes should one take for fourth year to get a good preparation for residency but at the same time enjoy the 4th year near the end?

Also, my Sub-I is not until the month of September and I'm not sure I'll be able to get a good letter out by then...what should I do in the meantime? Do other consult rotations to get letters from those guys or what?

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[reallyanon]

Not sure what to tell you terms of classes to take for residency as I am still a 4th year but I would pass on the suggestion that I received many times which is at least 1 unit month if you haven't done one already. I had my subI in september as well and it wasn't really a problem in terms of letters. I got one from my chairmen, one from 3rd year rotation and 1 from research mentor. These could all be arranged ahead of time. I then got my subI letter ASAP after the end of the rotation. I think the key is to have 3 letters in as early as possible because then your file will be "complete" and programs that require a complete file for consideration (many don't) will start looking at it. Never underestimate how LONG it can take to get letters. Start as early as possible lining people up and setting up meetings/CV/etc. good luck.

 

[Charge!]

What classes should one take for fourth year to get a good preparation for residency but at the same time enjoy the 4th year near the end?

Also, my Sub-I is not until the month of September and I'm not sure I'll be able to get a good letter out by then...what should I do in the meantime? Do other consult rotations to get letters from those guys or what?

I highly recommend the ICU and Radiology as 4th year electives. I greatly enjoyed both, learnt a lot, and they helped solidfy a lot of knowledge. Good Luck

 

[georgia9999]

Do as little as possible. Get your medicine months out of the way early so you can get rec letters. Then you begin your last 7 months of free time for the rest of your life. Live it up.

 

[orientedtoself]

- icu sub-i early
- radiholiday
- anesthesia
- do things outside of internal medicine. these are things you will never see again.

 

[Adcadet]

I highly recommend NOT doing any rotations you care about after...oh, November. The deeper I got into my fourth year the less I cared. Neurology in December and OB/GYN in January were painful. Luckily, I was done with classes and boards by around Feb 15. And yes, my school is extremely flexible, with no distinction made between MS3 and MS4, and a total of 6 months of vacation/time off during the last two year. I love my program for that.

I would also recommend having at least a few weeks off in December or January for interviews. I only had off 2 weeks before Christmas and I really pushed the limit on the number of days I missed in my rotations.

 

[Mumpu]

Do ID and ICU.